Schedule

This is an opportunity for Lewis & Clark students to get involved in the fight against democratic backsliding, focusing on rights violations. Letters of appeal and support will be written on a local, national, and international level, and students will also learn how to comment on proposals being considered by public agencies. They will be targeted towards representatives and organizations with the power to support people facing injustice. Snacks will be provided, hope to see you there!

Moderated by: Elizabeth Bennett

The widening gap of economic inequality between the capitalist and the worker leads to the rise in anti-foreign and anti-immigrant rhetoric that paves the way for authoritarianism and fascist regimes. Progressive forces in Western nations have failed to combat this authoritarian wave through properly representing working class interests, instead letting tensions boil over. As unions are weakened, austerity is implemented, and the economy is privatized, cultural resentment is used to channel frustrations of economic exploitation. Without a united working class, authoritarianism is bound to succeed.

Dr. Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he taught from 1973 to 2008, and is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University in New York City. He earned a BA in History from Harvard, an MA in Economics from Stanford, and both an MA and PhD in Economics from Yale University. Named “America’s most prominent Marxist economist” by The New York Times Magazine, Dr. Wolff is widely recognized for his work on economic methodology, class analysis, and the structural contradictions of capitalism. He is the co-founder of Democracy at Work, a nonprofit that produces media and live events advocating workplace democracy and critiquing capitalism, and hosts the nationally syndicated program Economic Update.

Co-hosted with The Immigrant Story, we believe that stories have the power to connect us—to bridge divides, challenge assumptions, and reshape narratives. We invite you to hear four compelling first-person tales of courage, fortitude and resilience from Syria, El Salvador, Bosnia, and Cambodia by members of our community. These four storytellers from across the globe will share their stories about the journeys that brought them to the United States, exploring the complex issues surrounding authoritarianism, refuge, and migration. Light lunch will be provided at the end of the event.

Finding Our Way Home Across Borders
Sonia Priscila Ticas

Born in El Divisadero, El Salvador, Sonia Ticas discovered her voice at age ten reciting poetry against the backdrop of war and migration. At eleven, she journeyed north, eventually finding refuge in Los Angeles. Undocumented for years, she persevered, earning her PhD in Romance Languages from UC Berkeley. Now a tenured professor at Linfield University, she mentors first-generation students and continues to explore the transformative power of literature across borders.

A Story I Never Signed Up For
Rama Yousef

Rama could not escape the war all around her – bullets, suicide bombings, the constant fear of being caught in the middle of an attack. Expecting the fighting to end soon, her mother brought her to stay with her older married sister in the US. But war tore the family apart and Rama soon found herself alone, a young teenager, stranded in a strange country with no parents or siblings to protect her and no safe place to stay. She had to start making her own decisions.

The Heaven Between
Saron Khut

The last time Saron saw his father was when the Khmer Rouge came and took him away to be killed. Soon afterwards, they returned for his mother. Still only seven years old, Saron set off to walk through the jungle alone to find her. It was only when the family, finally reunited, was able to flee to a refugee camp in Thailand that Saron could be simply a child at last. Recreating the sense of community that sustained him there has become his life’s work.

Nothing Else But Miracles
Samir Mustafic

Samir Mustafic was born in a small town in Bosnia in 1972. When war between the Bosnians and Serbs broke out, he joined in the defense of his village. After suffering a severe injury, he came to the US for surgery and rehab. Later he returned to his village and found his greatest treasure in reconnecting with family and friends. Currently working for the state of Oregon as a software architect, he takes his wife and teenage twins back for a visit to Bosnia every year.

 

Exempt from international climate agreements and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, the Pentagon is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Combining investigative journalism, striking visuals, and stories from impacted communities, this film challenges audiences to rethink the hidden costs of a global military empire and its planetary consequences. Provocative, urgent, and eye-opening, this is a documentary that will change how you see both the military and environmentalism. The screening will show a 40 minute portion of the film, snacks and refreshments will be provided. Trailer here.

Abby Martin is an American journalist, television presenter, and activist who founded the citizen journalism platform Media Roots and serves on the board of directors for the Media Freedom Foundation, which manages Project Censored. She hosted Breaking the Set on RT America, gaining international attention when she publicly condemned the Russian annexation of Crimea live on air, before launching The Empire Files , an investigative documentary and interview series. In 2019 she released the feature documentary The Empire Files: Gaza Fights for Freedom . A strong voice on U.S. foreign policy, militarism, and corporate power, Martin brings her lens to her presentation, Earth’s Greatest Enemy .

Does authoritarianism spread through international contagion or domestic dysfunction?

As democratic institutions face unprecedented strain, understanding the roots of authoritarian resurgence today becomes essential. This debate confronts a fundamental question: Are today’s authoritarian pressures, from election interference to democratic backsliding, primarily the product of foreign actors and international forces, or from domestic pressures such as institutional decay, elite polarization, and failing electoral systems?

Oren Samet and Susan Stokes

Moderated by: Leah Gilbert

Oren Samet is the Einstein-Moos Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. He completed his PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley and is an incoming Assistant Professor at Rice University. His research centers on the international dimensions of authoritarian politics and democratization, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. He was previously based in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was the Research and Advocacy Director of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights

Susan Stokes is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy. Her research and teaching interests include democratic theory and how democracy functions in developing societies, distributive politics, and comparative political behavior. Her single and co-authored books include Mandates and Democracy: Neoliberalism by Surprise in Latin America (2001), Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics (2013), and Why Bother? Rethinking Participation in Elections and Protests (2019). She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mark Leon Goldberg is a veteran international affairs journalist who writes the Global Dispatches Substack and hosts the Global Dispatches podcast — the longest running international affairs podcast, named by The Guardian as a “podcast to make you smarter.” He also hosts To Save Us From Hell, a podcast that discusses the players and debates raging at the UN to keep us from that fiery furnace.

Mark has been recognized as a pioneer of “humanitarian journalism” that combines the conventions of journalism (like objectivity) with key principles of global humanitarianism (like the moral equivalence of all lives). This often leads him to shine a spotlight on under-covered global stories. Mark’s work has been features in the New York Times, The Guardian, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, The Globe and Mail, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New Republic, and The Daily Beast. He has appeared regularly as an on-air guest for Al Jazeera English, National Public Radio, the BBC, and CSPAN. 

Come attend this live podcast recording where Mark has a conversation with Kyle Lascurettes, Chair of the International Affairs department, on the role and future of international organizations in addressing democratic erosion and authoritarian resurgence. We would love to see student participation in the Q&A as part of the podcast! Snacks will be provided.