3413 - Social Justice after Unite the Right

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

The August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, drew international attention for its shocking display of violent white supremacy. The event sparked urgent discussion about the state of the American far-right today, and of racialized social relations more generally. Where did they come from, those hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, militia members, and nationalists? Was the rally a brief moment of unity, or reflective of an organized social movement with coherent objectives and strategies? Why did civic leaders permit the protest in the first place, and what did this say about their commitment to addressing endemic, everyday racism in the community? For sociologists interested in these and related questions, the event also became an opportunity to channel research and analysis into the linked projects of healing the community and turning back the tide of white supremacy.

Coinciding with the second anniversary of the Unite the Right rally, the proposed panel will feature sociologists whose research on race, racism, far-right organizations, and culture is both informing the discipline and engaging with the practical work of social justice. Papers will address doing research with and on community members, institutional leaders, and the press, with an overall interest in how we can apply the distinctive analytical features of sociology to anti-racism, pro-social justice efforts.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Session

Session Organizer

• Fiona Greenland, University of Virginia

Individual Presentations

• Is There a United Far-Right? - Peter Simi, Chapman University

• When Tolerance Turns Deadly: Charlottesville as an unlikely Symbol of Racist Hate - Milton D. Vickerman, University of Virginia

• Searching for Alternative Facts: Mainstreaming the Extreme - Francesca Tripodi, James Madison University

Discussant

• Angel Adams Parham, Loyola University New Orleans