005 - Opening Plenary Session. Dignity and the Bridging of Group Boundaries

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

The notion of dignity is at the center of claim-making in contemporary society. This session brings together scholars who reflect on this theme in different national contexts. The conversation will concern definitions of dignity as it manifests itself in space and time, how to weaken group boundaries and broaden the community of actors who are recognized as having full cultural membership, and the particular cases of indigenous people and African Americans as crucial social divides in North-American societies.

Sub Unit

• Plenary and Presidential Panels

Presider

• Michèle Lamont, Harvard University

Individual Presentations

• Dignity of an Individual vs. Dignity of a Group, with Examples from Russia and Beyond - Oleg Kharkhordin, European University at St. Petersburg

• Out, Damned Spot! The Troubling Evasion of Blackness in Sociological Theory and Research - Lawrence D. Bobo, Harvard University

• The Indignity of Reconciliation: The Experience of First Nations in Canada - Audra Simpson, Columbia University

• Advances and Setbacks in the Pursuit of Collective Dignity: The Case of Québec - Gérard Bouchard, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi