News

September 6, 2017 at 12:24 pm

New Series: Critical Resistance to Authoritarian Rule

The Center for Law, Justice & Culture announces its Critical Resistance event series for 2017-18: Critical Resistance to Authoritarian Rule.

The Critical Resistance to Authoritarian Rule series is carried out in collaboration with Students for Law, Justice & Culture and the Making and Breaking the Law theme at Ohio University.

Each year, the Critical Resistance series promotes campus discussion about the challenges of law and justice in the 21st century. 

Authoritarianism is currently on the rise across the globe. The consolidation of political power under leaders such as Viktor Orban in Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Narendra Modi in India, Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Jacob Zuma in South Africa, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines and Donald Trump in the United States have prompted questions and debates about the politics of law and governance at this critical historical juncture.

This Critical Resistance series promotes analysis and reflection on authoritarianism in comparative contexts, including in contemporary as well as historical settings.

Through the series, we will consider authoritarian ideologies, institutions, and methodologies, as well as resistance strategies and social/legal mobilizations enacted in response to authoritarianism.

These public events, carried out in collaboration with other programs and departments across campus, will shine light on authoritarianism within the United States and across the world.

Making and Breaking the Law logo

The events will provide opportunities throughout the semester for student-faculty collaboration, interdisciplinary dialogue, and critical reflections on the complexities of authoritarianism and resistance to it in the 21st century.

Some questions guiding the campus conversations include:

  • What are the modalities of authoritarianism, and what are their relationships to fascism, totalitarianism, and tyranny?
  • How do authoritarian rulers consolidate their power through repression, intimidation, corruption, and “cooptation”?
  • How are cultures of impunity produced and reproduced under authoritarian regimes, and how are they countered and disrupted?
  • How does authoritarianism shape what is publicly remembered and forgotten, and what are the political possibilities of resistance through memorialization and truth-telling?
  • How might authoritarianism threaten judicial institutions, and how might courts be uniquely positioned to challenge authoritarian regimes?
  • What are the relationships between legal mobilizations and other forms of resistance and rebellion including civil resistance and armed struggle?

CLJC and SLJC welcome any suggestions for speakers, events, or other programs relating to this theme. Please contact CLJC Director Dr. Haley Duschinski, CLJC Pre-Law Specialist and Advisor Larry Hayman or SLJC Vice President Francisco Cintron for more information.

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