Presented by Professor Jin Young Park of American University
In a deeply unequal world, many people are pushed to the margins of society. Are those on the margins destined to remain there, or can marginality become a source of insight and transformation? This talk challenges the view of marginality as mere powerlessness and reimagines it as a critical standpoint from which injustice can be exposed and resisted. Examining multiple forms of marginalization shaped by gender, race, social class, higher education, and more, it explores how inequality is sustained through structural violence as well as through strategies that pit marginalized groups against one another. Drawing on Buddhist and Western philosophy alongside Asian American and African American literature, the talk reimagines marginality as a generative force that disrupts dominant narratives and opens new possibilities for social transformation. It concludes by reflecting on forms of solidarity rooted in both inner transformation and collective action, pointing toward more just and equitable futures.
Jin Y. Park is William Fraser McDowell Chair Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University. She specializes in Buddhist and intercultural philosophy, Buddhist ethics, and modern Korean social and political thought. Her work addresses questions of gender, violence, discrimination, and narrative identity, with particular attention to marginality as a philosophical, social, and political condition. Through her scholarship, Park examines the power structures that produce inequality while amplifying voices and perspectives from the margins. She is the author, editor, or translator of numerous books, including Marginality: Solidarity and the Fight for Social Change, Women and Buddhist Philosophy, Buddhism and Postmodernity, Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun, and Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism. Park has served as President of the American Academy of Religion, the North American Korean Philosophy Association, and the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy.