Wednesday, July 8, 2026 | 6pm to 7:30pm
25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Suite 1000
between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan
Across the globe, millions of people continue to face systemic discrimination, exclusion, and unequal opportunities based entirely on their inherited status, descent, or ancestral occupation. While deeply associated with the caste system in South Asia, these rigid intergenerational hierarchies affect diverse global populations, including the Roma in Europe, Haratine in Africa, Buraku in Japan, Osu in Nigeria, and Quilombola and Palenque communities in Latin America. Despite distinct cultural origins, these groups share a common reality of deep-seated social stigma, occupational segregation, and severe barriers to basic human rights.
To confront this global challenge, this seminar brings together scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers to foster a comparative understanding of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD). The discussion will examine how these inherited social hierarchies are reproduced through contemporary institutions and social norms, specifically tracking how exclusion restricts access to education, employment, housing, healthcare, and political participation across different regions.
Additionally, the seminar will analyze how modern forces like migration, urbanization, and globalization are reshaping both the nature of this exclusion and the strategies used for grassroots resistance. Participants will reflect on the growing recognition of descent-based discrimination within international human rights platforms, evaluating the current responses of the United Nations, civil society, and academic institutions as they work toward a more coherent global framework to eradicate inherited-status discrimination.
Moderator: Paul Divakar Namala
Speakers:
- Queen Bisseng
- Gabriela Hrabanova
- Beena Pallical
- Johannes Butscher
Organizers
Asian American / Asian Research Institute – CUNY
Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD)
The Inclusivity Project
