Juneteenth and the Future of Democracy | Danielle Allen Interviewed by E. Glen Weyl

When news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, months after its declaration, the U.S. activated re-constitution simultaneously along political, economic, and social dimensions. But achievement of social organization resting simultaneously on principles of freedom and equality would be long in coming, and the tempo of progress various along each of those three dimensions. Ultimately the social constitution of racial supremacy has been the hardest to displace and has woven its knotty, tenacious tentacles through political and economic dimensions as well. The time has come for a full liberation across all three domains and for justice by means of egalitarian participatory democracy, supported by truly free labor. This keynote will sketch out that vision of liberation and the relevance of RadicalxChange ideas to it.

SPEAKER

Danielle Allen is an American classicist and political scientist. She is the James Bryant Conant University Professor and the Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty at Harvard in 2015, Allen was UPS Foundation Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. As of January 1, 2017, she is also James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard’s highest faculty honor. She has published broadly in democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought. Widely known for her work on justice and citizenship in both ancient Athens and modern America, Allen is the author of The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens (2000), Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education (2004), Why Plato Wrote (2010), and Our Declaration (Norton/Liveright, 2014). In 2002, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her ability to combine “the classicist’s careful attention to texts and language with the political theorist’s sophisticated and informed engagement.” She is currently working on books on citizenship in the digital age and political equality. Allen is a frequent public lecturer and regular guest on public radio affiliates to discuss issues of citizenship, as well as an occasional contributor on similar subjects to the Washington Post, Boston Review, Democracy, Cabinet, and The Nation.

MODERATOR

E. Glen Weyl is a political economist and social technologist whose work focuses on harnessing computers and markets to create a radically equal and cooperative society. He is the Founder and Chairman of the RadicalxChange Foundation, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a lecturer at Princeton University. Glen was recently honored as a Bloomberg Top 50, one Wired Magazine’s 25 leaders shaping the next 25 years of technology, and one of Coindesk’s most influential people in blockchain for 2018. More at www.glenweyl.com. About Radical Markets: www.radicalmarkets.com.