The conference program will feature a keynote by Miguel Centeno (Princeton University) alongside interdisciplinary panels with University at Buffalo faculty and guest speakers. Presenters will share draft manuscripts in advance to support discussion-based sessions and the development of an edited academic volume. Aligned with The Baldy Center's mission, the conference will promote interdisciplinary dialogue on pressing issues at the intersection of law and social policy, generate collaborative research initiatives, and contribute to broader academic and policy debates on global systemic risks.

Conference presenters are already familiar with the economic and social dangers of global systemic risk. Conference discussions will concern the political ramifications of these threats, and the central sources of tension between GSR and politics: First, the apparently slow pace of democratic change leads to frustrations when fast answers are (apparently) needed;  Second, we have the human phenomenon of the delusion of control. Homo sapiens do not like uncertainty and we gravitate toward systems and personalities that can (once again, apparently) guarantee stability. Global systemic risks present occasions when the deliberations and checks and balances of democracies appear most frustrating. Authoritarian claims to resolve problems quickly and efficiently may also pull populations away from faith in their own ability to govern. 

Conference program subject to change.

MORNING SESSIONS

9:00-9:30 a.m.     Continental Breakfast & Registration

9:30-10:00 a.m.    WELCOME & OPENING ADDRESS
Barbara Wejnert, Professor, Department of Environment and Sustainability; Affiliated Faculty, Jaeckle Center for Law, Democracy, and Governance, University at Buffalo

10:00-11:00 a.m.    KEYNOTE: The Fragility of Democracy in a Systemically Risky World
Miguel A. Centeno, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University; Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton School of Public International Affairs 

11:00-11:45 a.m    KEYNOTE DISCUSSION: Democracy, Inequality & Political Economy 
Matthew Dimick, Professor of Law, University at Buffalo School of Law 

11:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.    Audience Discussion & Q&A

Noon to 1:00 p.m.    Lunch

AFTERNOON SESSIONS — EVS DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES: WAR, ENVIRONMENT AND GLOBAL CHANGE

1:00-1:30 p.m.  Coffee, Conversation and Afternoon Gathering

1:30-1:45 p.m.  INTRODUCTION TO THE EVS SPEAKER SERIES
Isabel Porto-Hannes, Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Sustainability, UB CAS; Director, EVS Speaker Series

1:45-2:00 p.m.  INTRODUCTION OF THE INVITED SPEAKER
Nataliia Yaroshenko, SNAU, Ukraine; Fulbright Scholar

2:00-3:00 p.m.  INVITED LECTURE AND VISUAL PRESENTATION
Brendan Hoffman, Documentary photographer and writer, NYT based in Kyiv, Ukraine

3:00-3:15 p.m.  Coffee & Pastry Break

3:15-4:00 p.m.  INVITED LECTURE: Democracy/Autocracy Cyclical Trend Since 1789 and 21st-Century Warfare and Global Warming Risks
Christopher Chase-Dunn, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Riverside

4:00-4:15 p.m   Discussion and Q&A

4:15-4:30 p.m   CONFERENCE CONCLUSION & FINAL REFLECTIONS 
Global Systemic Risks: From Understanding to Response

Miguel A. Centeno, Executive Vice Dean, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University; Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton School of Public International Affairs 
A leading scholar of warfare, state formation, political economy, and institutional change, Centeno’s research examines how conflict shape state capacity, political institutions, development, and social order. His influential work includes Blood and Debt: War and the Nation-State in Latin America (2002).

Christopher Chase-Dunn, PhD,  Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Research on World-Systems, UC Riverside
Chase-Dunne will deliver a talk on “Democracy/Autocracy cyclical trend since 1789 and 21st century warfare and global warming risks”.  A leading scholar of world-systems analysis and long-term global social change, Chase-Dunn founded the Institute for Research on World-Systems, and, is founding editor of the Journal of World-Systems Research. His books include Global Formation: Structures of the World-Economy (1989). 

Matthew Dimick, PhD, JD, Professor of Law, UB School of Law, and, Director, The Baldy Center
As discussant for the keynote address, Dimick will extend the talk about democratic weakening and the political economy in the United States. Dimick is the author of Ending Income Inequality: A Critical Approach to the Law, Economics of Redistribution (Cambridge UP, 2025). Recent work has explored the epistemological status of “race” under capitalism, labor law and the republican theory of domination, a comparative evaluation of antitrust and labor law in correcting for firms’ market power, and the relationship between altruism, income inequality, and preferences for redistribution in the United States. Dimick is currently undertaking a study on capitalism and antidiscrimination law and, along with John Abromeit and Paul Linden-Retek, is editing a volume on Jürgen Habermas’ legal and political theory.

Brendan Hoffman, Photojournalist,The New York Times, will offer a visual and empirical account of war-related environmental destruction in Ukraine, highlighting the emerging legal and policy debates surrounding ecocide. As a prominent photojournalist, his recent work documents the environmental devastation of Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion.

Hoffman is an American documentary photographer based in Kyiv, Ukraine where his work reflects his interest in themes of identity, history, politics, conflict, and the environment. Since 2013 he has primarily covered revolution and war in Ukraine. His work has been published widely, shown at festivals including Visa Pour l’Image, the Zoom Photo Festival in Canada, and the Singapore International Photography Festival, and exhibited across Ukraine, in a major solo show at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago, Illinois, and in various galleries and educational institutions across Europe and the United States.He is a founding member of the photographic collective, Prime. Hoffman is a contributing photographer to National Geographic magazine, The New York Times, and other leading publications. Hoffman is largely known for his coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, including the Maidan protests and war in eastern Ukraine.^[

Isabel Porto-Hannes, PhD, Teaching Assistant Professor, Department of Environment and Sustainability, UB CAS; Director, EVS Speaker Series

Porto-Hannes will introduce the EVS Speaker Series and its interdisciplinary focus on contemporary environmental and sustainability challenges. Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, her love for aquatic systems has taken her to many places. Her career started in the ocean, then she ventured upstream and ended up in the Great Lakes, where she currently works. Her research focuses on improvement of water quality through the conservation and restoration of aquatic keystone species such freshwater mussels of the order Unionida. She is also passionate about interdisciplinary work that fosters communication and raises public awareness on the conservation of "non-carismatic" species that are vital to ecosystem health.

Barbara Wejnert, PhD,  Professor, Department of Environment and Sustainability; Affiliated Faculty, Jaeckle Center for Law, Democracy, and Governance, University at Buffalo
Wejnert is an internationally recognized and award-winning political sociologist whose interdisciplinary scholar includes numerous articles and books, including Diffusion of Democracy (Cambridge UP, 2013). Her research ex sustainable development and the effects of democracy and autocracy on climate-crisis mitigation, societal well-being, gender-equitable development.

Nataliia Yanukovych, PhD,  Sumy National Agrarian University (SNAU), Ukraine, will offer commentary on Hoffman's  presentation. Yanukovych, currently a Fulbright Researcher at the University at Buffalo, specializes in ecocide.

Research Areas: Plant population ecology, ecological consequences of military/war activities, forestry, sustainability and climate change mitigation strategies in urban landscapes.

UB provides resources and general information to welcome visitors to our region:

• VISIT UB
• VISIT BUFFALO AND THE NIAGARA FRONTIER