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The global debate surrounding reparations for slavery has reignited in the last ten years. Many advocates, influenced by concepts like reconciliatory justice, have argued that reparations should be focused on making amends to disadvantaged communities in the present; others emphasize the idea of restitution for the horrific historical cruelties of European colonialism and chattel slavery.

In his new book, Reconsidering Reparations, Georgetown University’s Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò charts a path forward – a “constructive” view of reparations. He argues that reparations should aim to build a better social order, and that the costs of building a fairer and more equitable world should largely be borne by wealthier countries in the global north, who bear moral liability for past injustices. In an era where climate politics will increasingly decide people's opportunities, this construction project requires climate justice.

Táíwò traces this approach to reparations back to Black American political thinkers such as James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nkechi Taifa, as well as mainstream political philosophers including John Rawls, Charles Mills, and Elizabeth Anderson.

Join Perry World House and Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò for a wide-ranging conversation on Reconsidering Reparations and its implications for justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.

Speaker

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He is the author of Reconsidering Reparations, a book that considers a "constructive" philosophical argument for reparations and explores links with climate justice. His theoretical work draws liberally from the Black radical tradition, contemporary philosophy of language, contemporary social science, German transcendental philosophy, materialist thought, histories of activism and activist thinkers. He also writes public philosophy, including articles that explore intersections of climate justice and colonialism. Táíwò completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles and holds B.A.s in Philosophy and Political Science from Indiana University.

Moderator

Michael Weisberg is Senior Faculty Fellow and Director of Post-Graduate Programs at Perry World House, as well as Bess W. Heyman President's Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. An expert in philosophy of science, climate policy, and social ecology, he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Biology and Philosophy, advisor to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Nairobi Work Programme and the Republic of Maldives, and directs Penn’s campus-wide research in Galápagos. He is the author of Simulation and Similarity: Using Models to Understand the World and Galápagos: Life in Motion, as well as a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 6th Assessment Report. Professor Weisberg received a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California, San Diego in 1999, and continued graduate study in Philosophy and Evolutionary Biology at Stanford University, earning a 2003 Ph.D. in Philosophy. 

COVID-19 Guidelines

Perry World House is following the University of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 guidelines. In-person access to our hybrid events is now open to the public as well as the Penn community.

All in-person attendees will be REQUIRED to wear a mask and MUST either show their Green PennOpen Pass (University of Pennsylvania faculty, students, postdocs, and staff or badged contractors) OR Green PennOpen Campus (all other visitors including event attendees) in order to take part in-person.

You must complete your PennOpen Campus screening on your cell phone or computer BEFORE arriving at Perry World House. Click here for more information about PennOpen Campus and how it works.

We will continue to provide virtual access to all of our hybrid programming. Zoom details will be found in your order confirmation email.