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"One of the great virtues of human rights is that it's very alert to the dark side of human nature. All the human rights covenants are a systematic inventory of all the horrible things that human beings can and have done to each other. I respect human rights for their moral realism, and I want human rights that are very realistic in their conception of human capacities and propensities."
In this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Michael Ignatieff, former president of the Central European University and founding director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. He is an author, academic, and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011.
Together, Risse and Ignatieff discuss the state of human rights in the world today, Hungary under the leadership of Victor Orbán, and revisited topics from Ignatieff's Tanner Lecture series—given at the turn of the 21st century—including the politics of human rights, moral universalism, and American exceptionalism. -
On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates speaks with Dr. Charity Clay, Assistant Professor of Sociology and UNCF Mellon Fellow at Harvard's Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research. As a sociologist of the African Diaspora, Clay's research interests are varied but center around the dispersal, preservation, maintenance, and adaptability of African culture throughout the diaspora. In this conversation, Gates and Clay discuss Clayâs upbringing in Minneapolis, the importance of Black spaces and place-making, commodified Blackness in New Orleans, her theory on systemic police terrorism, using drones for socioeconomic mapping of Black spaces, and how she sees her role as a multi-hyphenate scholar, musician, and athlete.
Listen to Dr. Charity Clay's Hutchins Center Lecture on 'Systemic Police Terrorism: A Conceptual Framework', Part of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute Colloquium Series.
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On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Diego Garcia Blum talks with Kristopher Velasco, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Princeton University about his research on the global anti-LGBTQI movement. Professor Velascoâs research centers on the intersections of global & transnational sociology, organizations, political sociology, culture, and sexuality. Globally, he investigates how transnational advocacy networks, NGOs, and international institutions facilitate the expansion of LGBTQI rights around the world by changing cultural understandings of gender and sexuality. This line of research, and the backlash these processes invite, is the subject of Kristopher's current book project. In this episode he discusses the global anti-LGBTQI movement, how it is organized and who are the primary players, what connection it has to global geopolitical trends, how the movement is financed, regional success and backlash to the movement, and what advice he has for LGBTQI activists.
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On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Desirée Cormier Smith, the Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice for the U.S. State Department. In this position, she is the face of the United States for all matters regarding racial equity in the world outside of the United States. Together they talk about her role as the inaugural Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, what led to the creation of this position at the U.S. State Department, her own journey graduating from HKS to her current position, and the recent convening of the Symposium on Global Anti-Blackness and the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade that Special Representative Cormier Smith presented in collaboration with the Carr Center and UNESCO.
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On this week's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Jessica Yamoah, the CEO and Founder of Innovate Inc., an organization that provides awareness and access to underrepresented communities at the intersection of business, entrepreneurship, and technology. Together they discuss Innovate's work to provide awareness and access in the technology sector, why diversity and inclusion matters, and her work with the African Descendant Social Entrepreneurship Network.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Danson Kahyana, a fellow at the Carr Center and Associate Professor in the Department of Literature at Makerere University in Uganda. His recent work includes an examination of the effects of Ugandaâs Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 on artistic freedom; exploring the representations of the right to healthcare in Ugandan literary and other cultural productions and investigating the right to dignity among the elderly citizens as depicted in selected East African fiction. Mathias and Danson discuss these research areas as well as the current political situation in Uganda, his work using poetry to teach his students to articulate issues they face in society, the backlash he has faced to his work including the circumstances that led to being violently attacked in April 2022, his 2018 publication of a book of creative writing from inmates inside a Ugandan prison, his own poetry, as well as his current position as a Scholar at Risk at the Carr Center and how he finds courage to continue his work in the face of hardship.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Diego Garcia Blum, Program Director of the Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His work is dedicated to advocating for the safety and acceptance of LGBTQI+ individuals globally, particularly in regions where they face significant risks. Together they discuss the state of anti-LGBTQI+ legislation across the globe, the backlash against this population globally, and what the Carr Center is doing to make a difference with the launch of its new Global LGBTQI+ Human Rights Program.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Gay McDougall, distinguished scholar in residence at Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham University School of Law and member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Professor McDougall has worked for decades on the frontlines of race, gender, and economic exploitation in the American context and in countries around the world. In this episode she discusses the function of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, her early years growing up in Jim Crow-era Georgia, working with Nelson Mandela, the impact of George Floydâs murder, the Biden Administrationâs policies on race, and whatâs at stake in the upcoming 2024 US Presidential election.
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On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Kathryn Sikkink talks with Phuong Pham and Geoff Dancy about the Carr Centerâs Transitional Justice Program, the culmination of the programâs research, and the creation of a research repository on the newly released Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools (TJET) website that compiles data on human rights prosecutions, truth commissions, and more around the world.
Phoung Pham is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a leading expert in the collection and evaluation of victim centered surveys in post-conflict societies. Geoff Dancy is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto who specializes in transitional justice and human rights accountability. Together they discuss the research of the Transitional Justice Program, along with numerous topics focused on evidence-based, victim-centered transitional justice and its implications for peace, democracy, and human rights around the world.
Visit the Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools website for comparative data on human rights prosecutions, amnesties, truth commissions, reparations, and vetting policies around the world from 1970 to 2020.
https://transitionaljusticedata.org
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Angela Riley, Chief Justice of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Professor of Law and American Indian Studies at UCLA, about indigenous sovereignty and human rights in the United States. Together they discuss: the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, what sovereignty means for tribes in the US compared to indigenous communities globally, the tribal governmentâs relationship to the US federal and states governments, recent changes to the Citizen Potawatomi Nationâs constitution, the Potawatomi judiciary system, and Intellectual Property law in the US and its relation to indigenous knowledge.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates is joined by Bevin Croft and Ebony Flint from the Human Services Research Institute for a conversation about the intersections of mental health and human rights in the wake of new guidance on mental health issued in October 2023 by the World Health Organization and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. They discuss the guidance and the Human Services Research Institute, a rights based approach to mental health system, peer to peer support, the importance of centering those with lived experience, and person-centered care.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Claire Charters who was recently named in the role of Rongomau Taketake to lead work on the Te KÄhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Charters is a Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law specializing in indigenous peoplesâ rights in international and constitutional law. Together they discuss her new position on the commission, the status of MÄori representation in government, the right wing pushback against indigenous rights, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and its implications for MÄori sovereignty, and the importance of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Karla Torres and Catalina Martinez Coral from the Center for Reproductive Rights. On November 8, 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a landmark hearing on the human rights violations caused by the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the move to ban abortion in the United States.
The IACHR is a principle and autonomous body of the organization of American States that monitors human rights across the Americas. The hearing was requested by the Center for Reproductive Rights and 13 other US organizations focused on reproductive health rights and justice, disability rights, and human rights. In this conversation, Torres and Coral discuss the hearing, abortion as an essential human right, the Dobbs decision in the U.S., the feminist-led Legal and Social decriminalization of abortion in Latin America and its impact on the world, and the future of abortion rights in the U.S.
Karla Torres has been senior human rights counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights since 2017. She works within the U.S. Human Rights Team and collaborates with staff across various departments, including the U.S. Policy and Advocacy and U.S. Litigation teams, as well as the Center's Global Legal Program. Torres most recently served as a program officer at Equality Now, where she worked in close partnership with grassroots organizations in the Americas to expose human rights violations against women and girls and to promote legal frameworks that would protect against these violations.
Catalina Martinez Corral is a feminist from Cali, Colombia. She's currently the vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She is a member of the Causa Justa Movement and one of the plaintiffs in the historic ruling that partially decriminalized abortion in Colombia.
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Today on Justice Matters we take a deep dive into the UN Business Human Rights Forum, which just wrapped up its 12th iteration at the end of 2023. Co-host Aminta Ossom attended the forum and interviewed working group member Robert McCorquodale to get some background on the inner workings of the Forum. Ossom also spoke with long-time attendee of the Forum, Corinne Lewis, a legal consultant who has worked on business and human rights with organizations of all types, to get her perspective on how the Forum has evolved over the years. Together, these two interviews paint a picture of the origins of the Forum; how it has led to the development of a robust sector of business and human rights; the interplay between attendees from business, government, civil society, and rights holders; and the future of the Forum.
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On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Jill Collen Jefferson, a civil and human rights lawyer and the founder of Julian, a national organization based in Mississippi that works to attack discrimination in all forms through legal advocacy, organizing, policy, and innovation. With experience on Capitol Hill, at think-tanks, Organizing for Action, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Public International Law and Policy Group, and big law, Jill brings a tremendous depth of knowledge and personal experience to her effort to build the future of civil and human rights. Together she and Maggie discuss: the founding of Julian, how they draw on international human rights movements to build their civil rights strategy in the US, why focusing on Mississippi is so important, modern day lynchings, and how building community is central to building a new civil rights movement.
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On todayâs episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Daniel A. Bell, Chair of Political Theory with the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. They discuss topics from Professor Bellâs most recent book, âJust Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the Worldâ which include: academic freedoms in mainland China vs. Hong Kong, what constitutes a morally justified hierarchy, what benefits might be found in a just hierarchy, perceptions of hierarchy and equality in the West and China, what can the rest of the world learn from Chinaâs particular combination of intellectual histories, the role of international hierarchies, China and the US as global superpowers, censorship in China, as well as Professor Bellâs personal experiences serving as the Dean of Shandong.
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On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Shoshana Zuboff, author of the acclaimed book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. They discuss a number of topics from her landmark book including: the idea of surveillance capitalism, the harm of disinformation, the future of democracy in the digital era, the implications of AI and the likes of chat GPT, the status and expectations of government regulation, and where she sees hope for democracy in the power of the people.
More information on Shoshana and her book "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" can be found on her website shoshanazuboff.com. Her most recent paper, "Surveillance Capitalism or Democracy? The Death Match of Institutional Orders" can be found here. -
On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates, Executive Director of the Carr Center, talks with Sarah Zoen, Associate Director at Pillar Two â an organization that advises businesses on human rights due diligence â about how to navigate shopping for the holidays while keeping human rights and ethical business practices in mind. Together, they offer online resources, best practices, and other tips to help with your holiday shopping.
Here's a list of the resources mentioned in this episode:
2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark by the World Benchmarking Alliance provides a comparative snapshot of 127 of the worldâs largest and most influential companies in high-risk sectors. Their methodology considers companiesâ policies, processes, and practices to obtain an overview of whether companies are implementing key expectations of the UNGPs. It also considers how companies would respond to serious human-rights-related allegations.
2021 Gender Benchmark by the World Benchmarking Alliance provides a comparative snapshot of 35 influential apparel companies on gender equality and womenâs empowerment.
Fashion Transparency Index ranks 250 of the worldâs largest fashion brands and retailers according to their level of public disclosure on human rights and environmental policies, practices, and impacts.
Between 2022-2023, Know the Chain benchmarked 185 companies from the information and communications technology, food and beverage, and apparel and footwear sectors looking specifically at forced labor risks in companiesâ global supply chains.
Be Slavery Freeâs Chocolate Scorecard ranks companiesâ level of transparency, how they fare on paying workers a living income, whether they use child or forced labor, and their deforestation and climate impact, producing an overall ranking.
The UK Government runs a Modern Slavery Statement Registry.
The Australian Government runs a Register for Modern Slavery Statements.
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On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, speaks with two veterans of the human rights movement, John Salzberg and Joe Eldridge.
John Salzberg was the key staff member working with Representative Don Fraser to hold the first set of hearings about the US and human rights in 1973, and later went on to work at the Human Rights Bureau at the US State Department. Prior to 1973, human rights were not explicitly incorporated into US foreign policy.
Also in 1973, Joe Eldridge founded the Washington Office of Latin America (WOLA), an early human rights NGO, to lobby for support and criticize US human rights policy. Eldridge and Salzberg worked closely for many years. Together they discuss the “golden age” of US human rights policy; the work of congressman Don Fraser; the creation of the Bureau for Human Rights in the US State Department; US human rights foreign policy under Presidents Nixon, Carter, and Reagan; and the legacy of human rights reports on the larger field of human rights.
Be sure to check out Harvard' Kennedy Schools newest podcast, Policy Cast: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policycast/more-indigenous-nations-self-govern-more-they-succeed -
On this episode of Justice Matters, host Aminta Ossom interviews Jeff Vogt, Director of the Rule of Law Program at the Solidarity Center. Vogt is also the co-founder of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network, which brings together over 700 worker rights lawyers from around the globe. In 2022, he was appointed to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body and serves on the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association. Our host, Ossom, is a Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instructor in the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, where she supervises projects focused on human rights and the global economy. Together, Ossom and Vogt discuss the labor rights movement, labor law, the right to work and the right to strike, and international human rights mechanisms.
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