Democracy

Matrix On Point

Recap

Published March 1, 2024

Surveillance and Privacy in a Biometric World

Watch the video (or read the transcript) of our Matrix on Point panel on how biometric identification might change our understanding of the relationship between people, private industry, and their government. Featuring John Chuang, School of Information; Lawrence Cohen, Anthropology and South and Southeast Asian Studies, and Jennifer Urban, Berkeley Law. Moderated by Berkeley Law's Rebecca Wexler.

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Book Talk

Recap

Published January 28, 2024

Vincent Bevins – “If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution”

Watch the video (or listen to the podcast) of Vincent Bevins discussing his book, "If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution," which tells the story of the recent uprisings that sought to change the world – and what comes next. The panel was moderated by Daniel Aldana Cohen, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley and Director of the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative, or (SC)2.

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Podcast

Interview

Published January 13, 2024

Authoritarian Absorption: An Interview with Yan Long

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Yan Long, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, whose research focuses on the politics of public health in China. Matrix Communications Scholar Jennie Barker spoke with Long about her forthcoming book, "Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Infectious Disease Politics in China."

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published December 16, 2023

Authors Meet Critics: Sharad Chari, “Gramsci at Sea”

How might an oceanic Gramsci speak to Black aquafuturism and other forms of oceanic critique? Recorded on November 28, 2023 as part of the UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix “Authors Meet Critics” series, this panel focused on Gramsci at Sea, a book by Sharad Chari, Associate Professor in Geography and Co-Director of Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. Professor Chari was joined in conversation by Leslie Salzinger, Associate Professor and Chair of Gender and Women’s Studies at UC Berkeley, and Colleen Lye, Associate Professor of English at UC Berkeley. The panel was moderated by James Vernon, Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor of History at UC Berkeley.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published December 16, 2023

Dylan Penningroth, “Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights”

Watch a video (or listen to the podcast) of our "Authors Meet Critics" panel on "Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights," by Dylan Penningroth, Professor of Law and Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of History at UC Berkeley, and Associate Dean, Program in Jurisprudence and Social Policy / Legal Studies at Berkeley Law. This book overturns the conventional wisdom about the Civil Rights Movement by demonstrating that Black people had long exercised “the rights of everyday use,” and that this lesser-known private-law tradition paved the way for the modern vision of civil rights.

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Podcast

Podcast

Published October 4, 2023

Voter Turnout in the United States: An Interview with Emily Rong Zhang

In this episode of the Matrix Podcast, Jennie Barker, a PhD Candidate in the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley — and a Matrix Communications Scholar — spoke with Emily Rong Zhang, Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley Law School, about her research on voter turnout in the United States.

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Alumni

Interview

Published September 8, 2023

Gender and Political Gatekeepers: A Visual Interview with Melanie Phillips

How do we understand the barriers that women face in becoming political candidates? Read our interview with Melanie L. Phillips, who completed her PhD in the Charles and Louise Travers Political Science Department at Berkeley in 2023 and is currently a Lecturer in the Political Science Department and a Research and Evaluation Associate at School-to-School International.

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Podcast

Interview

Published August 7, 2023

Listening to Rwandan Popular Music with Victoria Netanus Grubbs

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Victoria Netanus Grubbs, a Black feminist sound theorist and abolitionist educator who is a Black Studies Collaboratory Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley. Her current book project examines how popular Rwandan music worked in the aftermath of genocide to produce a collective social body.

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Symposium

Recap

Published August 1, 2023

DEEPFAKE: A Rhetorical and Economic Alternative to Address the So-Called “Post-Truth Era”

Recorded on May 10, 2023 at Social Science Matrix, this symposium aimed to develop a critique of the current debates about Post-Truth and fakeness, and specifically of Big Tech’s effort to frame the political expression of the demos as it solidifies its control over the digital economy.

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Roundtable

Recap

Published June 13, 2023

Roundtable with Orlando Patterson: The Nature and Invention of Freedom

Recorded on May 2, 2023, this video features a roundtable conversation with Orlando Patterson focused on "The Paradox of Freedom," an interview with Patterson by David Scott conducted in 2013. Joining Patterson in conversation for this Social Science Matrix Roundtable were Ricarda Hammer, incoming Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, and Daniela Cammack, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. The discussion was moderated by Caitlin Rosenthal, Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley.

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Lecture

Recap

Published June 7, 2023

Consent and Legitimacy: A Revised Bellicose Theory of State-Building with Evidence from around the World, 1500–2000

Recorded on March 9, 2023, this video features Andreas Wimmer, Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy at Columbia University, presenting a talk entitled "Consent and Legitimacy: A Revised Bellicose Theory of State-Building with Evidence from around the World, 1500–2000."

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Affiliated Centers

Recap

Published April 28, 2023

Reshaping City Politics? Asian Voters’ Demands for Change in San Francisco and Vancouver

In 2022, Asian voters shocked the political establishment in San Francisco and Vancouver. Presented by UC Berkeley's Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research, this panel featured insiders from both cities, including Ken Sim’s campaign manager, a leader from Vancouver’s Canadian-Chinese community, a leader in the San Francisco school board recall campaign who was appointed to the school board herself, and scholar Neil Malhotra.

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