Lunch-Talk: Dr. Mark B. Brown
Debating Identity Politics in American Universities
Since the 1960s, identity politics has helped make U.S. universities more representative of American society. But for many critics today, identity politics has degenerated into narrow claims for the authority of personal experience, especially experiences of oppression based on race and gender. Identity politics thus seems to undermine academic values of objectivity and free inquiry, and many white people perceive identity politics as a personal attack. Ironically, however, white critics of identity politics often adopt its rhetoric to portray themselves as victims of “political correctness.” This presentation will take stock of recent debates over identity politics at U.S. universities, concluding with some reflections on how such debates might inform discussion of similar issues at universities in Germany.
Speaker/s
Dr. Mark B. Brown, Professor in the Department of Political Science, California State University, Sacramento
Mark Brown holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rutgers University, and he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Science and Technology Studies, Bielefeld University. He is the author of Science in Democracy: Expertise, Institutions, and Representation (MIT Press, 2009), and numerous publications on the politics of expertise, political representation, climate change, and related topics. He teaches courses on modern and contemporary political theory, democratic theory, and the politics of science, technology, and the environment. His recent research is on populism and white identity politics.
Date
15. Jul. 201912:00 - 14:00
Location
Leibniz Center for Science and SocietyBuilding: 1920
Room: 302
Lange Laube 32
30159 Hannover
