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Check
here for some helpful references to work on race and racism.
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as either a presenter or a discussant, please send an email to sharyn.clough@oregonstate.edu |
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After a short break, Tony Vogt (Philosophy/Sociology)
and Joseph
Orosco (Philosophy) presented their work in progress, "'Race,' Democracy,
Citizenship: Towards a Critical Reimagining."
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The program ended with a lively roundtable discussion with all of the participants. Thanks to Jonathan Kaplan for taking a number of the photos, including this one, featuring some of the previously named participants, plus at the head of the table, Dennis Dugan (student). |
Nov. 13, 2004
OSU Memorial Union
Sponsored by The Philosophy Club and the Philosophy Department
The first round of panelists: Sharyn Clough,
Philosophy, Introductory
remarks,followed by (from r-l) |
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 Bill
Uzgalis,
Philosophy: "Locke on race and the
multi-cultural
state" |
| The presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion open to the speakers and audience members,moderated by Sharyn Clough: |
 From r-l, Philosophy MA students Stephen Arthur and Roni Sue Professors Andrew Valls and Lani Roberts Philosophy major Dennis Dugan |
 From r-l Philosophy major Dennis Dugan Professors Jonathan Kaplan and Bill Uzgalis Philosophy major Eric Heltzer Professor Bill Loges Participants not pictured, Professors Nabil Boudraa (Foreign Languages) and Flora Leibowitz (Philosophy) |
| References and readings suggested by the panelists can be found here. |
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A Second Roundtable Discussion, Feb. 13/05 hosted by faculty from the OSU Philosophy Department |
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Bill Uzgalis begins with an animated description of Locke's views on slavery as expressed in Locke's 2nd Treatise. L-R: Bill Uzgalis (Philosophy), Andrew Valls (Political Science), Bill Loges (New Media/Sociology), Sharyn Clough (Philosophy) |
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We focused on a debate between Bill
Uzgalis, on the one hand, and Robert Bernasconi and Anika Maaza Mann,
on the other, concerning:
a) whether Locke's discussion of slavery in his 2nd Treatise can reasonably be read as support for Afro-American slavery; and, if not, whether, b) Locke's documented support of the Afro-American slave trade, especially in the years after he wrote the 2nd Treatise, is inconsistent with his published stance on slavery. L-R, Philosophy faculty Lani Roberts, Tony Vogt and Jonathan Kaplan weigh the issues. |
| Our discussion focused on three essays:
1) " '...THE SAME TYRANNICAL PRINCIPLE': Locke's legacy on slavery" by Bill Uzgalis (1998) in Subjugations and Bondage, ed. Tommy L. Lott, Landham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield; 2) "An Inconsistency not to be Excused: On Locke and Racism," also by Bill (2002) from Philosophers on Race, eds. Julie K. Ward and Tommy L. Lott, Oxford: Blackwell; and, 3) "Locke and the Slave Trade" by Robert Bernasconi and Anika Maaza Mann (forthcoming) in Andrew Valls' new edited book Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Right: Bill Loges (New Media/Sociology) shared the majority view that Bill Uzgalis had made a convincing argument in support of the claim that Locke's 2nd Treatise cannot reasonably be read as support for Afro-American slavery. This did, however, leave us with the sad conclusion that one of our Enlightenment heroes, by organising and benefiting from companies that dealt in Afro-American slavery, was not able to live up to the moral standards he'd set for himself. |
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Left: Stephen Brence (Philosophy) made
a compelling case in support of Bernasconi et al,namely, that
now that we know that Locke benefitted substantially from Afro-American
slave-trading, we should use this knowledge to re-interpret Locke's 2nd
Treatise as support for Afro-American slavery.
This aspect of the debate very quickly got us embroiled in a much bigger debate concerning whether those of us working to end structural oppressions of various descriptions could make any use at all of Enlightenment figures who were themselves so involved in oppressive colonialist practices. To use Audre Lourde's more famous version of the question: "Can the master's tools be used to dismantle the master's house?" For most of us, the answer was a resounding "We better hope so!" But, of course, the debate continues. Stay tuned... |
| A year later ... In March 2006 at the Pacific meeting of the American Philosophical Association in Portland, Bill Uzgalis shared his paper on Locke with a panel featuring Robert Bernasconi, and Anika Mann. Here's a photo of the panel, with Bill impressing upon James Farr the brilliance of Bill's position regarding Locke's racism. (Note: in case of emergency, the fire alarm is within reach.) L-R: Robert Bernasconi, Anika Mann, James Farr, Bill Uzgalis. Chair: Andrew Valls.
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