Events
Democracy in Classical Athens: An Organizer's Guide
Date and Time
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Description
Democracy 101: A Series of Critical Conversations
DEMOCRACY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS: AN ORGANIZERS' GUIDE
Date: Wednesday, January 17
Time: 12pm-1:30pm
Location: KC 2266
Presenter: Dr. Charles Pazdernik and Dr. David Crane, Classics Dept.
We're taught that the ancient Greeks "invented" democracy, but how did they organize and perform it? Conceptualized as isonomia ("equality before the law") and the power (kratos) of the sovereign people (demos), the political culture and value system of Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE not only gave ordinary (male) citizens a vote but also empowered them as participants and made them the political equals of their wealthy and elite neighbors.
Animated less by political and constitutional theory than by a robust set of ideological premises and institutional practices, Athenians confronted a range of strikingly contemporary concerns about, for example, the influence of money in politics, the place of morality in international relations, and the power of mass media. They were disappointed by politicians and suspicious of experts. In the face of grave threats and self-inflicted reverses, their approach proved to be remarkably resilient and capable of reinvention.
We study the past not only to imagine where we come from about also to find alternatives to the way things are. Athenian democracy holds the potential to provoke and even to instruct us because it differs fundamentally from our own. Our session will investigate some original--often surprising, occasionally repellant--ways that Athenian democrats exerted, promoted, and protected themselves against opponents both external and internal, some imagined and some real.
Democracy 101: A Series of Critical Conversations
A series of bi-weekly co-curricular lectures, panel discussions and workshops that will focus on themes of democratic values, systems, and structures. We welcome faculty, staff, and students from all disciplines to present on topics relevant to democratic participation, founding documents, social movements, the idea of the commons, Civic Theory, student civic development and participation, the role of journalism and media in a democracy, “fake news”, how to organize for social change, and more!
All events are LIB 100 approved and will have pizza provided.
Information
For more information, please visit: http://www.gvsu.edu/service/democracy-101-a-series-of-critical-conversations-181.htm
Contact
Department of Classics <[email protected]>
GVSU Community Service Learning Center <[email protected]>