PJSA2020 - Opening Keynote, David Hooker
Channel: Peace and Justice Studies Association
Date: 2020-09-12

Saturday 12 September 2020, 12-1:30 PM Pacific | 3:00-4:30 PM Eastern

Opening Keynote: David Hooker, University of Notre Dame

“Can (Restorative) Justice transform historical harms or dismantle present day systematic (syndemic) oppressions?”

There is an ongoing and long standing debate as to the capacity of restorative justice either philosophically or as a practical matter to effectively address issues of historical harms and present structural racism. There are those who seek to affirm and attest to ways in which restorative justice can indeed address structural racism. Others argue that transformative and some say transitional justice is what is needed to address the inadequacies of restorative justice. I will use the case of widespread torture of Black and brown bodied people at the hands of the Chicago Police Department in the 1970’s, 80’s, and early 90’s, the subsequent passage of a reparations ordinance in 2015 and the current approach to redress being pursued by the Chicago Torture Justice Center to explore these questions.

Facilitated by Jeremy Rinker