Center for InterAmerican Studies

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, CIAS, Focus Area SHIFT, and ASTA have joined forces for the upcoming edition of the InterAmerican Studies Colloquium to present this keynote address by Professor Kwame Dixon of Howard University (Washington D.C.). This lecture will focus on the current struggle for human rights, and democracy in the US and the role of the country in global affairs: domestically, it will highlight the struggle for voting and minority rights, the upcoming midterm elections, grassroots resistance and civil society mobilization; internationally the focus will be on the role of US imperialism and the recent military interventions in the Middle East and Latin America. What is the current state of democratic institutions in the US? What is the current state of human rights in the US and the Americas? What role are social movements and civil society playing in safeguarding human rights in the US and abroad? What commitment does the US have towards multicultural democratic institutions and for protecting the rights of previously excluded groups like African American, Asians, Latino/as Women and other groups? How do we make sense of the US's recent military interventions in the Middle East and Latin America and what are some of the geo-political consequences?

 Dr. Kwame Dixon is a tenured Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, DC. His research focuses on Afro-Democracy, Afro-Civil Society, and Racialization and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has published three books on Latin America and the Caribbean, Comparative Perspectives on Afro-Latin America (2012), Afro Politics and Civil Society in Salvador da Bahia (2016) and Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America (2019).

July 7, 6 pm Hörsaal 5 (UHG)

InterAmerican Studies Colloquium presented by CIAS, Focus Area SHIFT, ASTA Uni Bielefeld.

Dr. Kwame Dixon (Howard University): The United States at 250: Hemispheric Perspectives on the Current Contestations of Democracy and Human Rights.