Conference: The Uplift of All

Gandhi, King, and the Global Struggle for Freedom and Justice

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University will commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth by presenting a major, international Gandhi-King conference from October 11–13. The conference will include a full day of lectures and panel discussions at the Humanities Center on Saturday, October 12, with prominent scholars and activists who will reassess the legacies of Gandhi and King in a contemporary global context.

Although Gandhi and King are widely celebrated and revered for their role in twentieth century struggles for citizenship rights, many admirers give insufficient attention to their broader concerns, such as poverty, war, environmental degradation, and the denial of human rights. Such twenty-first century issues are as urgent as ever, taking on forms such as catastrophic climate change, extreme wealth inequality, and the migrant refugee crisis. Gandhi once proclaimed that "There is no limit to extending our services to our neighbours across State-made frontiers. God never made those frontiers." King prophesied that "All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." These global visions are at the heart of our October conference.

Event Details

Attendance of the conference will cost $100 for early-bird registration (by September 15) and $150 for general registration (after September 16). This cost will be waived for students (ID required for verification) and all Stanford affiliates (SUNet required for verification). Admission to a banquet on the evening of Friday, October 11 will cost an additional $100 for non-students and $25 for students.