Silja Bara Omarsdottir
Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir was one of 25 people who helped rewrite the Icelandic constitution. She took the PopTech stage to explain how the citizens of Iceland responded after the banks collapsed in 2008, protesting politely outside of Parliament to a louder, angrier outcry, which the government eventually acknowledged. The government then suggested that Iceland's citizens should rewrite the constitution to understand who the Icelandic people really were, especially since the Danish had originally written the constitution. Ómarsdóttir explained the process by which those 25 elected citizens broke up into committees and, with considerable public input, worked for four months to overhaul the constitution.
Silja is adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland. Her current research is focused on Icelandic foreign and security policy. She completed a BA, with honors, in international affairs from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and an MA in international relations from the University of Southern California, as well as a graduate diploma in methodology from the University of Iceland. She is a women’s rights activist and has served on the boards of the Icelandic Feminist Association, the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, the UNIFEM National Committee in Iceland, and the Icelandic Gender Equality Council.
Silja Bara Omarsdottir
Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir was one of 25 people who helped rewrite the Icelandic constitution. She took the PopTech stage to explain how the citizens of Iceland responded after the banks collapsed in 2008, protesting politely outside of Parliament to a louder, angrier outcry, which the government eventually acknowledged. The government then suggested that Iceland's citizens should rewrite the constitution to understand who the Icelandic people really were, especially since the Danish had originally written the constitution. Ómarsdóttir explained the process by which those 25 elected citizens broke up into committees and, with considerable public input, worked for four months to overhaul the constitution.
Silja is adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Iceland. Her current research is focused on Icelandic foreign and security policy. She completed a BA, with honors, in international affairs from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and an MA in international relations from the University of Southern California, as well as a graduate diploma in methodology from the University of Iceland. She is a women’s rights activist and has served on the boards of the Icelandic Feminist Association, the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, the UNIFEM National Committee in Iceland, and the Icelandic Gender Equality Council.