Lani Guinier’s keynote lecture given at the Barnard College Center for Research on Women in March 2008 is part of her lifelong project of rectifying voting methods in the United States that weaken the voting power of all kinds of minority groups. Rooting her analysis in her mother’s keen observation about power drawn literally from observing child’s play, Guinier addresses how we might restructure common notions of power and democracy. Guinier reminds her audience to ask, “Who designed the game?” when thinking about structures of power and to shift perceptions of success from individual winning or losing in electoral politics. Instead, she focuses on creating opportunities to bring together and build on the collective intelligence of the oppressed. Using examples from the Theater of the Oppressed in Brazil, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Citizens Deliberative Assembly in British Columbia, she calls for us to “reconceptualiz[e] our relationship to other sources of power.”
Two excerpts, as well as the full-length video of Guinier’s lecture follow.
First excerpt
Lani Guinier: Who Designed the Game? from BCRW Videos on Vimeo.
An excerpt from Lani Guinier’s keynote lecture at the 2008 Scholar & Feminist Conference, “The State of Democracy: Gender and Political Participation,” held on March 1, 2008 at Barnard College.
Second excerpt
Lani Guinier: Electocracy and Accountability from BCRW Videos on Vimeo.
An excerpt from Lani Guinier’s keynote lecture at the 2008 Scholar & Feminist Conference, “The State of Democracy: Gender and Political Participation,” held on March 1, 2008 at Barnard College.
Full-length video
Lani Guinier from BCRW Videos on Vimeo.
This is the full-length video of the keynote lecture delivered by Lani Guinier at The Scholar & Feminist Conference 2008, “The State of Democracy: Gender and Political Participation.” The conference took place on March 1, 2008 at Barnard College.
