Political scholar to lecture, receive Havens Center award

Frances Fox Piven, a driving force for electoral reform, will receive the Lifetime Contribution to Critical Scholarship Award from the A.E. Havens Center, and will deliver its 20th anniversary lecture on Thursday, Nov. 11.

Piven, distinguished professor of political science and sociology at the City University of New York, will speak on “Elections and Protest Movements in the Struggle for Democracy” at 7 p.m. in Room 1100, Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave. The lecture is free and open to the public.

She will receive the award as part of a commemoration of the anniversary of the Havens Center, established in 1984 to promote critical social thought throughout the social sciences and humanities.

Piven is an internationally recognized scholar, political activist and founder of Human SERVE. That group played a key role in the passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 — commonly known as the motor voter bill — which expanded access to voter registration.

In addition, Piven is the co-author of “Regulating the Poor,” a landmark analysis of welfare policy in the economic and political control of the poor and working class. She and Richard Cloward also wrote “The New Class War,” “The Mean Season” and “the Breaking of the American Social Compact.”

For more information on the Havens Center and Piven’s appearance, visit: the Havens Center Web site or contact Patrick Barrett at (608) 262-0854.