Disposability, Fugitivity, Resistance: On the Relationship Between Democracy and Freedom

Join us for the second panel of the conference on Democracy and Freedom Between Past and Future, at which a distinguished group of panelists will examine the theory and practice of two key concepts that have integrally shaped discourses and phenomena from antiquity to our contemporary moment. What is a democracy? What does it mean to refer to a democracy dying or being forged? How are we to understand freedom? Should we link or decouple freedom and slavery? What is the relationship between democracy and freedom? Are democracy and freedom mutually reinforcing or incompatible ideals? To what extent do our interpretations of democracy and freedom impact notions such as statecraft, civil society, family, the individual, groups, and governance? Do conceptions of race, gender, sex, sexuality, class, ability, and nation transform the theoretical frameworks and real-world articulations of the free life and democratic life?

Panelists for session two:

Angélica Bernal, University of Massachusetts-Amherst – “Democracy, Colonialism, and Indigenous Resistance”

Marisa Fuentes, Rutgers University – “Refuse Lives and the Failures of Freedom: The Origins of Black  Disposability and the Transatlantic Slave Trade” 

George Shulman, New York University – “Fred Moten’s Refusals and Consents: Natality, Commonality, and the   

Politics of Fugitivity”

All are welcome. Sponsored by the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Program in Democratic Studies.

All are welcome! Sponsored by the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Program in Democratic Studies. Tag us on Social Media using #DemocracyFreedomWilliams