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PRESS RELEASE
Date: May 22, 2008
Armenians and Progressive Politics
PO Box 419, New York, NY 10108
Contact: Laura Boghosian
Tel: 917-428-1918
"Armenians and Progressive Politics" Announces Conference Panels
---May 31 panels to discuss Armenian issues from a progressive
viewpoint
NEW YORK-Writers, scholars, and activists from around the world
will join their East Coast colleagues in examining Armenian issues
from a progressive viewpoint as part of the May 30-31 "Armenians
and Progressive Politics" conference in New York City.
Seven panels on Saturday, May 31, will discuss issues relating to
Armenia, Armenian identity, gender, genocide, and coalition-
building. Notable panelists include international lawyer and human
rights activist Armineh Arakelian; journalist Florence Avakian;
poet Nancy Agabian; author and professor Nubar Hovsepian;
sociologist and genocide scholar Jack Nusan Porter; Joey Kurtzman,
executive editor of Jewcy; writer, student and blogger Simon
Maghakyan; author and professor Levon Chorbanian; ArmeniaNow editor
John Hughes; and human rights activist Pedro Mouratian.
A brief summary of the panels follows:
"Changing Gender Roles in the Diaspora" will look at how women's
roles and activities have changed over time, and evaluate the
possibilities for continued change in a progressive direction.
"Foreign Assistance to Armenia: Toward Prosperity or Dependency?"
considers how foreign aid helps or hinders Armenia's progress, and
examines the agendas and methods of those states and agencies who
contribute aid to Armenia. Specific cases will be assessed.
Armenian and Jewish activists will discuss the controversy that
erupted last year over the Anti-Defamation League's lobbying for
Turkey in the panel, "The ADL and the Armenian Genocide: Pursuing
Common Goals Through Grassroots Activism." The successes,
challenges, and obstacles in building a genuine coalition of
Armenians, Jews, and other progressives will be addressed.
A student panel, "New Work of an Activist Bent," highlights
activism by young Armenians, and will examine contemporary issues
of cultural genocide: linguistic and cultural disintegration and
identity; student activism on monument destruction; and problems
with victimhood and pain as a central element of culture.
The recent elections in Armenia - and the ensuing turmoil - will be
considered in "Unrest in Armenia: New Seeds of Democracy or
Destabilizing Acts?" The panel will examine whether Armenia's
government suppressed genuine civil discontent among the
disenfranchised, or whether instead it sought to stem efforts aimed
at destabilizing the country. At the same time, the panel seeks to
move beyond this dichotomy, analyzing what is at stake for
different social strata who are striving for democracy and social
justice in Armenia today.
Panelists will discuss the meaning of progressivism in an Armenian
context in "What Would a Global Armenian Progressive Agenda Look
Like?" Here, Armenian issues will be tied to a larger field of
political ideas.
The closing plenary entitled "Coalition Building Among Dispossessed
Groups" features Tariq Ali, David Barsamian, and Nubar Hovsepian,
author and professor of Political Science and International
Studies. The panelists will lead a discussion on possible
coalition-building strategies for dispossessed peoples - including,
but not limited to Armenians. They will also look at those issues
that can unite or separate the Armenian Cause from other, similar
movements.
Saturday's panels and closing plenary will all be held at CUNY
Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street), New York City.
Panels run from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with registration
beginning at 9:30 a.m. and a one-hour lunch break at noon.
Registration costs $15, $10 for students (lunch is not included).
As previously announced, the conference will open with a Friday,
May 30 plenary on "The New Imperialism: Old Problems, New
Challenges" featuring British writer and activist Tariq Ali; David
Barsamian, founder and director of Colorado-based Alternative
Radio; and Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and
Geography at the City University of New York. These prominent
speakers will discuss the contemporary politics of empire,
superpower rivalries, globalization, trade and monetary policies,
the exploitative nature of capitalism, and the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In addition, the destructive effects of imperialism
on small nations will be discussed, as well as alternatives to the
current international structure.
Friday's session takes place at 7:30 p.m. at Mason Hall, Baruch
College Performing Arts Center, 17 Lexington Avenue (at East 23rd
Street), New York City. Admission is free.
Armenians and Progressive Politics (formerly Armenians and the
Left) is an initiative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-
Eastern USA. The conference is co-sponsored by the Armenian
National Committees of New York and New Jersey, The Nation
Institute, and CUNY's Center for Place, Culture, and Politics.
Previous participants include Noam Chomsky and Robert Fisk.
A West Coast "Armenians and Progressive Politics" conference will
be held on June 6-7 in Glendale, California.
For more information on both conferences, visit the conference
website at: www.armenianprogressive.com.
####
Photo Caption 1: ArmeniaNow editor John Hughes
Photo Caption 2: International lawyer and human rights activist
Armineh Arakelian
Date: May 22, 2008
Armenians and Progressive Politics
PO Box 419, New York, NY 10108
Contact: Laura Boghosian
Tel: 917-428-1918
"Armenians and Progressive Politics" Announces Conference Panels
---May 31 panels to discuss Armenian issues from a progressive
viewpoint
NEW YORK-Writers, scholars, and activists from around the world
will join their East Coast colleagues in examining Armenian issues
from a progressive viewpoint as part of the May 30-31 "Armenians
and Progressive Politics" conference in New York City.
Seven panels on Saturday, May 31, will discuss issues relating to
Armenia, Armenian identity, gender, genocide, and coalition-
building. Notable panelists include international lawyer and human
rights activist Armineh Arakelian; journalist Florence Avakian;
poet Nancy Agabian; author and professor Nubar Hovsepian;
sociologist and genocide scholar Jack Nusan Porter; Joey Kurtzman,
executive editor of Jewcy; writer, student and blogger Simon
Maghakyan; author and professor Levon Chorbanian; ArmeniaNow editor
John Hughes; and human rights activist Pedro Mouratian.
A brief summary of the panels follows:
"Changing Gender Roles in the Diaspora" will look at how women's
roles and activities have changed over time, and evaluate the
possibilities for continued change in a progressive direction.
"Foreign Assistance to Armenia: Toward Prosperity or Dependency?"
considers how foreign aid helps or hinders Armenia's progress, and
examines the agendas and methods of those states and agencies who
contribute aid to Armenia. Specific cases will be assessed.
Armenian and Jewish activists will discuss the controversy that
erupted last year over the Anti-Defamation League's lobbying for
Turkey in the panel, "The ADL and the Armenian Genocide: Pursuing
Common Goals Through Grassroots Activism." The successes,
challenges, and obstacles in building a genuine coalition of
Armenians, Jews, and other progressives will be addressed.
A student panel, "New Work of an Activist Bent," highlights
activism by young Armenians, and will examine contemporary issues
of cultural genocide: linguistic and cultural disintegration and
identity; student activism on monument destruction; and problems
with victimhood and pain as a central element of culture.
The recent elections in Armenia - and the ensuing turmoil - will be
considered in "Unrest in Armenia: New Seeds of Democracy or
Destabilizing Acts?" The panel will examine whether Armenia's
government suppressed genuine civil discontent among the
disenfranchised, or whether instead it sought to stem efforts aimed
at destabilizing the country. At the same time, the panel seeks to
move beyond this dichotomy, analyzing what is at stake for
different social strata who are striving for democracy and social
justice in Armenia today.
Panelists will discuss the meaning of progressivism in an Armenian
context in "What Would a Global Armenian Progressive Agenda Look
Like?" Here, Armenian issues will be tied to a larger field of
political ideas.
The closing plenary entitled "Coalition Building Among Dispossessed
Groups" features Tariq Ali, David Barsamian, and Nubar Hovsepian,
author and professor of Political Science and International
Studies. The panelists will lead a discussion on possible
coalition-building strategies for dispossessed peoples - including,
but not limited to Armenians. They will also look at those issues
that can unite or separate the Armenian Cause from other, similar
movements.
Saturday's panels and closing plenary will all be held at CUNY
Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street), New York City.
Panels run from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with registration
beginning at 9:30 a.m. and a one-hour lunch break at noon.
Registration costs $15, $10 for students (lunch is not included).
As previously announced, the conference will open with a Friday,
May 30 plenary on "The New Imperialism: Old Problems, New
Challenges" featuring British writer and activist Tariq Ali; David
Barsamian, founder and director of Colorado-based Alternative
Radio; and Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and
Geography at the City University of New York. These prominent
speakers will discuss the contemporary politics of empire,
superpower rivalries, globalization, trade and monetary policies,
the exploitative nature of capitalism, and the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In addition, the destructive effects of imperialism
on small nations will be discussed, as well as alternatives to the
current international structure.
Friday's session takes place at 7:30 p.m. at Mason Hall, Baruch
College Performing Arts Center, 17 Lexington Avenue (at East 23rd
Street), New York City. Admission is free.
Armenians and Progressive Politics (formerly Armenians and the
Left) is an initiative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-
Eastern USA. The conference is co-sponsored by the Armenian
National Committees of New York and New Jersey, The Nation
Institute, and CUNY's Center for Place, Culture, and Politics.
Previous participants include Noam Chomsky and Robert Fisk.
A West Coast "Armenians and Progressive Politics" conference will
be held on June 6-7 in Glendale, California.
For more information on both conferences, visit the conference
website at: www.armenianprogressive.com.
####
Photo Caption 1: ArmeniaNow editor John Hughes
Photo Caption 2: International lawyer and human rights activist
Armineh Arakelian