The Preliminary Program
The Ninth Annual Social Theory Forum
April 18th and 19th 2012
The Campus of the University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393, Tel: 617-287-5000
Conflict, Social Movements, and Social Change: Theory and Practice
Final Program
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
8:30-9:25 - REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST (Ryan Lounge, Third Floor
of the McCormack Hall, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall )
9:25-9:30 - Opening the Conference
Siamak Movahedi, Jorge Capetillo, Glenn Jacobs, & Darren Kew, the Conference Moderators
9:30-10: OPENING STATEMENTS
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Winston Langley, Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Massachusetts Boston
10:00-10:45:
Distinguished Lectures
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Lauren Langman, Loyola University of Chicago, and
Valentine Moghadam, Northeastern University
From Tahrir Square to Zucotti Park and Beyond
Page | 1
11:00-12:30 Block
Session 1: Global Perspectives on the Occupy Movements
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Lauren Langman, Loyola University of Chicago and
George Lundskow, Grand Valley State University
Down The Rabbit Hole to a Tea Party
Talia Hagerty, Center for Global Affairs, New York University
“This is What Democracy Looks Like”: Strategic Nonviolent Conflict and the Case of Occupy Wall Street
Daphne Jeyapal, University of Toronto
Space, race and the protest of others
Mary-Jo Callahan, Central Connecticut State University
From Chiapas to New York: The Zapatista Influence on the Occupy Movement
Moderator: Glenn Jacobs, Sociology, University of Massachusetts
Session 2: Conflict Resolution and Social Movement Theory
(Harbor Art Gallery, First Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Louis Kriesberg, Syracuse University
Samuel John Burdick, Syracuse University
Beth Roy, University of California, Berkeley
Struggling on the Street and at the Table: How Social Action and Civil Dialogue can work together.
Andrew Stein, The Lacanian group Apres Coup in New York City
Occupy Wall Street: Politics As Usual Or Social Justice Event?
Charles W. Ogg, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Applying Relational Analysis to Labor as a Social Movement: The Sleeping Beast Awakes in Wisconsin.
Moderator: David Steele, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance,
University of Massachusetts
Discussant: Darren Kew, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance,
University of Massachusetts
Page | 2
Session 3: The Politics of Funding and the Pursuit of Social Justice
(Sociology Conference Room, Wheatley 4th floor, room 22-23)
Diane Swords, Elizabeth Mount, Anya Stanger, Syracuse University
Moderator: Maria Ivanova, Center for Conflict Resolution, University of Massachusetts
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:20:
Distinguished Lecture
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Louis Kriesberg, Maxwell School, Syracuse University
Social Conflicts and Social Movements for Constructive Social
Change
2:30-4:00 Block
Session 4: The Arab Spring Movements: Where are they now and where
are they going: A Symposium.
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Leila Farsakh, Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston (Moderator)
Lina Khatib, Program Manager for the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy, Stanford University,
Stuart Krusell, Associate Director, Office of External Relations, MIT
Session 5: Minority, Immigrant, and Gender Movements
(Harbor Art Gallery, First Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Zulfiqar Ghazal, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Microfinance and the Promise of Social Change in South Asia
Loan Dao, University of Massachusetts Boston
“American Accent”: Counter-hegemonic Narratives of Undocumented and Non-citizen Asian (American)
Youth
Page | 3
Jorge Capetillo-Ponce and Cedric Woods, University of Massachusetts at Boston
Latino or Native American? Changing Patterns of Collective Identification Among the Maya K’iche in the
United States
Ahmad, Shabab, CUHP, Dharamsala H.P. India
Minority Status- Saga of Dispute: A Critical Review
Rashimi Nair, Clark University
Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Clark University
Solidarity between minority groups-voices from social movements in India
Moderator: Lorna Rivera, Women’s Studies, University of Massachusetts
Session 6: Nationalism, Autonomy, and Separatism
(Sociology Conference Room, Fourth Floor of Wheatley Hall )
Anand Prasad Subedi, Tribhuvan University-Surkhet. Nepal.University of Nepal
Conflict Affected Internally Displaced Families in Nepal: A Special Reference to (1996-2006) Decade Long
Maoist Insurgency
Sonay Bayramoglu, Ozugurlu Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Nuray Erturk Keskin, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Local and Regional self government? / Autonomy? A Study on the Turkish Case
Tufail Jarul, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi- India
Kashmir Conflict and its Impact on the Seasonal Movement of the Bakarwal tribe and its future in the
Valley of Kashmir
Ehioboh Sonia Obehi, Celestial Church oƒ Christ Bible Institute-Lagos
The Unifying Role of English in a Multicultural nation: The Case of Nigeria
Ugochukwu Osuagwu,
Etnic Militias and Ethno-Nationalism in Nigeria: The rising Threat of Boko Haram, Egbesu, Massob and
OPC
Moderator: Rezarta Bilali, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance,
University of Massachusetts
4:30-6:30 Block
Session 7: Social Theory
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Page | 4
Oliver Kozlarek, Universidad de Michoacán, Mexico
The Humanist Turn: a Comparative Critique of Dehumanization
Héctor Raúl Solis-Gadea, Universidad de Guadalajara, México
The Challenges of Social Theory in the Twenty First Century
Margarita Palacios, Birkbeck College, Germany
Hermeneutics and the Art of Disobedience: A critical reading of Ricoeur and Derrida
Tatsushi Arai, School for International Training (SIT)
Toward Functional Coexistence: Peace building in the Context of Mutual Non-Recognition
Michael D’Arcy, UC Berkeley – UC San Francisco
Shahid and the Mnay Struggles: Translating the Revolution and the Witness-as-Word
Moderator: Jorge Capetillo-Ponce, Sociology, University of Massachusetts
Session 8: Comparative Social Movements
(Harbor Art Gallery, First Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Luis Galanes, University of Puerto Rico at Cayey
Contemporary Social Movements: Lessons from the Caribbean
Carolina Muñoz Proto, City University of New York
Susan Opotow, John Jay College of Criminal Justice-New York
Justice, Activity and Narrative: Studying the World March for Peace and Nonviolence
Martha Mutisi, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Structures of reconciliation: the Organ of National Healing in Zimbabwe.
Sanjaya Aryal,
Transition without Justice: Flourishing Impunity in Nepal
Oboshi Agyeno and Bosede Awodola, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution-Abuja-Nigeria
Social Movements and 2011 General Election in Nigeria: Case Study of Neighbor 2 Neighbor
Moderator: Rajini Srikanth, Department of English and Associate Provost, University of Massachusetts
7:00-Dinner
Location: TBA
Page | 5
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
8:00-9:00 - REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST (Ryan Lounge, Third Floor
of the McCormack Hall, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
9:00-10:30 Block
Session 9: Digital Democracy, Social Media, and Movements I
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Fredrick Odour Ogenga, Maseno University- Kenya
Is Peace Journalism in the ‘war’ against terror? The Daily Nation and the Standard representation of
Operation Linda Nchi in Somalia
Jo Ann Oravec, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater
The Protest Culture of the Midwest: Comparison of Pre-Internet and Internet-Enabled Imagery and
Organizational Strategies
Divyanshu Rastogi and Gazal Gupta,
Social Media and Its Usage Trends: A Socio-cultural Perspective
Moderator: Michael Keating, Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development, University of
Massachusetts
Session 10: Digital Democracy, Social Media, and Movements II
(Sociology Conference Room, Wheatley 4th. Floor, Room 22-23)
James Clark, York University, Toronto, Canada
‘Cyber Utopian’ readings of the Arab Spring: A neoliberal and pro-war fantasy
Martha Mutisi, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Countering State Repression through Digital Democracy: The Role of Electronic Media in Social
Movements in Zimbabwe
Jay Heisler, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada
Nonviolent Propaganda: Examples from Burma and Iran
Moderator: Glenn Jacobs, Sociology, University of Massachusetts
Session 11: Labor, Civil Society and Culture
(Harbor Art Gallery, First Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Panagiotis League, Hellenic College
Page | 6
Rewriting Unwritten History: Nationalism, Folklore, and the Ban of the Cretan Violin
Terry Tucker, Brandman University, Modesto, CA
The Book of Mozilla in Conflict Resolution
Harneet Singh, Ashish Gulati, Duru Arun Kumar, & Subhas Netaji, Institute of Technology, Dwarka, New
Delhi, India
Plight of Contract Labor in a Liberalizing Economy – An Indian Experience
Fakrossadat Tabatabai, University of Massachusetts
The Veil: Symbol and State Identity-Iran and France
Moderator: Kade Finnoff, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts
10:40-12:10 Block
Session 12: Anti-Hegemonic Social Movements
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Sam Binkley, Emerson College
Social Movements and the Government of Intimacy: Expertise and the Intensification of Emotional
Reciprocity.
Chandni Desai, Institute for Studies in Education Center: Center for Urban Schooling, Ontario
Supression of Social Movements: Challenges to the Road Map to Peace.
Kirsten Ronald, University of Texas-Austin
Black Power and Anti-Freeway Activism in Washington D.C.
Wen Feng, Peking University, China
Right against power: collective action of medical professionals in China.
Jin Di, University of Saskatchewan-Canada
Institutional Change and earnings of migrants and non-migrants in urban China
Moderator: Jorge Capetillo, Sociology, University of Massachusetts
Session 13: Genocide, Religious Revivalism and Torture.
(Harbor Art Gallery, First Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Stephen Soldz, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
Opposing Psychologist Complicity in Torture.
Page | 7
Mohammed Usman, and Ibrahim Badamasi, Babangida University, Lapai - Nigeria
Religious Revivalism, Boko Haram and the Nigerian Society
Martha Mutisi, African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Dealing with the aftermath of genocide through the Concept of Abanyarwanda: A Case of “Ethic
Amnesia” in Rwanda?
Darren Kew, University of Massachusetts
Boko Haram, Occupy Nigeria, and the Return of Ideology in Nigeria
Moderator: Siamak Movahedi, Sociology, University of Massachusetts
12:10-1:40 Lunch
1:40-2:30:
Distinguished Lecture
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Donald L. Carveth
Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought, York University
Training and Supervising Analyst Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis
Director Toronto Institute of Psychoanalysis
“A Civil War in Every Soul"
Progress and Regress in the Struggle for Modernity
2:30- 4:00 Block
Session 14: Sustainability and Environmental Movements
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Allen Fidelis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Issues, Analysis, Strategies and Achievements of Environmental Advocacy Groups in South Africa and
Nigeria
Whitney Gecker, University of Massachusetts-Boston
Kromash, Kevin, Yale University
Food for Thought: Using Habermas to Analyze the Marketing of Food in the U.S.
Fernando Campos Medina, GSBC Graduate School Human Behaviour in Social and Economic Change
Page | 8
The De-Politicization of the Socio-Ecological Conflict in Chile, When the Pollution and the Sustainability
Prevent to Observe the Human Injustice
Dainius Genys, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas-Lithuania
The role of social conflict in civil society boundaries formation in the Baltic States
Carrie T. Stiles,
Countering Structural Violence: Cultivating an Experience of Positive Peace
Moderator: Maria Ivanova, Center for Conflict Resolution, University of Massachusetts
Session 15: Film Screening: “Wounds of War”
Sanjaya Aryal
(Sociology Conference Room, Wheatley 4th. Floor, Room 22-23)
4:00-5:00 Block
Occupy Boston Documentary, Emerson College
Directed by John Forrester
(Ryan Lounge, Third Floor of the McCormack Hall)
Page | 9