Globalization Day 2019

9:35am-11am, Guthart Cultural Center Theater
The “S” Word (and other ‘isms)

Socialism, Communism, and Conservatism all have one thing in common: we are afraid of them. Not only are we afraid of these ideas we are afraid of the people who identify with them. The divorce between meaning and rhetoric in our political climate has led to deep, ideological divides that we often wonder if we can come back from. In an age where our best habit is that of labeling, our political discussions are in dire need of not only clarification but humanization. What are these political philosophies? Who do they represent? This panel discussion dissects these “dirty words” in a deliberative discussion that addresses where these popularized philosophies come from, what they mean, and how we can use them to answer our own questions about how to address current political issues. 

Panelists:   Prof. Amy Baehr, Philosophy; Prof Martin Melkonian, Economics;

11:10am-12:35pm, Guthart Cultural Center Theater

Globalization and the De-Industrialization of the American City

Forty years ago, America was a manufacturing powerhouse. Thirty years ago, factories started shutting down and thousands of Americans who were employed in automobile and steel plants found themselves without jobs. Today, the effects of this extreme economic change are still reverberating in our economy and polity. This event seeks to define deindustrialization and to discuss the effect globalization had on the US economy. Panelists will also examine how emerging economies felt the impact of these changes on their cities.

Panelists:   Dr. Kaushik Sengupta, Associate Dean, Business Graduate Education, Professor and Chair, Management and Entrepreneurship; Dr. Robert Guttman,Professor of Economics; Aashish Kumar, Assoc. Professor of Radio/TV/Film, Co-Director, CCE

12:50pm-2:15pm, Guthart Cultural Center Theater

War and the Green Economy

Speaker:  Medea Benjamin,Writer and Co-Founder of Code Pink

The Green Economy proposal is an effort to transform our fossil-fuel driven energy system and to dramatically reduce and ultimately eliminate carbon and other emissions responsible for the climate crisis. Where will resources and funding come from to achieve this monumental task? Medea Benjamin, author and co-founder of Code Pink, makes the case that the current bloated "forever war" economy must be converted to an economy that prioritizes peace and sustainability.

Sponsored by: International Scene Lecture Series Spring 2019 in cooperation with Hofstra’s Departments of Economics, History and Sociology, Institute for Peace Studies, Long Island Teachers for Human Rights, Honors College, The Cultural Center and the The Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives.

2:20 pm-4:10 pm, Multi-Purpose Room, Student Center

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (2015)

Nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category, Winter on Fire sets in context the recent, turbulent history of Ukraine, and advocates for the right of the Ukrainian people to express their collective will within a sovereign, democratic European state.  In the fall of 2013, university students in Ukraine's capital city left their classes to protest against the systemic corruption of the political parties then in power, and in support of Ukraine's integration into the European Union.  The students' peaceful protests, which were met by a series of violent crackdowns, evolved into a massive popular revolution, and ultimately led to new elections, and a reformed, representative parliament.  Winter on Fire now prompts the questions that Ukrainians are reckoning with, five years after their popular revolution began:  how to assess both the successes and the failures to fulfill the democratic aspirations that propelled that revolution?  

Moderator: Dr. Irene Fizer, Associate Professor, English Department

4:30pm-7:00 pm, Plaza Room Middle, Student Center

*Everything Can Change on a New Year’s Day This event marks the 25th anniversary of a pivotal moment in Mexico’s history.  Jan. 1, 1994, the day that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect, was also the day that indigenous peoples in the region saw as the final nail in the coffin of their communities and way of life.  In Southeastern Mexico, several thousand Mayan soldiers took over half of Chiapas declaring a war against globalization and the corporate power that carried on the centuries of colonialism and exploitation they had suffered.  They called themselves the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), and they saw themselves as representatives of all humanity.  This event will revolve around the documentary film,“ Zapatista”,  which takes a the definitive look at this uprising of Mayan peasants armed with only sticks and their words.

* from the eponymous Rage Against the Machine song

Note: 

There will be a reception at the end of this event – refreshments will be served.

Discussants:  Alex Vasquez Escano is a playwright and theater producer at Teatrica in New York City.  He was in Chiapas in January, 1998 and witnessed some of the peace process between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government; Professor Álvaro Enrigue, Romance Language department, Hofstra University

Organizer: Dr. Linda Longmire, Professor, Global Studies and Geography

This event is co-sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program and Radio/TV/Film Department.  Special thanks to Hofstra Library Media Services.