Boozy Lectures Presents Visibility, Violence & Power: Who Gets To Be Seen

Violence is often loud and visible, while other forms happen quietly by pushing people out of sight.

Drawing on philosophy, political theory, and real-world case studies, this talk examines violence not just as physical harm, but as a process of disappearance. From sex work in Calgary to labour organizing in the Philippines, student protests, and activism in Mexico, we'll trace how gender, race, sexuality, and memory are shaped by who is allowed to exist in public view and who is forced into darkness.

Led by Miles, a graduate student at the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, whose research focuses on political violence, warfare, and neoliberal counterinsurgency in Southeast Asia, this talk invites us to question how violence works long before it looks like violence at all.

This lecture introduces the idea of “social optometry”: the ways societies decide what is visible, what is ignored, and what is actively erased. When visibility becomes political, safety, legitimacy, and survival follow unequal lines.

Come prepared to rethink power, visibility, and the hidden systems that decide whose lives are lived in the light and whose are not.

📍 Bottlescrew Bill's Pub - 140 10 Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0A3

🕕 Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM MT

Note: Doors open at 6 PM, and lecture starts at 6:30 PM

***If you reserved a ticket and can no longer attend, we ask that you please cancel your ticket so your fellow scholar on the waitlist can take your place.

Thank you for looking out for your fellow scholars and for showing up to the Boozy community!

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