The Rule of the Clan

The Rule of the Clan, based on a new book by the same name, and what modern democracies should understand about clan-based societies, will be the focus of a panel discussion featuring the book’s author, Mark Weiner, and faculty from Dickinson and the U.S. Army War College. The event will take place on Wednesday, April 16, at 7 p.m., in the Stern Center, Great Room, 208 West Louther Street. It is free and open to the public.

Weiner, a constitutional-law expert and legal historian, will discuss the role that existing tribal and clan-based legal systems have on the democratic political development of a nation and the specific problems that arise from the conflict between existing clan ties and government constitutions. Following his presentation, panelists Andrew Wolff, assistant professor of political science, international studies and security studies at Dickinson, and Carol Horning, professor of international development at the U.S. Army War College, will discuss clan rule and associated conflicts. Erik Love, assistant professor of sociology at Dickinson, will moderate the discussion.

Weiner is currently a professor at Rutgers University. His publications have received numerous awards, including the Silver Gavel Award for his 2005 book, Black Trials: Citizenship from the Beginnings of Slavery to the End of the Caste and the President’s Book Award from the Social Science History Association for his 2006 book, Americans Without Law: The Racial Boundaries of Citizenship. He received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a Ph.D. from Yale University, and a law degree from Yale Law School. He was a 2009 Fulbright Fellow in Iceland, where he taught U.S. constitutional law and studied Icelandic tribes for what would become his book, The Rule of the Clan.

Wolff’s research focuses on geopolitical theory, NATO security issues, transatlantic relations, U.S. foreign policy and international diplomacy. Horning has nearly 30 years of experience in peacekeeping, sustainable economic development, health and education in countries such as Afghanistan, Guyana, Eritrea and Bangladesh. Love is a civil-rights advocacy scholar whose research on advocacy groups for Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian Americans has received widespread support from groups such as the National Science Foundation, the Richard Flacks Fund for the Study of Democracy and the Center for New Racial Studies.

The event is sponsored by The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Churchill Fund. For more information, call 717-245-1875.

Published April 15, 2014