Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s wave of Great Society legislation gave historic momentum to greater economic and racial equality. Much of that progress is embedded in society today, and yet the income gap between the richest and poorest Americans is the largest since the Great Depression, racial tensions continue to polarize society and gender equality remains a struggle.
How can the enduring challenges of inequality be addressed today? That is the question to be explored in a conference, Legacies of the Great Society: War, Poverty and Voting Rights, at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, March 24 and 25, 2015.
Panels of scholars, practitioners, experts and advocates will assess the impact of the Vietnam War, the effects of War on Poverty programs, and the consequences – then and now – of the Voting Rights Act. Keynote speakers will include Sheldon Danziger, President of the Russell Sage Foundation; Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Founder of CasaColumbia and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; Robert B. Semple, Jr., Associate Editor of the Editorial Page of The New York Times; and Michael Weinstein, Senior Vice President for Programs and Chief Program Officer of the Robin Hood Foundation.
Attendance is by invitation.
The conference will take place in the restored and landmarked Roosevelt House and will be live-streamed and recorded.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
5:30pm – WELCOME
Jennifer J. Raab
President, Hunter College
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – “Fighting Racial Discrimination, Poverty and Disadvantage: From Then to Now”
Sheldon Danziger
President, Russell Sage Foundation
REMARKS
Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
Founder CasaColumbia and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
PANEL DISCUSSION – “Reflections of the Great Society: Achievements and Challenges”
Speakers
Alice Kessler-Harris, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History at Columbia University
Lawrence M. Mead, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York University
Moderator
Hugh B. Price, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former President & CEO of the National Urban League
7:00pm – 8:00pm – RECEPTION
Joseph A. Califano, Jr. to sign copies of his book The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
8:30am – CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
9:00am – WELCOME
Jack Rosenthal
Interim Director, Roosevelt House
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – “The Roots of Polarization”
Robert B. Semple, Jr.
Associate Editor of the Editorial Page, The New York Times
9:30am – PANEL DISCUSSION – “Tonkin Gulf and After: Vietnam War, the Anti-War Movement and Challenges to the Great Society Agenda”
Speakers
Robert G. Kaiser, Former Managing Editor at The Washington Post
Lawrence Levinson, Partner at DLA Piper LLP
Moderator
Andrew Polsky, Acting Ruth and Harold Newman Dean of Arts and Sciences at Hunter College
11:15am – PANEL DISCUSSION – “How to Conquer Poverty and Inequality Today?”
Speakers
Mark Levitan, Adjunct Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College
Julian E. Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (Class of 1941) Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and a Fellow at New America Foundation
Jane Waldfogel, Compton Foundation Centennial Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work
Moderator
Sanford Schram, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Hunter College
12:45pm – LUNCHEON
1:45pm – PANEL DISCUSSION – “Voting Rights and Inequality: Then and Now”
Speakers
Anthony Browne, Chair of the Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College
Dale Ho, Director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union
Natasha Korgaonkar, Assistant Counsel of the Political Participation Group at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Wendy Weiser, Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Moderator
Clay Risen, Senior Op-Ed Editor of The New York Times
3:15pm – CLOSING REMARKS
Michael Weinstein
Senior Vice President for Programs & Chief Program Officer, Robin Hood Foundation
Dale Ho
Director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties UnioRobert G. Kaiser
Former Managing Editor at The Washington PostAlice Kessler-Harris
R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History at Columbia UniversityMark Levitan
Adjunct Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter CollegeLawrence M. Mead
Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York UniversityRobert B. Semple, Jr.
Associate Editor of the Editorial Page, The New York TimesJane Waldfogel
Compton Foundation Centennial Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work
RESOURCES & MEDIA- Abramovitz, Mimi & Albrecht, Jochen. 2013. “Community Loss: A New Social Indicator.” Social Service Review. 57(1), 677-774.
- Abramovitz, Mimi. 2012. “Feminization of Austerity, “ New Labor Forum, Winter 21(1): 32-41.
- Abramovitz Mimi. 2012. “Theorizing the Neo Liberal Welfare State.” In The Sage Handbook of Social Work, by Mel Grey, James Midgley and Stephen Webb (eds.) Los Angeles Sage Publications Ltd, Chap 2, pp. 33- 47.
- Abramovitz, Mimi. 2011. “The Welfare State: A Battleground for Human Rights.” In Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism, by Shareen Hertel & Kathryn Libal (eds). New York/Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press.
- Bacha, Alexander & Bhagavan, Manu. 2012. “The Commodification of Love: Gandhi, King and 1960s Counterculture.” In War and Peace: Essays on Religion and Violence, by Bryan S. Turner (ed.), UK/USA. Anthem Press.
- Bhagavan, Manu. 2012. The Peacemakers: India and the Quest for One World. Harper Collins.
- Chernick, Howard & Reimers, Cordelia. “The Decline in Welfare Receipt in New York City: Push vs. Pull,” Eastern Economic Journal, 30 (1).
- Fording, Richard C.; Soss, Joe & Schram, Sanford F. 2011. “Race and the Local Politics of Punishment in the New World of Welfare.” The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 116, No. 5
- Gong, Hongmian; Japzon, Andrea C. & Chen, Cynthia. 2006. “Public Libraries and Social Capital in Three New York City Neighborhoods.” Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. Vol. 99, No. 1.
- Rosenberg, Jonathan. 2006. How Far the Promised Land?: World Affairs and the American Civil Rights Movement from the First World War to Vietnam. Princeton University Press.
- Rosenberg, Jonathan. 2003. Kennedy, Johnson and the Search for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes. Norton.
- Schram, Sanford F. 2014. “The Great Disconnect: Occupy and Political Science.” Perspectives on Politics. June, 12(2).
- Schram, Sanford F. 2014, "Putting the Wrong Face on Today's Cycle of Police Violence"
- Susser, Ida. 2012. Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood. Oxford.
- Susser, Ida. 1993. “Creating Family Forms: The Exclusion of Men and Teenage Boys from Families in the New York City Shelter System, 1987-1991.” Critique of Anthropology. Vol. 13(3).
- Viteritti, Joseph P. 2014. Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream. Johns Hopkins University Press
- Flores, Roseanne. 2014. “A War on Children: The Consequences of Poverty on Child Development.” Poverty and Inequality Special Blog Series: The War on Poverty, 50 Years Later. American Psychological Association.
- “Understanding and Overcoming the Influences of Poverty on Children and Families,” American Psychological Association Webinar.
- Additional Resources, provided by Lawrence Levinson
On the Gulf of Tonkin:
- Abramovitz, Mimi & Albrecht, Jochen. 2013. “Community Loss: A New Social Indicator.” Social Service Review. 57(1), 677-774.
- Abramovitz, Mimi. 2012. “Feminization of Austerity, “ New Labor Forum, Winter 21(1): 32-41.
- Abramovitz Mimi. 2012. “Theorizing the Neo Liberal Welfare State.” In The Sage Handbook of Social Work, by Mel Grey, James Midgley and Stephen Webb (eds.) Los Angeles Sage Publications Ltd, Chap 2, pp. 33- 47.
- Abramovitz, Mimi. 2011. “The Welfare State: A Battleground for Human Rights.” In Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism, by Shareen Hertel & Kathryn Libal (eds). New York/Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press.
- Bacha, Alexander & Bhagavan, Manu. 2012. “The Commodification of Love: Gandhi, King and 1960s Counterculture.” In War and Peace: Essays on Religion and Violence, by Bryan S. Turner (ed.), UK/USA. Anthem Press.
- Bhagavan, Manu. 2012. The Peacemakers: India and the Quest for One World. Harper Collins.
- Chernick, Howard & Reimers, Cordelia. “The Decline in Welfare Receipt in New York City: Push vs. Pull,” Eastern Economic Journal, 30 (1).
- Fording, Richard C.; Soss, Joe & Schram, Sanford F. 2011. “Race and the Local Politics of Punishment in the New World of Welfare.” The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 116, No. 5
- Gong, Hongmian; Japzon, Andrea C. & Chen, Cynthia. 2006. “Public Libraries and Social Capital in Three New York City Neighborhoods.” Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. Vol. 99, No. 1.
- Rosenberg, Jonathan. 2006. How Far the Promised Land?: World Affairs and the American Civil Rights Movement from the First World War to Vietnam. Princeton University Press.
- Rosenberg, Jonathan. 2003. Kennedy, Johnson and the Search for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes. Norton.
- Schram, Sanford F. 2014. “The Great Disconnect: Occupy and Political Science.” Perspectives on Politics. June, 12(2).
- Schram, Sanford F. 2014, "Putting the Wrong Face on Today's Cycle of Police Violence"
- Susser, Ida. 2012. Norman Street: Poverty and Politics in an Urban Neighborhood. Oxford.
- Susser, Ida. 1993. “Creating Family Forms: The Exclusion of Men and Teenage Boys from Families in the New York City Shelter System, 1987-1991.” Critique of Anthropology. Vol. 13(3).
- Viteritti, Joseph P. 2014. Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream. Johns Hopkins University Press
- Flores, Roseanne. 2014. “A War on Children: The Consequences of Poverty on Child Development.” Poverty and Inequality Special Blog Series: The War on Poverty, 50 Years Later. American Psychological Association.
- “Understanding and Overcoming the Influences of Poverty on Children and Families,” American Psychological Association Webinar.
- Additional Resources, provided by Lawrence Levinson
On the Gulf of Tonkin:
