Public Affairs (Audio)

Many observers believe we need to grapple with challenges arising from the many well-established laws, regulations and policies which have been ignored or violated over the past four years. Goldman School of Public Policy faculty and former UC President and former Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, with Leon Panetta, L. Song Richardson and Eric Swalwell explore the norms, assumptions, and governmental practices that have changed during the Trump presidency and the ensuing impact on American society and democracy. Can we make our democracy stronger and better? What would a practical, yet ambitious, roadmap for reform look like? Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36471]

Chrissie Castro, Diné and Chicana, is the Chairperson of the Los Angeles City County Native American Indian Commission, and co-led the change to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in the City and County of Los Angeles. She was a co-founder of Indigenous Women Rise, which organized the Indigenous women’s contingent of 1,000 Indigenous Women at the Women’s March in DC. She is the Network Weaver of the Native Voice Network, a national network of 35+ Native-led organizations that mobilize through indigenous cultural values; and recently launched two projects to build community and political power of Native communities – locally, the California Native Vote Project and nationally, Advance Native Political Leadership. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36286]

San Diego Mayoral candidates Barbara Bry and Todd Gloria discuss issues related to social justice, the housing crisis and the post-pandemic economy with panelists from UC San Diego, then field questions from the audience. Recorded October 8, 2020.

[Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36382]

This lecture looks at social movements and culture in history through three theoretical models of social, political and historical change: Karl Marx’s theory of historical materialism as expressed in the “base-superstructure” model, Antonio Gramsci’s theories of intellectuals and of consent and coercion in the shaping of hegemony, and Black feminism as expressed by Combahee River Collective. Marx’s theory influenced the formation of the movements of the19th century; the labor movement, the women’s suffrage movement and the abolitionist movement. Gramsci’s context of Italian fascism is discussed as is the question of historical fascism as a backlash against the gains made by the social movements that preceded it. Through the Combahee River Collective we come to see how Black feminism represents a revolutionary force not only against the systems of state and economic oppression, but against the narrowly constructed identities that shaped the previous history of social movements. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 36285]

America is more politically polarized now than at almost any other time in our history. Dean Henry E. Brady of UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy is studying that polarization and what, if anything, can be done to reverse it. He explains how changing political priorities, technology, and partisan media have all played a role in bringing us to a point where Republicans and Democrats don't even want their children to marry people from the other party. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 35618]

This lecture opens with the breaking news of Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and the super spreader event that broke out in the White House last week. From there we turn to a detailed discussion of social movements, organizing and democracy. Professor Jayaraman discusses the question of power, the elements and goals of organizing, the dynamics of social movements, and the cycles of contention through which social movements grow. She argues that the more people engage in contentious action over a sustained period of time, the more transformative change becomes possible. The discussion concludes with an analysis of how social movements can map power relations and best run campaigns to change public policy. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36283]

This lecture features Rashad Robinson, the President of Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. The organization helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, they move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Color Of Change uses an innovative combination of technology, research, media savvy and local community engagement to build powerful movements and change the industries that affect Black people’s lives: in Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, Washington, prosecutor offices, capitol hills and city halls around the country.

This lecture ends with a brief discussion of the September 29 presidential “debate” between Trump and Biden, considering what was revealed in this event and how it will impact the ongoing campaigns.  

Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36282]

This lecture takes on the question of why we have only two political parties in the United States and how the two party system shapes our politics. Most significantly, this lecture looks at the ways in which the politics of race - Black civil rights in particular - during the Civil War, Reconstruction, the modern Civil Rights Movement and the election of Barack Obama served to shift the two political parties into new realignments. This lecture traces the transformation of the two parties over 150 years, marking the shift of the Democrats from the party of the Confederacy to the party of the New Deal and Civil Rights, and the transformation of the Republicans from the party of Lincoln and Radical Reconstruction to the White Mans Party of Trump. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 36281]

Every crisis leads to opportunities especially for transformational figures willing to lead with compassion and to build a more resilient, inclusive, prosperous and sustainable economy. Naila Chowdhury, Director, Social Impact & Innovation, UC San Diego, Janet C. Salazar , President and Executive Chairman, Foundation for the Support of the United Nations, Roberta Baskin,

Journalist, Board Director, One Earth, Hana Brixi, Manager, Human Capital Project, The World Bank, Lisa Ordóñez, Dean, Rady School of Management, UC San Diego, and Becky Petitt, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, UC San Diego share how their backgrounds shaped their future and the tools they use to thrive in difficult times. Series: "Time to Rise" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 36232]

This lecture takes up the question of neoliberalism, income inequality and low wage workers. We begin with a brief overview of the political economy of the neoliberal project from the 1970s to the present, considering neoliberalism as both an economic philosophy and a political project of the global ruling class. Professor Jayaraman then takes up the main topic of the lecture on the politics of low wage workers, especially workers in the food service industry. Working through a history of restaurant workers and the practice of tipping from slavery to the present, we consider how restaurant workers have struggled to survive on a sub-minimum wage for decades due to the aggressive lobbying efforts of the National Restaurant Association (“the other NRA”). We discuss the alarming rates of sexual harassment experienced by this predominantly female and women of color work force, as well as ongoing efforts to organize working class Americans both on the job and at the polls. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36443]