Faculty

forest floor
Mathias Risse. 8/18/2023. “A Radical Reckoning with Cultural Devastation and Its Aftermath: Reflections on Wub-e-ke-niew’s We Have the Right to Exist”. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Wub-e-ke-niew’s enormously unsettling book We Have the Right to Exist presents a version of indigenous philosophical thought as an alternative way of being human in the world that creates profound insights in times of ecological crisis and technological disruption. He also confronts especially his White American readers with a blistering assessment of centuries of cultural devastation with ongoing effects on contemporary society. His messages are radical, and some of them are potentially divisive within the Native-American community because most Native Americans are not actually indigenous in terms of Wub-e-ke-niew’s standards. His views are very much worth reflecting on, and much of what he has to say about the consequences of the conquest and about the possibilities offered by Native American thought do not depend on these divisive views. His insights about Western civilization connect to internal criticisms articulated by thinkers like Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Latour and so make his text an excellent entry point for genuine engagement between Western and indigenous thought.

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In Conversation

The Carr Center’s In Conversation series explores the incredible range of expertise of our faculty and fellows in the human rights domain. From firsthand experiences of conflicts around the globe to the impacts of climate change and artificial intelligence, these interviews with human rights activists, researchers, and practitioners explore the pressing need for expanding and protecting human rights worldwide.

 

 

Maggie Gates

Maggie Gates
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Steven Levitsky

Steven Levitsky

Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Professor of Government

Steven Levitsky is the Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. As the David Rockefeller Professor of...

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Transitional Justice

Building data-driven strategies in conflict management, peacebuilding, and atrocity prevention.

 

What is Transitional Justice?
Transitional justice mechanisms are institutions—normally temporary—that are established to provide accountability for core international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including acts of political violence against civilians. These mechanisms include measures such as prosecution, truth commissions, and reparations. Transitional justice...

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Desmond Ang

Desmond Ang

Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Desmond Ang is an applied economist and assistant professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is particularly interested in the intersection...

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Women's March Washington, D.C.

How to Stop a Power Grab

November 16, 2020

According to Erica Chenoweth, there is no one, single moment when a country crosses from a democracy into an autocracy. Instead, as she tells The New Yorker, "The norms and institutions can grow weaker over years, or decades, without people noticing."

Sandra Susan Smith

Sandra Susan Smith

Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy
Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice
Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Radcliffe Institute

Sandra Susan Smith is the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice and Faculty Director of the ...

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