February 2, 2016, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Rudin Family Forum for Civic Discussion
NYU Wagner, 295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor
Emotion plays an instrumental role in law and policy-making. For LGBTIQ minorities, feelings such as pain, disgust, hate, anger, fear, hope, and happiness have animated reform agendas to address violence, discrimination, and inequality. These agendas have also influenced policy making in the field of, for example, – post-conflict – development. Yet, little attention has been given to what is at stake in embracing emotion as the basis of social justice movements. In this talk, I will discuss the tensions that arise for academics, activists, and advocates navigating the intersections of emotion, public policy, and law reform, for example in the field of security and development. We should not embrace or expel emotion (if either was possible). We need to “queer” how we take account of them and reflect on their specific reach.
Senthorun Raj
Senthorun Raj is an academic and advocate with a passion for popular culture, politics, and law. Sen is completing his PhD and teaches at Sydney Law School. His doctoral thesis titled Feeling Law: Queer Injuries, Intimacies, and Identities examines the ways emotion have shaped legal responses that address the discrimination against sexual and gender minorities. He is currently a Scholar in Residence at NYU School of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. He previously worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby. In a governance capacity, Sen has also served on the boards of Amnesty International Australia and ACON Health.
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About the series: Each Tuesday, the Conflict, Security, and Development Series will examine new research, discuss creative policy approaches and highlight recent innovations in responding to the challenges of security and development in conflict and post-conflict situations. This series is co-presented by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School, the Center for Global Affairs at NYU’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, NYU’s College of Global Public Health, The Program in International Relations at NYU’s GSAS, and the Office of International Programs at NYU Wagner.