Conference | Resetting Liberalism: An Inquiry into the Crisis of Open Societies.
November 4-5 | College of William & Mary | Williamsburg, 310 South England Street, VA, United States
When the Cold War ended an open society and its values dominated the intellectual and political order. In recent years, however, the world has witnessed the emergence of powerful and transversal illiberal trends that can be understood as an argument for closed societies, statism and an appeal to a defense of national identity against the impinging outside world.
A multiplicity of causes have been advanced to explain this phenomenon, but no comprehensive and comparative analysis has been attempted on a global scale. This lacuna is a serious obstacle in the path to a much needed resetting of global liberalism and its core values.
The scholars convening in Williamsburg will evaluate the different contexts of this “liberal deconsolidation” in order to determine whether these phenomena depend on common causes, whether and how the values of open societies need to be revisited, and how a fair balance between liberal core values and social cohesion can be identified.
Speakers: Amel Ahmed (University of Massachusetts Amherst) • Michael Bernhard (University of Florida) • Sheri Berman (Columbia University) • Giancarlo Bosetti (ResetDOC) • José Casanova (Georgetown University) • Steve Fish (University of California, Berkeley) • Andrea Graziosi (Federico II University) • Sharan Grewal (William&Mary) • Amr Hamzawy (Stanford University) • Steve Hanson (William&Mary) • Sudipta Kaviraj (Columbia University) • Jeffrey Kopstein (University of California, Irvine) • Mark Kramer (Harvard University) • Jonathan Laurence (Boston College & Reset Dialogues) • Soli Özel (Yale University) • Paula Pickering (William&Mary) • Phil Roessler (William&Mary) • Jenny White (University of Stockholm) • Michel Wieviorka (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme).
Program
Monday, November 4
9.30 – 10.00 am Introduction: Steve Hanson (William&Mary) & Giancarlo Bosetti (ResetDOC)
10.00 am – 12.00 pm Illiberal Trends in the US and Western Europe
Sheri Berman (Columbia University)
Michel Wieviorka (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme)
Andrea Graziosi (Federico II University)
Amel Ahmed (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
12.00 – 1.15 pm Buffet Lunch
1.15 – 3.15 pm Illiberal Trends in Post-Socialist and Post-Soviet Europe
Mark Kramer (Harvard University)
Paula Pickering (William & Mary)
Michael Bernhard (University of Florida)
Jeffrey Kopstein (University of California, Irvine)
3.15 – 3.30 pm Coffee Break
3.30 – 5.30 pm Illiberal Trends in Rapidly Developing Countries
Jenny White (University of Stockholm)
Sudipta Kaviraj (Columbia University)
Soli Özel (Yale University)
Phil Roessler (William & Mary)
Tuesday, November 5
10.00 am – 12.00 pm Illiberal trends in MENA Countries and the Islamic World
Amr Hamzawy (Stanford University)
Jonathan Laurence (Boston College & Reset Dialogues)
Sharan Grewal (William & Mary)
12.00 – 1.30 pm Lunch Buffet
2.00 – 4.00 pm Final Roundtable and General Discussion: The Crisis of Global Liberalism | Commonwealth Auditorium, William & Mary
Sheri Berman, José Casanova, Steve Fish, Steve Hanson, Jenny White