[getsmart-l] Consumerism, Globalization and the End of Sovereignty - Wed. April 2, 3 pm

[John O'Gorman]

“Consumerism, Globalization and the End of Sovereignty”
Benjamin R. Barber, Rutgers University 

On Wednesday April 2, the School of Public Policy and Governance in conjunction with Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-Theory and Policy Studies, Centre for Studies of the United States, the Dept. of Political Science, the Dept. of Philosophy, the Faculty of Law, OISE Dean’s Office, OISE – CIDE, OISE Grad School and the Provost’s Office, are pleased to present a special lecture by Dr. Benjamin R. Barber.

Dr. Barber’s talk, entitled “Consumerism, Globalization and the End of Sovereignty” will be held at the Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building - Room # B250 (University of Toronto - 144 College St.) April 2 from 3 - 5p.m.

Dr. Barber, author of 17 books including the recent international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld (1995/2001 – translated into 27 languages), will examine the privatization associated with a consumer society, and the globalization of markets in labor and capital which together constitute a profound threat to traditional sovereignty. Because democracy is tied to the national state ("popular sovereignty"), this erosion of sovereignty is tantamount to the extinction of democracy. Unless globalization is democratized or democracy globalized -- unless consumers are turned back into citizens without borders -- the age after sovereignty may also become the age after democracy. 

Dr. Barber is the Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and President and Director of the international NGO, CivWorld. Prior to assuming these roles, ~Dr. Barber was Walt Whitman Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University for 32 years, and then Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society at The University of Maryland. Dr. Barber brings an abiding concern for democracy and citizenship to issues of politics, culture and education in America and abroad. He consults regularly with political and civic leaders in the United States and around the world, and for five years served as an informal consultant to President Bill Clinton.

Benjamin Barber's 17 books include the classic Strong Democracy (1984), reissued in 2004 in a twentieth anniversary edition; international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld (1995 with a post-9/11 edition in 2001, translated into twenty-seven languages) and Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole, published in 2007 by W.W. Norton in the United States and in seven foreign editions.

If you wish to attend this talk, please notify Petra Jory <p.jory at utoronto.ca>

Who:           Dr. Benjamin R. Barber
Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and President and Director of the international NGO CivWorld

What:          Special Lecture Consumerism, Globalization and the End of Sovereignty

When:~  Wednesday, April 2, 2008 from 3—5 p.m. 

Where:  Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building - Room # B250
University of Toronto (144 College St.)
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