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Former French premier kicks off conference on 'New American Empire'

Jospin

Lionel Jospin, former prime minister of France (1997-2002), will deliver the keynote address for a three-day conference at Cornell titled "Critical Anatomy of the New American Empire," co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Economy and Society (CSES) and the Society for the Humanities at Cornell (SHC).

The conference takes place Thursday, April 8, through Saturday, April 10. Jospin's talk, titled "The United States: Empire or Super Nation-State?" will be Thursday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. in 200 Baker Hall. The talk and all conference events are free and open to the public.

"A conference addressing the 'new imperialism' could have no better keynote speaker than Lionel Jospin," said Dominick LaCapra, the Bowmar Professor of History and Comparative Literature at Cornell and Jospin's faculty host. "Jospin represents a rare combination of political acumen and provocative thought. And recent disagreements between the United States and France make it all the more imperative to listen attentively to someone like Jospin, who seeks informed critical analysis and intelligent debate."

Jospin studied at the elite Ecole Nationale d'Administration (1961-65) and worked (1965-70) in the foreign ministry. He joined the Socialist party (1971), taught college economics (1970-88) and was elected to the National Assembly in 1981. That year marked the election of François Mitterrand as president, and he appointed Jospin Socialist party leader (1981-88). After Mitterrand's reelection (1988), Jospin was named minister of education. In 1995 he ran unsuccessfully for president, narrowly losing to Jacques Chirac; that same year he again became Socialist party leader. Expected to challenge Chirac for the presidency in the final round of the 2002 elections, Jospin placed third behind Jean-Marie Le Pen, head of the right-wing, anti-immigrant National Front party, in the first round and subsequently resigned as premier.

Friday and Saturday sessions of the Critical Anatomy of the New American Empire conference at Cornell will take place in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. For more information about Jospin's talk or the conference, contact Mary Ahl in the SHC office at 255-4086, or send e-mail to mea4@cornell.edu.

Friday, April 9

  • Session I: "Globalization and Imperialism: Sociological and Economic Perspectives."
    Co-chairs Victor Nee, sociology, CSES director, and Mabel Berezin, sociology, Cornell.
    2:30 p.m.: Opening remarks, Brett de Bary, SHC director.
    2: 45 p.m.: John Meyer, sociology, Stanford University, "Political Action in an Imagined Global Society."
    3: 15 p.m.: David Strang, sociology, Cornell, "Empires Old and New? Western Colonial Imperialism and America in Iraq."
    4:30 p.m.: Mohammed Bamyeh, international studies, Macalester College, "Irrational Imperialism."
    5 p.m.: Michael Klare, Hampshire College; defense correspondent, The Nation magazine, "Blood for Oil: The Military Implications of the Bush-Cheney Energy Plan."
    6 p.m.: Reception, A.D. White House.

    Saturday, April 10

  • Session II: "Ethics of Hegemony"
    Co-chairs: Satya Mohanty, English, Cornell, and Steven Miller, Society for the Humanities fellow, Cornell.
    9:30 a.m.: Charles Beitz, politics, Princeton University, "Hegemony and Human Rights."
    10 a.m.: Henry Shue, politics, Oxford University, "Mutual Preemption."
    11:15 a.m.: Richard Miller, philosophy, Cornell, "The Ethics of Empire."
    11:45 a.m.: Craig Calhoun, president, Social Science Research Council, "Cosmopolitanism, Imperialism, Nationalism."
  • Session III: "Empire and its New Political Subjects"
    Co-chairs: Salah Hassan, history of art and Africana studies, Cornell, and Dominick LaCapra, history and comparative literature, Cornell.
    2 p.m.: Linda Alcoff, philosophy, Syracuse University, "Identity Politics in the Age of Empire."
    3 p.m: Max Pensky, SUNY Binghamton; Society for the Humanities fellow, Cornell, "Empire and European Identity: Is American Imperialism Good for Europe?"
    4 p.m.: Ratna Kapur, Center of Feminist Legal Research, New Delhi, India, and Global Law School Program, New York University, "Politics of Empire: International Law and Cross-Border Movement."
    4:30 p.m.: Naoki Sakai, Asian studies and comparative literature, Cornell, "Imperial Nationalism and the Meaning of Death."

    April 1, 2004

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