Violence and Non-Violence in American Society:Interpretations and Perspectives

Violence and Non-Violence in American Society:Interpretations and Perspectives

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International Conference
(Zoom sessions: 2 days/Virtual platform: 5 days)

Thematic Approach

GIRES, the Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship and the Greenwood African American Studies Center (GAASC) explore the highly complex issue of racial violence in the United States.  

Commemorating the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre (May 31) we wish to re-examine the role of racially motivated violence in the shaping of American society and identity. A century after the destruction, we wish to explore the reasons that the story of Greenwood, the African American part of Tulsa, also known as the Black Wall Street, and many other similar cases, are lost in oblivion. How and why one of the most powerful and independent African American communities in history was devastated and how the city, state and federal authorities facilitated such an action? What happened in similar cases?

Revisiting the 1910s and 1920s, we wish to explore the roots of the infamous Red Summer, along with riots and unrests of the era. Reaching the 1960s and 1970s we hope we discuss about the roots, rise and fall of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements and connect them with the 2010s and 2020s Black Lives Matter movement. We wish to analyze the contemporary cases of racially motivated civil unrests through the comparison of similar cases of the past in order to highlight similarities and differences. We hope to examine the role of city, state and federal authorities-including police, national guard and judicial system- in the social polarization, the formation of political and social movements and the shaping of collective memory and identity. What is the role of non-violence tactics and how were they embraced by American society? What was the role of religion and church 

We hope to answer a spectrum of questions through the exploration of their multiple aspects. What are the semantics and limitations in characterizing or labeling such cases (riots, massacres. Unrest etc)? What lessons can we learn from the past? What are the shared roots, causes and prospects? How modern American citizenship is shaped? Are equality and freedom in the 21st century only a faded dream?

GIRES, dedicated to interdisciplinarity, invites scholars from diverse fields including but not limited to philosophy, religion, theology, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, art, economics, geography, cultural and political studies along with representatives from think-tanks and organizations to contribute to the discussion and to debate these issues.

Proposed Topics 

-Cases (e.g.Tulsa, Chicago,  St. Louis, 19th-21st centuries)
-Key figures (e.g. M.L. King, Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, G. Floyd, M. Brown)
-Far-right ideology/politics and white supremacy
-Social injustice and polarization
-Racial violence in literature
-Cinematic and photographic depictions of racial violence
-Gentrification/ Urban landscape/Boundaries and Ghettoization
-School and University books: depicting/distorting history?
-Role of education through the decades
-US legal system
-Reparations
-Armed Self-defense
Social media, newspapers, television: shaping/manipulating public opinion?
-Racial violence against minorities (Asian Americans etc)
-The role of religion/church
-Arts and photography: portraying the unspeakable
-Racial violence and the formation of memory and identity
-Police brutality
Ku Klux Klan
-Presidential/ State/ Federal (re)actions
Victims and Perpetrator, The next day: Phycology and Psychiatric analysis
Archiving the memory: Oral history and Primary sources
-Non-violence: Education, tactics, legacy

Proposed Formats (Lingua franca: English)
-Individual papers (GIRES will included it in a panel)
-Panels (up to 4 presentations-chaired by one of the presenters or appointed by GIRES)
-Roundtable presentations (chaired by one of the presenters or appointed by GIRES)
-Poster presentations
-Student presentations (one paper presented by up to 3 young scholars)
-Keynote speech (depending on the time availability)
-Pre-recorder presentation (s) (Asynchronous Platform)
-Pre-recorder presentation (s) (Synchronous-live- Sessions: live participation of presenter (s) during the Q&A sessions)

Publication Opportunity 
The Organizing Committee and GIRES Press will publish the most powerful and dynamic presentations of the conference and include them
in a collective volume in the form of short articles and/or long essays. For more information please contact us

Live Sessions & Recording
All speakers are offered up to 30 minutes to present their work. All speakers have the option to have their presentations recorded (during live sessions) in HD quality.
The recordings will be uploaded to GIRES media for unlimited access and dissemination.

Asynchronous Options
All participants have the option to have their presentations (video/audio/text) uploaded to our Virtual Platform. All  registered participants will have access to the material for 5 days.

Our proposed topics & formats are not restrictive and we invite additional germane ideas
Due to the restrictions of Corona Crisis our event (for the time being) will take place VIRTUALLY

  • Date of Conference

    GIRES Headquarters(GMT+2/+1)
    26-27 March 2022

  • Deadline for proposals

    17 March 2022

  • Acceptance notification

    19 March 2022

  • Publication

    Collective Volume
    (GIRES PRESS)

  • Registration fee

    Presenters
    80 Euros

    Listeners
    60 Euros

  • Accreditation

    Official Certificate issued by GIRES

Engage

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