Events

Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean's Lecture Series - "The Resistance"

Tuesday, April 04, 2017, 08:00am - 05:00pm
Location:

Frances Fox Piven The Nation 1Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology, CUNY

Frances Fox Piven is an internationally renowned social scientist and activist who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to poor and working people and to the practice of democracy.  She is the author or co-author of over 200 articles and several books, including Regulating the Poor (1971), Poor People’s Movements (1977), The Breaking of the American Social Compact (1997), Why Americans Still Don’t Vote and Why Politicians Want It That Way (2000), and Challenging Authority (2008).  A recipient of both Fulbright and Guggenheim Awards, in 2007 she served as President of the American Sociological Association.

Piven is a founder of the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), and a co-founder of Human SERVE, a campaign which pioneered the idea of “automatic voter registration” via citizens’ applications for social assistance or drivers’ licenses.  She serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit and advocacy groups like Project Vote and Wellstone Action, and she supports anti-poverty groups such as Community Voices Heard, FUREE, and the Center for Community Change. Among her many accolades, she has received the Elliott-Black Award from the American Ethical Union for her “life-long commitment to create a society of peace and justice,” and the Hope Shapiro Bread and Roses Award from New Jersey Peace Action, in honor of her “tireless work to protect and expand voter rights.”