Reform or Revolution?

In this roundtable discussion, panelists draw on recent protests in the United States to reflect on systemic injustice and oppression from a transnational perspective. While recent demonstrations in the wake of the George Floyd killing by Minnesota police officers have recalled the urgent need to fight and address institutionalized violence against minority populations and people of color, particularly African Americans, in the United States, this event connects calls for solidarity and calls for action by exploring issues of social injustice across different global settings. Questions raised in this context include: 1) Has the Covid-19 pandemic led to a global crisis that requires us to rethink systemic inequalities from the ground up? 2) And if so, does it require revolutionary change, i.e. starting from a new, clean slate, or should the system be changed from within, i.e. incrementally? 3) How can we, as scholars and activists, foster sustainable social change in our communities, nationally, regionally and internationally, based on our different perspectives and tools?

This discussion is part of the South Asian Feminist Caucus’ ongoing Zoom series, “Love and Solidarity in the Time of Corona”

Date: Friday, June 12, 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.

Moderator: Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Montclair State University

Speakers:

Nicole Fields, Montclair State University, Perspectives from the Field: Police, Gender & Race
Arnaud Kurze, Montclair State University, Youth, Social Change and Collective Memory: A Tunisian Perspective
Barbara Nimri Aziz, former radio host, Voices of Arab America, Race, Covid-19 and US Politics
Richard Schechner, Emeritus, New York University, Reforms in the US: The Need for a New, New Deal
Rekha Subramaniam, University of Texas Clearlake,  The  Paradox of Prison Reform via Revolutionary Education
Kate Temoney, Montclair State University, Mass Violence and Moving Forward
Anuj Vaidya, University of California, Davis, Defunding Campus Police: Abolitionist University Perspective
Jason Williams, Montclair State University, Race, Police and Justice in the United States