The Department of Sociology and the Center for the Study of Social Justice at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville will be presenting a conference that will integrate university and public concerns about the direction of universities and the concept of social justice. 

 

 

Social justice is an extraordinarily contested term. Embraced by some, anathema to others, little effort has been made to unpack what is really meant by this contentious term.  We know that high emotions surround the notion of social justice. 

However, what constitutes social justice, or what are the different academic discussions around it, are much less clear. The controversy around social justice is similar in scope and implications to the variety of perceptions of universities and their role in the United States. 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

John Gaventa

John Gaventa is a political sociologist, educator and civil society practitioner who has worked on areas of international development, citizen participation and action, participatory methods of research and learning; power and empowerment; participatory governance; global citizenship and social movements, and grassroots organisation. [more]

 

Erik Olin Wright

Erik Olin Wright is an American sociologist specializing in social stratification, and in egalitarian alternative futures to capitalism. He is currently president-elect of the American Sociological Association. His most recent book challenges us to "envision real utopias" [more]

 

 

Frances Fox Piven

Frances Fox Piven is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Political Science at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her scholarship and activism have centered on social movements, electoral politics, and welfare policy. [more]