Panel: Racial Conflict and Transformation in South Africa
The Psychology of Peace and Violence Concentration at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences presents this multi-disciplinary panel, which will explore challenges and progress in post-apartheid South Africa. Free and open to the public, with reception.
Presentations will include:
"Fifty Years of Change and New Problems"
Thomas Pettigrew, Emeritus Research Professor of Social Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Pettigrew has been at the forefront of research on race relations during the last half century and has worked with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1966-1971) and National Task Force on Desegregation (1977-1979). He first conducted studies of South Africans’ racial attitudes in 1956, after which he was banned from the country and only invited to return in 2006.
"When Reconciliation Turns to Violence: What's Missing in the South African 'Miracle'?"
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Cape Town, and Senior Consultant, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation
Gobodo-Madizikela served on the Human Rights Violations Committee of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1995-1998). She is author of the critically acclaimed book, A Human Being Died That Night, which received the prestigious Alan Paton Award for non-fiction in South Africa, and the Christopher Award for adult non-fiction in the United States.
"Inequality and Distributive Conflict in Post-Apartheid South Africa"
James Heintz, Associate Research Professor and Associate Director, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Heintz worked as an economist at the National Labour and Economic Development Institute in Johannesburg (1996-1998), a policy think tank affiliated with the South African labor movement. He has also consulted for employment-oriented projects in Ghana and South Africa, sponsored by the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Development Program.
"Developing a Human Rights Culture in South Africa"
Jeremy Sarkin, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, Hofstra University
As Senior Professor of Law at the University of the Western Cape (1990-2008), Sarkin served as the National Chairperson of the NGO Human Rights Committee of South Africa (1994-1998) and was Director of the organization's advocacy project. He has published 12 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters in the areas of human rights and transitional justice.
"Rainbow Nationalism? Race, Reconciliation and Transitional Justice in South Africa"
Graeme Simpson, Director of Thematic Programs, International Center for Transitional Justice
Simpson was Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg (1995-2005). He worked to transform criminal justice institutions in South Africa and draft the National Crime Prevention Strategy adopted by the South African Cabinet in 1996. He currently directs programs on prosecutions, reparations, truth-seeking, and peace and justice.
For more information, Visit: www.umass.edu/peacepsychology/news.htm
RSVP by Monday, September 29, 2008
jtominar@psych.umass.edu or 413-545-5957
This event is co-sponsored by the Psychology of Peace and Violence Concentration, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Political Economy Research Institute, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, Five College African Studies Council and African Scholars Program, and the Departments of Psychology, Sociology, Legal Studies, and Political Science.