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    Are Rights and Religion Orthogonal?
    Richard Parker. 12/2/2020. “Are Rights and Religion Orthogonal?” Carr Center Discussion Paper Series, 2020-13. See full text.Abstract

    Talking about “rights” is to talk about a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy, our system of law, our ethics, and—perhaps most deeply—our identity.

    One of the rights we Americans customarily consider ours is “our right to religious freedom,” which, as enshrined in the First Amendment, is not one but two important correlate rights– our individual right to worship (or not) as we please, and our collective right (and duty) to prohibit any sort of government favoritism toward (or disfavoring of) any organized religion.

    In his paper, author Richard Parker weaves the history and evolution of religious freedom into the context of human rights.  

    Read the full text. 

    Carr Center Annual Report: 2019-2020
    Carr Center Human Rights for Policy. 11/2/2020. Carr Center Annual Report: 2019-2020. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School. See the ReportAbstract

    The Carr Center is pleased to launch its 2019-2020 Annual Report. Take a look at our work, and learn how to get involved. 

    This past academic year, we’ve seen significant economic anxiety, political uncertainty, and public health failures besiege communities and societies around the world. We’ve also witnessed acts of solidarity and kinship—the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the United States, the rise of social movements holding authoritarian leaders to account, and communities offering mutual aid to vulnerable people impacted by the pandemic.

    We hope that you remain engaged with our work in the coming months. After all, human rights are not just about institutions, laws, and policies. They are about people coming together, hoping to make the world and their communities a better place—more just, more equitable, and more peaceful. 

    Read the Annual Report

     

     

    Racial Discrimination
    John Shattuck and Mathias Risse. 12/8/2020. “Racial Discrimination.” Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities in the United States, 2020-005. See full text.Abstract

    When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law, his action honored a decades-long struggle by grassroots activists and dedicated political leaders to ensure national protection for racial equality. With the landmark agreement, Johnson fulfilled his promise, expressed in his first State of the Union speech earlier in the year, that “this session of Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined”.  The historic legislation sought to eliminate racial discrimination on the federal level in broad categories including employment, education, voting, and public accommodations. The Civil Rights Act paved the way for other major federal laws outlawing discrimination in more targeted areas, such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act. 

    Over half a century later, the promises of the Civil Rights Act are threatened by sustained efforts to undermine its protections for equal rights and opportunities across racial identities.

    This issue of the Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities series surveys the historical evolution and current status of racial discrimination within the U.S. in several key areas: criminal justice, housing, education, labor, and society at large. Next, it looks at the current status of discrimination within these five categories, including recent legislative and political efforts to weaken equal protection along racial lines. The authors provide recommendations to reinforce the government’s responsibility to uphold anti-discriminatory protections and restore individuals’ rights to equal access and protection. 

    Read the paper here.

    Check out other issues in our Reimagining Rights and Responsibilities Series. 

    Topol Research Fellowships

    The Topol Research Fellowship recognizes and supports Harvard Kennedy School students interested in, and committed to, nonviolent action.

    The Topol Fellowship aims to help students to develop a more robust, evidence-based and comprehensive understanding of nonviolent resistance movements, and to deepen their knowledge about nonviolent movements around the world. Topol Fellows support data collection at the Nonviolent Action Lab, attend a monthly discussion group on nonviolent action, and attend a global nonviolent action summit. Topol Fellows receive an...

    Read more about Topol Research Fellowships

    Nonviolent Action Data Compendium

    As part of its mission to amplify the work of other scholars and activists, the Nonviolent Action Lab is building an annotated compendium of data sets relevant to the analysis of nonviolent action, other forms of contentious collective action, state responses to them, and their effects and effectiveness. In traditional fashion, each entry in the compendium will describe what the data set covers, how it was produced, and how to access it. More novelly, each entry will also apply lenses from critical theory related to gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and state-centrism to...

    Read more about Nonviolent Action Data Compendium
    2020 Nov 12

    Summit on Nonviolent Resistance Today 

    Registration Closed 11:00am to 4:00pm

    Location: 

    Virtual Event (Registration Required)

    On November 12, 2020, the Nonviolent Action Lab convened a summit featuring scholars and practitioners of nonviolent action. The event featured a keynote speech from the Rev. Stephen Green of Faith for Black Lives, several panels featuring new research on nonviolent resistance, and focused discussion among dozens of scholars, practitioners, and Topol Fellows from Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston Latin School, and elsewhere.

    This Summit, convened by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, is made possible...

    Read more about Summit on Nonviolent Resistance Today 

    Registration: 

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