"Power Switch: How Can We Reverse Extreme Inequality" with Paul O'Brien
March 16, 2021 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
In this time of turbulence, how can activists reverse extreme inequality? What would a "power switch" look like? As the COVID-19 pandemic leaves communities and countries facing economic wreckage, political lockdowns, and social division, a power switch is underway — a massive redistribution of wealth and political decision-making power. Corporations, billionaires, and autocrats will use this moment to take more control of resources, what we think, how we vote, and with whom we can talk. Or activists may work together to reverse power and reshape the world.
In his 2020 book "Power Switch," Paul O'Brien explains a way forward in the fight against extreme inequality and an agenda for action and strategies that increase the effectiveness of activism. Come join Paul O’Brien as he presents key trends and concepts from his recent book, arguing how progressive activists may never have a better opportunity to rewrite economic rules, systems, and outcomes to reduce extreme inequality.
Paul O'Brien is a Vice President at Oxfam America. For the last decade, he has overseen Oxfam America’s advocacy with the US government and corporations. He has been an advisor to the President of Afghanistan, the Africa Policy Advisor for CARE, and an organizer in Nairobi’s slums. He co-founded a community organizing institution in Kenya and a human rights research consortium in Afghanistan. He was the President of the Echoing Green Foundation, a litigator in New York for Cravath, Swaine, and Moore. He has a JD from Harvard Law School and has published on power and rights for more than three decades.
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