As we enter an unprecedented political era in the history of the United States, the need for positive social change is greater than ever. In this panel discussion from the 2008 Encore Careers Summit, scholars and activists discuss the origins of three great social movements in this country: the women's movement, the civil rights movement, and the environmental movement. Each panelist explores what lessons may be gained from these movements and how the encore movement, which is focused on harnessing the energies of people over 50 in productive new career directions, may help influence social, economic, and political policies around the world.
Peter Osnos is the founder and editor-at-large of Public-Affairs, an independent publishing company specializing in books of journalism, history, biography, and social criticism. He is also executive director of The Caravan Project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, which is developing a plan for multi-platform publishing of books, and vice chairman of the Columbia Journalism Review. Osnos has also worked as a correspondent and editor for The Washington Post, an associate publisher and senior editor at Random House, and publisher of Random House’s Times Books division.
Clayborne Carson, professor of history and founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, has devoted his professional life to the study of Martin Luther King Jr. and the movements King inspired. His ï¬rst book, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s, remains a deï¬nitive history of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Carson also served as senior advisor for the award-winning public television series “Eyes on the Prize” and co-edited the Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader.
Denis Hayes is president of the Bullitt Foundation and the immediate past chair of the Energy Foundation. In 1970, Hayes was national coordinator of the ï¬rst Earth Day—an event often credited with launching the modern American environmental movement. He still serves as board chair of the Earth Day Network, which is now active in 170 nations. During the Carter administration, Hayes headed the federal Solar Energy Research Institute (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). He has held teaching positions at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Suzanne Braun Levine is a writer, editor, and nationally recognized authority on women, media matters, and family issues. Her book, Inventing the Rest of Our Lives: Women in Second Adulthood has generated a new conversation about the choices women make as they age. Another book, Fifty Is the New Fifty: Life Lessons from Second Adulthood, will be published in April 2009. Braun Levine has served as founding editor of Ms. magazine and editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journalism Review.
This free podcast is from our Stanford Discussions series.
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