UGLY FREEDOMS: a lecture by Prof. Elisabeth Anker (George Washington Univ.)

Please join Professor Anker for a discussion of her new book Ugly Freedoms (Duke University Press, 2022). Freedom is the highest ideal in American politics, but its legacy is complex. Throughout American history, freedom has supported emancipation and individual liberty, but has also supported white supremacy, oppression, and misogyny. These “ugly freedoms” legitimate the right to harm and subjugate others. This talk will examine ugly freedoms from the history of slavery to the January 6 insurrection. But it will also highlight visions of freedom that emphasize the flourishing of all people, not just a privileged few.

This lecture is sponsored by the Dept. of Politics and the Charles R. Lewis Lecture Fund in Political Science.