Our Walled World: Identity and Separation in Deeply Divided Societies
A central defining feature of deeply divided societies is binary division – “us” and “them.” These binary fault lines can arise from class, caste, religion, language, race, ethnicity, clan, or political identity. These divisions breed walled communities of fear and isolation, not only dividing populations but also uniting them in their fear of the “other.” Grounded in a global comparative analysis of the literal and figurative notion of “walls” in deeply divided societies, this presentation will analyze physical walls of social separation, symbolic walls of identity separation, and hidden or invisible walls of geographical separation. The presentation will conclude by emphasizing the need for more integration in deeply divided societies and suggesting specific strategies to address the physical, symbolic, and hidden or invisible walls that separate and wound the lives of people in such societies.
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Speaker Bio: Dr. James Waller is the Gladstein Family Distinguished Chair in Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. At UConn, he also serves as the Director for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and is a Professor of Literatures, Cultures, Languages, and Human Rights. In addition, he is a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. He has authored seven books, most notably his award-winning Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2007), Confronting Evil: Engaging Our Responsibility to Prevent Genocide (Oxford University Press, 2016), and A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2021). In 2017, Dr. Waller was the inaugural recipient of the Engaged Scholarship Prize from the International Association of Genocide Scholars in recognition of his exemplary engagement in advancing genocide awareness and prevention. Dr. Wallerhas written for The Washington Post, The Irish News, and The Conversation and is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including PBS, CNN, CBC, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, National Geographic, Scientific American, and The New York Times.
This event is brought to you by the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes against Humanity at Western Washington University (WWU). It is co-sponsored by the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College and numerous other centers/programs. Speakers at co-sponsored events represent a wide range of scholarly research and views; guests' perspectives should not be taken as representative of the Cohen Institute or Keene State College as a whole.
This event is part of the Cohen Institute calendar.
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