This talk explores racial fissures in the “global spring” of uprisings that began in 2011. A blossoming of movements followed by extreme right-wing populist backlash and co-optation has characterized much of this sequence of struggle. In the current moment when fascism and right-wing populism are on the rise in many parts of the world, we cannot stop at the denunciations of the more obvious and explicit forms of white supremacy. Rather, this talk draws from the examples of Occupy Wall Street, European anti-austerity protests, Libya’s Arab Spring, and South African shackdweller struggles, to argue that we must also take a self-reflexive look at the seeds of division embedded in radical political formations in order to achieve a more sobering account of our present predicament.

connect with us

         

© UC Irvine School of Social Sciences - 3151 Social Sciences Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697-5100 - 949.824.2766