*Apologies for Cross Posting*
Sydney Democracy Initiative Presents: Representation and its Discontents As part of the Sydney Democracy Initiative, two public lectures will be held on the 24 and 25 February 2011, as part of the academic workshop 'Representation and its Discontents' 24 February: Professor Michael Saward, Professor of Politics, Open University (United Kingdom) SPEAKING FOR, SPEAKING ABOUT: PORTRAIT, SUBJECT AND DESIGN IN POLITICAL REPRESENTATION Co-presented by the Sydney Democracy Initiative (SDI) and the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales This lecture sketches responses to some of the key pressures currently facing democratic representation. It offers a picture of representation as a multi-sided and dynamic process of claim-making, and shows how some discontents with representation today are more troubling than others. How people are spoken about, in addition to claims to speak for them, are analysed as an unexpected source of discontent with representation. The significance of bringing new subjects of representation, such as 'nature' and non-human animals, into the fold of representative political thinking will be assessed. And, at a time when in countries from Brazil to India, a range of new innovative and participatory institutions are being proposed and tested, the lecture will illustrate the need for systematic reflection on the character and potential of flexible designs for future modes of democratic representation. When: 24 February 2011 Time: 5:30pm - 7:00pm Where: New Law School Theatre 106, New Law School Building University of Sydney 25 February - Associate Professor Sarah Maddison, Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit, University of New South Wales TO RENOVATE OR REBUILD? THE CHALLENGES OF INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION IN THE AUSTRALIAN SETTLER STATE Co-presented by the Sydney Democracy Initiative (SDI) and Sydney Ideas at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales It is perhaps stating the obvious to suggest that settler colonial nations like Australia were not designed to provide political representation for Indigenous populations. It should therefore come as no surprise that efforts to 'add on' appropriate representational mechanisms - both inside and outside of settler parliaments - have neither changed the structure of colonial institutions nor satisfied Indigenous needs and political aspirations. This lecture will consider why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain discontented with current representational arrangements, and what structural changes, including constitutional reform, may be required for this situation to improve. If efforts at political renovation have proved unsuccessful, might we instead aspire to more fundamental change that will allow us to redesign and rebuild our outdated institutions? When: 25 February 2011 Time: 5:30pm - 7:00pm Where: Law School Foyer, New Law School Building University of Sydney http://sydney.edu.au/law/about/campus.shtml Any questions or enquires to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Zoe Morrison | Project Officer Sydney Democracy Initiative THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Room S503, The Quadrangle [A14] | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 | Australia T | M +61 432 755 459 E [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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