Thursday–Friday, October 22–23, 2020, 11am–6pm EDT • Facebook Live
Day 1 recording.
Day 2 recording.
Signs of U.S. imperialism are omnipresent: from trillion-dollar defense budgets to fighter jet flyovers at professional sporting events; from “endless war” abroad to local police, in military kit, beating, gassing, and shooting protestors at home.
How can we understand the U.S. empire in all its gargantuan totality—as the expression of American international power, a guarantor of global capital, and a structural factor of domestic American life? Where does the U.S. state, culture, and economy end, and the empire begin?
In Empire in Crisis, a two-day teach-in and symposium organized by the Colombe Foundation and Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, leading scholars, journalists, and activists will gather to explore the scope, function, and possible futures of U.S. imperialism—both its power and the points at which it can be resisted.
Across a series of text-based learning sessions and panel discussions, we will ask: Why do we fight “endless wars”? How does U.S. imperialism connect with the global economy? In what ways has American life been militarized? How do we resist?
Empire in Crisis: a Teach-In and Symposium on U.S Imperialism Today will take place Thursday and Friday, October 22 and 23. Participants will include BISR faculty, Nikhil Pal Singh, Jeanne Morefield, Laleh Khalili, Catherine Lutz, Jodi Byrd, Sara Salem, Tobita Chow, Benjamin Schrader, and Vijay Prashad—with more to be announced. During the learning sessions, BISR faculty will teach from specific texts, which viewers can access and read in advance by RSVPing at the link below.
The event is free to attend, and can be viewed, regardless of whether you have a Facebook account, on the BISR public Facebook page (and we encourage attendees to submit questions and comments in the comment section).
Empire in Crisis is being held in partnership with Justice is Global, the DSA International Committee, Veterans for Peace, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the National Lawyers Guild, and Brown University’s Costs of War Project.