U.S. Intellectual History Conference at the New School
⬤ Research diary by Christian O. Christiansen, 9th November 2019
Yesterday I presented some of our very first research findings from ‘An Intellectual History of Global Inequality, 1960-2015’ at The Society for U.S. Intellectual History annual conference, this year taking place in the amazing historical surroundings of The New School, Greenwich Village, in New York City. The conference program is filled with exciting panels and plenary discussions. Yesterday, especially two sessions stand out (the others I went to were interesting too!). One was a plenary roundtable on publishing intellectual history, where publishers gave lots of useful advice on writing intellectual history for a broader audience—from connecting better with readers, presenting counter-intuitive arguments, focusing on ‘the good plot’, to creating a sense of drama, etc. The other was a roundtable on ‘reparations as a global praxis’. Academics and activists (well, one of each) met to discuss the urgent political question of reparation for blacks descendants of slaves in America—i.e. discussions about how to make up (even if never justly so) for the historical injustices done to slaves in America, that casts a long, dark shadow on present-day inequalities in the US. The discussion touched upon important issues such as the crucial role of international crisis in moving reparations forward; social activism’s use of digital technology; the role of the UN; mass incarceration and wealth extraction (pay day loans etc.) in what was called a contemporary ‘racial capitalism’ in the US. Such inequalities, grounded in the past, are still working in the present, even at the deep level of temporality where the past continues to be present in the present for many black people. It was a chilling diagnosis of ‘the land of the free’. I am looking forward to equally interesting, exciting, stimulating—and sometimes moving—discussions in the days to come.
U.S. Intellectual History Conference at the New School
⬤ Research diary by Christian O. Christiansen, 9th November 2019
Yesterday I presented some of our very first research findings from ‘An Intellectual History of Global Inequality, 1960-2015’ at The Society for U.S. Intellectual History annual conference, this year taking place in the amazing historical surroundings of The New School, Greenwich Village, in New York City. The conference program is filled with exciting panels and plenary discussions. Yesterday, especially two sessions stand out (the others I went to were interesting too!). One was a plenary roundtable on publishing intellectual history, where publishers gave lots of useful advice on writing intellectual history for a broader audience—from connecting better with readers, presenting counter-intuitive arguments, focusing on ‘the good plot’, to creating a sense of drama, etc. The other was a roundtable on ‘reparations as a global praxis’. Academics and activists (well, one of each) met to discuss the urgent political question of reparation for blacks descendants of slaves in America—i.e. discussions about how to make up (even if never justly so) for the historical injustices done to slaves in America, that casts a long, dark shadow on present-day inequalities in the US. The discussion touched upon important issues such as the crucial role of international crisis in moving reparations forward; social activism’s use of digital technology; the role of the UN; mass incarceration and wealth extraction (pay day loans etc.) in what was called a contemporary ‘racial capitalism’ in the US. Such inequalities, grounded in the past, are still working in the present, even at the deep level of temporality where the past continues to be present in the present for many black people. It was a chilling diagnosis of ‘the land of the free’. I am looking forward to equally interesting, exciting, stimulating—and sometimes moving—discussions in the days to come.
