Resource person: Audra Bullard

Description:

As the United States approaches its anniversary as the world’s most enduring
democracy, it is time for a complete reconsideration of the dramatic limits placed on American democratic institutions. A persistent historical problem is the fact that the Constitution promises no affirmative right to vote, a right that is instead delegated to the states. What has been called “states’ rights” has historically been a way to prevent an equitable right to vote, often fighting federal demands to expand the franchise. Yet today, the tables have turned. States find themselves as points of resistance to demands of federal power. This talk will explore the history and problems of federalism and democracy, embedded as they are in a political culture that has traditionally declared its freedom from federal power.

 

Jefferson Cowie has been described as “one of our most commanding interpreters of recent American experience.” He is a Pulitzer Prize winning historian, whose work in social and political history focuses on how class, inequality, and labor shape American politics and culture. Cowie is the author of several prize-winning books, including “Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power,” winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2023, “Capital Moves: RCA’s Seventy-Year Quest for Cheap Labor,” “Stayin’ Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class,” “The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics,” and has authored many pieces in a variety of leading journals of opinion. He holds the John Seigenthaler Chair in American History at Vanderbilt University. He holds a BA in History from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA in History from the University of Washington, and a PhD in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Notes: Cancellation Policy (Please Read) Please let us know immediately if you are unable to attend a class. There is no refund for cancellations within two (2) weeks prior to a scheduled class. Programs that include food, beverage or art materials must be canceled within three (3) weeks prior in order to receive a refund. CLE reserves the right to cancel a program if the minimum enrollment has not been met or for circumstances beyond our control, and participants will be notified, a complete refund will be issued. All classes are held in the CLE Lecture Hall at the Peggy Crosby Center unless otherwise noted. In the event information has changed from the published brochure, it will be posted on our website and in our e-blasts. Addresses for “private home” venues will be provided to registrants within 2 days of the program date.

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