Three politically-charged events; The need for punishment
Events on Structural Injustice, Extremism and Pseudoscience, and Political Speech; an essay by Henrique Carvalho and Anastasia Chamberlen
Dear all,
Thanks to everyone who joined last week’s events in celebration of the publication of our latest issue! Your Sunday Read today is by two of the contributors to the new issue. We also have another busy week of events, with two tomorrow and one on Tuesday. This week they are all on heavyweight political issues - structural injustice, extremism, and political speech.
Your Sunday Read
“Questioning our Need for Punishment”: Henrique Carvalho and Anastasia Chamberlen
Most of the time, the philosophy of punishment appears to speak only to itself and imagines punishment as an abstract rather than concrete social phenomenon. In this compelling and accessible overview of this field of research, Carvalho and Chamberlen argue that the philosophy of punishment ought to be more grounded, critical, more problem-oriented, and more public – more attuned to the concrete social realities of the institutions of criminal justice.
They frame the essay around the following question: How do we make sense of our over-reliance on punitive responses when it is increasingly clear that such responses are unable to make good on any of punishment’s promises? Introducing the idea of “hostile solidarity”, they argue that punishment is framed, justified, and deployed as a “them” problem: the issue is criminal behaviour, criminal outcomes, and criminal others. However, punishment ultimately is about “us”: about how we feel, what we need, and about the societies in which we live and to which we contribute. You can read their essay here.
Carvalho and Chamberlen also discussed this topic in Tuesday’s event with Andy West. You can find that recording here.
Monday Event #1: 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm UK (co-hosted with Boston Review)
The Politics of Structural Injustice
Maeve McKeown in conversation with Katrina Forrester
What is structural injustice, and who ultimately bears responsibility for it?
In this event, political theorist Maeve McKeown will explore how power and responsibility truly function in today’s world. Drawing on case studies from sweatshops to climate change, McKeown will help us shape a deeper, more sophisticated idea of how structural injustice operates and what we as individuals can do about it. What is the political responsibility of ordinary individuals? How can ordinary individuals with very little power pressure morally responsible, powerful agents to address structural injustice? Do we have the same responsibility for historical injustice as we do for that which we see in today’s world? This event aims for nothing less than a fundamental reassessment of the relationship between power, ordinary people, and responsibility for structural injustice. You can find out more and register here!
Monday Event #2: 4pm PT/7pm ET/9am (Tues) AET
Extremism and the Allure of Science
Tracy Llanera and Louise Richardson-Self in conversation with Anthony Morgan
Defining extremism turns out to be a tricky business. There are a host of traits associated with it, e.g., intolerance, rigidity and inflexibility, feelings of victimization, hate and anger towards particular outgroups, displeasure and fear about the state of the world or the direction it is headed, willingness to sacrifice oneself or others in the name of one’s ideals. Definitional problems aside, one notable feature of many extremist groups – from white supremacists to the alt-right – is the allure of scientific explanations in reinforcing their views. From biological essentialism to “natural” hierarchies, scientific findings are sought out to add substance to extremist arguments. This event will help us explore the boundaries between fact and fiction, science and pseudoscience. You can find out more and register here!
Tuesday Event: 4pm PT/7pm ET/9am (Wed.) AET
Racism, Falsehood, and Political Speech
Jennifer Saul in conversation with Ian Olasov
It is widely accepted that political discourse in recent years has become more openly racist and more accepting of wildly implausible conspiracy theories. In this event, Jennifer Saul will explore how such changes – both of which defied previously settled norms of political speech – have been brought about. She will show how linguistic devices, such as “dogwhistles” and “figleaves”, contribute to the transmission of norm-violating discourse more generally, exploited and widened existing divisions in society, and normalized racist and conspiracist speech. This event will offer an illuminating and disturbing view of the workings of contemporary political discourse. You can find out more and register here!
You can also put some event dates for May and June in the diary! Lots of exciting events coming up…
If you have ideas for events you’d like to see, let us know! We always want to hear from our newsletter subscribers and loyal readers about what you’re enjoying and what you’re eager to read and see. You can contact the editorial team or leave a comment through the newsletter.
One of the aspects of The Philosopher that we’ve been discussing at management meetings is getting more in touch with our audience. Whether you’re reading articles online, ordering the print editions, attending events, participating in our groups, or a mixture of them all, we’d love to know what you’re enjoying.
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Wishing you all a lovely Sunday!
Andie Cook
Editorial Assistant
I love the opening to this. Will be reading that essay soon.
Hi, you often have events that I would like to attend, but they're at 2 o'clock Eastern standard time which conflicts with win a lot of people have to pick up or bring home their kids from school. I was wondering if you can add the option to sign up for webinars and get a link to a recording when people can't make it in person? Alternatively, do you always post these videos on your website and if so, you could send along that link.