Ilai Levin’s Post

Excellent news! Our health security can be improved most effectively and most efficiently by prioritizing #veterinary public health in threat-reduction programs, at community, national, and regional levels. Tufts, with its public-policy school and outstanding veterinary school (including a robust track record on #OneHealth approaches to avian flu control after 2003), is well-placed to lead in this critical area of public policy. Tragically, @worldbank abruptly discontinued its support for #OneHealth approaches in 2012. As a result, the poorest countries were less prepared to respond effectively to #covid. Now, 1 in 3 IDA-eligible countries are worse off than before covid. (Accountability at The World Bank is lacking.). So good to see that Tufts has an endowed chair in #OneHealth. Douglas Marston Rachel Kyte #AMR Franck C.J. Berthe Chadia Wannous Rachel Winter Jones L.L.B Jenny R. Gold Mamta Murthi

The Janey Program for Latin American Studies Annual Conference, co-sponsored by the Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, and the Zolberg Institute for Migration and Mobility at The New School have cordially invited me to participate. My deepest thanks to the program director Prof. Federico Finchelstein for his enthusiastic invitation. The 2024 theme is "No End of History: Crooked Circle of Democracy and Authoritarianism". I'll be giving a lecture entitled "Unthinkable Democracy: Puerto Rico in the American Democratic Imagination." The conference will take place on April 25th, 2024 from 10:30am to 4:30pm at the Wolff Conference Room and is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Here is an abstract of my lecture: Democracy was born in conflict and out of conflict. Its central claim, equality, is the arena of social and political struggle. Thinking about democracy, it's contemporary status, it's shifts and turns, is necessarily to think about an essentially conflictive experience, mediated by the political and social tensions of its historical context. This context is permanently under fire, its fluctuations and stabilities are not fixed historical points but contingent phenomenological realities. The imaginary of democracy as a peaceful social existence is an ideological construction rather than a historical reality. I will explore the place Puerto Rico occupies in what I call the American democratic imagination. I'll focus on three points of the contemporary political discourse on democracy: (1) the party system (2) the congressional approach (3) the citizenship debate.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Dr Marcel Garboś, a PhD from Harvard, to the University of Aberdeen as postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Polish-Lithuanian Studies and the Department of History. His project is highly topical: "Federalism and the fate of Europe’s borderlands: the transnational search for alternatives to empire and ethnic nationalism in Eastern Europe,1880s-1960s". https://lnkd.in/eZrrQPUU

„Today, the idea that supporting Israeli colonialism can coexist with racial, economic, gender or climate justice rings hollow to a generation that sees through the propaganda to the massive violence and injustices it has long obscured. Palestinians may not enjoy the cultural, economic and political prominence that Jews achieved before the Shoah and thus their “survival” or “martyrdom” might not seem to some as globally consequential as the Frankfurt School saw the fate of the Jews, but Palestine has long “bridged the gap” between progressive youth rebellion in the West and liberation movements in the Global South, precisely the coalition that has reformed through the burgeoning global movements for climate, racial, economic, gender and other forms of social justice. Universities, the news media, the culture industries – the institutions that were at the centre of critical theory’s analytical gaze and practices a century ago – are, like the Frankfurt School itself, once again at the centre of culture, and through it, political warfare. While leaders remain ensnared by the system, artists and academics, journalists as well as students and even government officials are creating unprecedentedly broad networks of solidarity that can withstand the intense pressure by power holders to enforce fealty and silence dissent. Through these webs of solidarity, the struggle over the future of the university will be increasingly bound up with campus struggles for Palestine.“ Mark LeVine Director of the Program in Global Middle East Studies at UC Irvine 19.1.2024 https://lnkd.in/eurruyMx

We are super-happy 🤗 with Dr. Lucy Kinski to share with you this #publication sneak-peek: https://lnkd.in/gRtJQj6t In times when representative #democracy is under strain, when #citizens want to be #heard & have #influence, when the #EU is investing in democratic innovations & the #EuropeanParliament is gearing up for a new legislative cycle, when #nationalparliaments call for more recognition, and when inter-institutional rivalry is one of the main obstacles to a more democratic Europe, it is of strategic importance to boost EU democratic legitimacy in a synergetic and multi-level way. Our forthcoming volume with great contributions from Gilles Pittoors Silvia Kotanidis Jan Kotýnek Krotký Bruno DIAS PINHEIRO Guillaume Sacriste #JanGrinc Petr Kaniok Alvaro Oleart Mendeltje van Keulen Monika Sus Gabriele Abels and Kalypso Nicolaidis will offer a new perspective on these challenges through a critical assessment of the lessons learnt from the #ConferenceontheFutureofEurope. Coming out in Routledge on September 30th ! 💡 Stay tuned! Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies (SCEUS) Uniwersytet Wrocławski University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne

Building a World of Solidarity: Global Entanglements with the Palestinian Revolution. Sorcha Thomson will defend her PhD thesis on 27th June 2024 at 13:00 hours. https://lnkd.in/d7PBdCDd If you cannot join us in person ( in Room 25.2-035) you can follow the defense online on Zoom:  https://lnkd.in/dJcTMh-5 The PhD defense will be in English. Abstract This research project asks why the cause of Palestinian liberation has had such resonance and reach in the global political imagination? To answer this question, I analyse global solidarities with the Palestinian Revolution from 1947-1982 through a framework of entanglement highlighting the meeting points, translations, exchanges and contestations through which solidarities are built and from which new political practices, alliances and imaginaries might emerge. Methodologically, the thesis looks to two cases that are emblematic of third worldist and new leftist trends of the era as well as being nationally specific: Cuba and Britain. I draw on a broad range of archival material primarily from these locations and Beirut, as well as interviews with Palestinian, Cuban and British-based revolutionaries and solidarity activists. Throughout the thesis, I identify infrastructures of solidarity and the people who travelled through them as crossing material and conceptual distance and boundaries in the building of a global Palestinian cause. In these encounters, I show how the Palestinian Revolution became part of multiple conversations globally and integrated into the contentious anti-imperial politics of the 1960s-,- 70s and beyond. Therefore, I argue that the global resonance and reach of the cause of Palestinian liberation should not be viewed as determined by pre-set characteristics, identities or alliances, but rather as the product of the spatio-temporal entanglements across distance and difference through which solidarities enter and shape global political imaginations.  With Steven Jensen and Maha Nassar. Roskilde University Danish Institute for Human Rights University of Arizona

🎓 Attended an enlightening lecture on Politics and International Relations at Cambridge University, delving into the theme of Utopia, inspired by Thomas More's timeless work. Exploring the intricate relationship between politics and the notion of an ideal society was truly thought-provoking. 🌍 The discussion not only shed light on historical perspectives but also offered contemporary insights into the role of politics in shaping the state and defining its essence. Understanding the dynamic interplay between governance, power, and societal aspirations was truly eye-opening. 💡 From this enriching experience, I gleaned a deeper appreciation for the complexities of governance and the pursuit of utopian ideals. It reinforced the importance of critical thinking and dialogue in addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by modern societies. 📚 Grateful for the opportunity to engage with such stimulating discourse and eager to continue exploring the nuances of politics and its impact on our global community. #CambridgeUniversity #Politics #InternationalStudies #Utopia #ThomasMore #LearningExperience

❔ Can federalism answer the big questions of the 21st century? 14 researchers from Europe, Canada, India and Israel explored this matter during an international research workshop at CIFE in Nice on 18 to 19 January. The three panels of the workshop were devoted to current federal issues: 1️⃣ "Theoretical discussions on federalism and federation" dealt with autonomy and sovereignty within a federal structure, the doctrinal foundations of federalism, and participatory democracy within a federation. 2️⃣ "Federalism and conflict resolution" addressed conflictual relations within the new multinational states and the ability of federalism to manage these conflicts. 3️⃣ "Federalism and resource distribution" focused on fiscal federalism and the dynamics of federal systems for the distribution and use of resources. 📚 The results of this workshop will be published in the summer issue of CIFE's academic journal, "L'Europe en formation". 💠 We thank all researchers for their valuable contributions and insights. Our special thanks go to the Institut für Föderalismus | Institut du Fédéralisme | Institute of Federalism in Fribourg for their precious input! Elisabeth Alber, Dr Paul Anderson, RUKMINI BHATTACHARJEE, Mattia Bottino, Gerard Casas Soler, Benoit Delerue, Ph.D., Jorge Gordin, Nico Groenendijk, Arianna Guidolin, Soeren Keil, Frédéric Lépine, Cornelia Sahling, Dr. Farah Shakir, Jamie M. Thomas, Matthias Waechter, Liam Whittington Forum of Federations Eurac Research #federalism #conflictresolution #politicaltheory #politicalscience #CIFE

My newest article is out today! Let me know if you need a copy.