This conference explores the function of anger as both a tool and reactionary response within the political realm. From unjust policing of communities of color, immigration reform, firearm regulation, frustration over the gridlock in Congress and the Senate, to corporate exploitation of tax loopholes, the anger of citizens is reflected in the tone and rhetoric of presidential candidates. In our current political climate, anger serves as a spectacle—one that can work to highlight social justice causes, give voice to frustrated demographics, or attempt to quell political action. This conference interrogates the spectacle of anger, illustrated by the caricatured display of anger in political campaigns, and its ostensible disconnection from political transformation. Session I: Anger, Social Media, and Reform This morning session of the conference includes two presentations, one by Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean, associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University, entitled "From Pain to Power: Building a New Framework for Social Justice Organizing," and the other by Dr. Kevin Lanning, social psychology professor at Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, entitled "It's Rigged: Social Change, Social Media, and the Rise of Rage."
Keynote Address: Anger and Politics: Exploring the Connections Between Race, Democracy, and Economic Inequality The next session is the keynote presentation by Dr. Ian Haney Lopéz. Dr. Haney Lopéz is the John H. Boalt Professor of Law at University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches race and constitutional law. Haney Lopéz, whose current research emphasizes the connection between racial divisions in society and growing wealth inequality in the U.S., is also the author of five books and the director of the Racial Politics Project at the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.
Session II: Exploring Anger Globally: Fear of the Other in Europe and the United States This afternoon session of the conference includes two presentations, one by Dr. Jacqueline S. Gehring, associate professor of political science at Allegheny College, entitled "Rising Anger in Europe," and the other by Dr. José Jorge Mendoza, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, entitled "Anger and Its Impact on a Restorative Justice approach to Immigration Reform."
