TLRH | Trinity Centre for Resistance Studies Launch

Recorded March 9, 2021. The launch of Trinity’s new Centre for
Resistance Studies will be marked by a keynote lecture from
Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Professor of History and Italian Studies,
NYU), ‘How to Resist a Strongman: Lessons from a Century of
Authoritarian Rule’ The Centre aims to provide an intellectual
response to the growth of populism and authoritarianism across the
globe by fostering interdisciplinary research in the field of
resistance studies. It will provide a forum for academics,
postgraduate researchers, intellectuals and activists to discuss
the meanings and manifestations of ‘resistance’ and its cognate
terms, such as opposition, dissent, protest, non-conformism and
resilience. The disciplines represented in the Centre include
history, cultural studies, the social sciences, language and
literature, law, peace studies and the health sciences, and its
geographical scope stretches from Hong Kong to South America,
through Europe (East and West), Ireland (North and South), the Near
and Middle East and the United States. The motivations behind
establishing this new research centre are both academic and civic,
and future activities will include events for academic as well as
public audiences. In addition to organising conferences, panel
discussions and podcast series on relevant themes, the Centre
intends to establish a special ‘resistance collection’ of archival
and contemporary sources that will be made available for
prospective researchers. The Centre for Resistance Studies will be
launched by Vice Provost of Trinity College, Juergen Barkhoff and
the event will feature a keynote lecture from Professor Ruth
Ben-Ghiat of New York University, entitled ‘How to Resist a
Strongman: Lessons from a Century of Authoritarian Rule.’ This
lecture will examine a century of resistance to ‘strongman’ rule,
using examples from Italy, Chile, Russia, America, Libya, Turkey
and elsewhere. Professor Ben-Ghiat will look at the impact of
changing media technologies on practices of dissent, and will also
discuss what has not changed in relation, for example, to the use
of mass non-violent protest or to the use of the body as a site of
resistance. Learn more at: https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/