Democracy in Crisis? Populism, Polarization, and Civic Engagement
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Session Description
In the last several years, a wave of populist leaders have gained popularity—and in many cases taken office—around the world. As a globalized economy and the automation of work catapults winners and excludes losers, the world’s geopolitical stability has begun to falter. At the same time, we have witnessed a surge in political engagement and activism. What can we learn from major geopolitical shifts of the past, especially in a future that feels more unpredictable than ever?
Time & Location
Time:
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM, Wednesday, April 11, 2018
BST
Location:
Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre
Speakers
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Speaker
Journalist, Author
One of the Turkey’s best known novelists and political commentators who also have been published in The Guardian, The New York Times, Newstatesman, Frankfurter Allgemeine and Der Spiegel. She lived in several countries such as Lebanon, Tunisia, Paris and Oxford to write her novels. She was a visiting fellow in Saint Anthony’s College, University of Oxford. Her recent novels “Banana Sounds”, “Women Who Blow On Knots” and “The Time of Mute Swans” are published in several languages. During her twenty years of journalism, before she lost her job due to the political oppression in Turkey, she has been “the most read writer” for several times. She has been rated as “the one of the 10 most influential people in social media” for two times. She gave the “Freedom Lecture” as a guest of Amnesty International and Prince Claus Foundation. Among many other places she gave speeches at Oxford, London School of Economics, Harvard University and House of Commons in British Parliament. She recently appeared on BBC’s Hard Talk and Imagining The New Truth series. She divides her time between Istanbul and Zagreb.
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Speaker
CEO, Obama Foundation
David Simas is the Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. A native of Taunton, Massachusetts, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in 2007. Simas then joined President Obama’s administration in 2009 as a Deputy Assistant to the President, working with senior advisors David Axelrod and David Plouffe. In 2012, he served as Director of Opinion Research for President Obama's reelection campaign. Following the reelection, Simas returned to the White House as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach. Simas holds a B.A. in political science from Stonehill College and a J.D. from Boston College Law School. He serves on the national board of directors of OneGoal and lives in Chicago with his wife, Shauna, and their two daughters.
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Moderator
CEO, New America
Anne-Marie Slaughter is the CEO of New America and the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009-2011 she served as the director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position. Prior to her government service, Dr. Slaughter was the Dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School) from 2002–2009 and the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School from 1994-2002. She has written or edited seven books, including “The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World”, “Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family”, and “The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World. She is also a frequent contributor to a number of publications, including The Atlantic, the Financial Times, and Project Syndicate. In 2012, she published “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” in The Atlantic, which quickly became one of the most read articles in the history of the magazine and helped spark a renewed national debate on the continued obstacles to genuine full male-female equality. She is married to Professor Andrew Moravcsik; they have two sons.
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Speaker
Ambassador, World For All Foundation
A participant and leader in the anti-apartheid struggle.
Held ministerial positions like Health & Welfare; Finance & Economic Development; and Premier of the Western Cape Province.
Was South Africa’s Ambassador to the USA.
Founded the World for All Foundation that opposes all extremisms & strives for a world safe for difference.
Is a Senior Fellow at both Georgetown and Rutgers Universities.
Edited a recently published book called Living Where We Don’t Make The Rules - a guide for Muslim minorities.
