Chris Miller

@cmillerphd.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa Studying death, dying, and nonreligion https://chrismiller.ca/

Join us for our upcoming online seminar with Professor Vivek Venkatesh on “Social Pedagogy for Building Sustainable Resilience with Dispossessed Communities” on Wednesday, 27 May 2026. 3pm South Africa / 9am Canada (Eastern) / 10am Brazil (São Paulo) / 2pm UK

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Join us for our upcoming online masterclass with Professor Paula Montero on “Ethnography Beyond Method: Writing, Theory, and Conceptual Invention” on Monday, 2 February 2026. 3pm South Africa / 8am Canada / 10am Brazil / 1pm UK

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Event Announcement! We are hosting an online seminar with Dr Bonny Ibhawoh (@giazilo.bsky.social) on Democracy and the Tyranny of Possessive Individualism: Reclaiming the Collective in Human Rights Thurs 27 Nov 10:00 ET / 17:00 BRT / 17:00 SAST / 15:00 GMT Zoom ID: 990 4982 8324 Passcode: 929359

Online Seminar
Democracy and the Tyranny of Possessive Individualism: Reclaiming the Collective in Human Rights
With Dr Bonny Ibhawoh

Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh is Professor and Senator William McMaster Chair in Global Human Rights at McMaster University, Canada, where he also serves as Vice-Provost for International Affairs. He is the Independent Expert-Rapporteur and current Chair of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development. He has taught human rights at universities in Africa, Europe, the United States, and Canada. Dr. Ibhawoh is Project Director of Participedia, a global research network on public participation and democratic innovation, and the founding Director of the McMaster Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice. He also leads the Confronting Atrocity Project, a transnational initiative on restorative justice. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

In this talk, Dr Ibhawoh will examine how the intertwined crises of democracy and human rights stem from what C B Macpherson called possessive individualism — the liberal notion of the self as an autonomous proprietor owing little or nothing to society. He will argue that this possessive ethos, embedded in both democratic and human rights traditions, has hollowed out collective life, reducing democracy to market competition and rights to individualized claims. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, from postcolonial human rights charters and the UN Right to Development to movements for climate justice, the talk contends that restoring democratic legitimacy and moral purpose requires rebalancing the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility.

Date and time:
Thursday 27 November 2025 
17:00 - 18:00 South Africa / 10:00 - 11:00 Canada (Eastern) / 12:00 - 13:00 Brazil São Paulo / 15:00 - 16:00 United Kingdom

Zoom Link: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/j/99049828324?pwd=w9p42lidubXU5bc1HtcCFMVbxazy6A.1

Meeting ID: 990 4982 8324
Passcode: 929359

📣Event Announcement!📣 Upcoming online seminar: To the right, the feminine: Religious women and the struggles over the public policy repertoire in health in Brazil Tuesday, 22 July 2025 16:00 – 17:00 / South Africa; 10:00 – 11:00 / Ottawa; 11:00 – 12:00 / São Paulo; 15:00 – 16:00 / United Kingdom

To the Right, the Feminine: Religious Women and the Struggles Over the Public Policy Repertoire in Health in Brazil
Speaker: Jacqueline Moraes Teixeira
Jacqueline Moraes Teixeira is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Society at the School of Public Health, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. She is also a researcher at the Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), where her work explores intersections of gender, race, sexuality, and religion.
She holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology from USP. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from USP (2008), and a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from Mackenzie Presbyterian University (2012).
Her research focuses on religion and social markers of difference, the role of education in promoting human rights, and how public health policies are shaped and implemented.

Discussant: Ninian Frenguelli
Ninian Frenguelli is a Postdoctoral Research Officer at the Cyber Threats Research Centre (CYTREC), based at Swansea University, Wales, United Kingdom.

DATE: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
TIME: 16:00 – 17:00 / South Africa 10:00 – 11:00 / Canada (Ottawa) 11:00 – 12:00 / Brazil (São Paulo) 15:00 – 16:00 / United Kingdom https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8611 7216945? pwd=fXTVTroazKlrXZDRpSjlvVLk Yk71G2.1

Hosted by: Repairing Sociality, Safeguarding Democragy research group
Funded by the Trans-Atlantic Platform on Democracy, Governance and Trust

Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, University of Ottawa, Swansea University, University of the Western Cape, Walter Sisulu University