Le département de philosophie de l’UQAM accueillera bientôt la professeure Kristin Voigt (McGill University), qui donnera une conférence intitulée « Relational equality and commemoration ».

Format hybride: salle N-8510 de l’UQAM et simultanément sur Zoom.

Abstract: Commemorations and naming practices (e.g. of towns, streets or sports teams) that reflect racist or otherwise problematic aspects of political history have become the subject of intense debate, in many cases leading to removal or renaming. Much of the philosophical debate on this topic has approached the question of problematic commemoration through the lens of relational equality, focusing on the disrespect these commemorations express and their consequences for the self-respect of the targeted group. In this paper I argue that, as far as relational equality is concerned, how decisions about such commemorations are made is at least as important as the outcomes of those decisions. Moreover, these decisions are accompanied by an underappreciated risk that certain aspects relational equality are undermined. From this perspective, I argue, two points come into view. First, debate about historical facts surrounding the commemoration or name in question is often less relevant than is typically assumed; recognising this is important not least because such debates can have inegalitarian effects. Second, there are relational egalitarian reasons to make decisions about problematic commemorations in a top-down, seemingly undemocratic fashion. The paper focuses on commemoration involving what I call denigrating names, i.e. pejorative names for certain social groups, but I also consider the implications of my argument for other kinds of commemorations and naming practices.

Inscription pour Zoom: https://uqam.zoom.us/…/tZUvdOCgrDMtGtaosjSB8WBsRoArx...

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez SVP contacter Mauro Rossi (UQAM) à rossi.mauro@uqam.ca