CHRGJ at NYU Law: 2011 Events

Panel discussion “Reflecting on Kony 2012: Lessons Learned for Global Activism” (April 17, 2012)

6:00-7:30 pm, Reception from 7:30-8.30 pm/ 245 Sullivan street (Furman Hall, NYU School of Law), Lester Pollack Room, 9th floor

This event will also be live streamed here.

View photos of this event here

Valid ID and RSVP required for admission. Seating is limited, so please RSVP to Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu

About the event:

The most viral video of all time, Invisible Children's Kony 2012, intentionally catapulted Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony into the western public's eye. It also provoked a rare public debate about the methods and effects of transnational activism. While supporters celebrated the campaign's viral success, critics questioned its call for a militarized response, its neglect of African voices, and the narratives employed to galvanize western viewers. On April 20th, Invisible Children will again enter the media spotlight as supporters "Cover the Night" in Kony 2012 posters. Please join the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU) and WITNESS, as we host a forward-looking discussion about what can be learned from the campaign successes of Kony 2012 and the subsequent global debate. Speakers include Invisible Children, social media experts, human rights advocates, and critical theorists.

Panelists:

Amy Goodman (Moderator), Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 1,000 public television and radio stations in North America. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s Meet the Press. Goodman is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.”

Professor Philip Alston is an international human rights law professor and Faculty Director and Co-chair of the CHRGJ at NYU School of Law. For six years, he was the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions. During his mandate, he carried out a UN fact-finding mission to the DRC, and investigated LRA atrocities. He will give a short framing introduction for the discussion.

Adam Finck is Invisible Children's Director of Programs for Central Africa. Adam has been with Invisible Children for five years, having previously served as the Mission Director and the Assistant Country Director in their Uganda office. Adam creates and implements innovative programming in LRA-affected communities. To ensure that IC is responding quickly and effectively to an ever-changing conflict, he is tasked with constantly improving and expanding IC's life-saving initiatives.

Fabienne Hara is the Vice-President for Multilateral Affairs at International Crisis Group. In late 2011, the ICG published a report on the LRA and efforts to end their abuses. Hara will speak about the history of military and political efforts to stop the LRA, and how the Kony 2012 campaign fits into other ongoing advocacy and military strategies.

Chioke I'Anson is a philosopher who specializes in Africana philosophy, postcolonial theory, and humanitarianism. He will be discussing Kony 2012 in the context of postcolonial African agency, humanitarian work, and the history of colonization. He will offer critiques of the narratives employed in Kony 2012 to activate viewers, and will analyze what the reaction to Kony 2012 can teach us about the ethical dilemmas of transnational activism.

Chris Michael is a video advocacy trainer and human rights advocate at WITNESS, an organization that has supported over 300 groups in 80 countries in using video for change. He will analyze what made Kony 2012 so successful as a viral video campaign, and what other advocacy projects can learn from Invisible Children's methods and efforts to integrate video. He will discuss whether the elements that make a video so viral may also raise ethical human rights filmmaking concerns.

Victor Ochen is a survivor of the LRA war and Director of African Youth Initiative Network, which offers rehabilitation assistance to Ugandan youth affected by the war. After Kony 2012, he organized public screenings of the video in Northern Uganda. He will discuss the reaction to those screenings, and offer a war survivor's perspective about the campaign's goals.

Jolly Okot serves as the Country Director for Invisible Children, Uganda. In 2003, she brought the original three filmmakers to northern Uganda with hopes that her dream would one day come to fruition: thousands of Acholi children given the chance to succeed through education. Her guidance enabled the filmmakers to create the original Rough Cut documentary, and her leadership and passion helped develop IC’s grassroots initiatives in Uganda.

Anthropologists Engage the World (April 19-21, 2012)

American Ethnological Society Spring Conference

The conference invites panels and roundtables that focus on emerging theoretical fields as well as the work of prominent theorists in anthropology. The conference aims to explore and assess anthropology’s capacity to make important interventions in public issues and shape global realities, whether through fieldwork, social critique, applied practice, activism, university teaching, public education, media engagement, or advocacy. Drawing upon the AES core commitment to combine innovative fieldwork and rich theoretical critique, the conference will consider how to elevate into the public sphere the basic research, theoretical analysis and attention to local-global intersections that are the hallmarks of anthropology.

Read more here

Rethinking the Tradition of Sex/Gender Dualism and Asymmetry in International Human Rights Law: A Lecture by Professor Dianne Otto (April 4, 2012)

6:00-7:30 PM/ Room 216, Furman Hall (245 Sullivan street, NYU School of Law)

Listen to a recording of this event here.

Please join the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law as it welcomes esteemed Professor Dianne Otto in a public lecture on the topic of "Rethinking the Tradition of Sex/Gender Dualism and Asymmetry in International Human Rights Law." The lecture will elaborate on her recent paper on this topic, further described below.

RSVP and a valid ID required for admission to the event. Event will be followed by a Q & A, as well as a brief reception. To RSVP, please email Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu

Paper Abstract:

By charting a genealogy of feminist engagement with international human rights law, this paper critically examines the issues thrown up by the dualistic and asymmetrical assumptions of advocacy focused on women’s rights. It is argued that this approach has become counter-productive because it reinforces the naturalized moorings of sex/gender and supports concomitant conceptions of women (and men) that justify protective and imperial, rather than rights-based, responses to women’s human rights violations. Duality and asymmetry also have exclusionary effects, silencing gendered discrimination and human rights abuses suffered by men and others, whose gender expressions and identities are erased or demonized by gender binaries. Efforts over the last two decades, by feminists and others, to rethink sex/gender in the context of international human rights law are then examined through three developments: the formal adoption of the language of ‘gender’, the implementation of ‘gender mainstreaming’, and the growing recognition of ‘gender identity’ as a ground of prohibited discrimination. This examination shows that reconceiving sex/gender as plural rather than binary, and fluid rather than static, does not mean forsaking feminism’s long-standing commitments. Rather, cognizance of the whole spectrum of harms that flow from gendered hierarchies and power will strengthen the feminist project in law. A framework of gender pluralism provides a better means of troubling the persistent reproduction of protective, victimized and formally equal representations of women, and challenging conservative views about women’s sexuality, homophobia and trans-phobia.

Biography

Professor Dianne Otto is Director of the Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH) at Melbourne Law School and Project Director for Peacekeeping in the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law (APCML). She researches in the areas of public international law, human rights law and critical legal theory, with a current focus on gender and sexuality issues in the context of the UN Security Council, peacekeeping and international human rights law. Dianne’s scholarship explores how international legal discourse reinforces hierarchies of nation, race, gender and sexuality, and aims to understand whether and how the reproduction of such legal knowledge can be resisted. Her work draws upon and develops a range of critical legal theories particularly those influenced by feminism, postcolonialism, poststructuralism and queer theory. Her recent publications include chapters in Margaret Davies and Vanessa Munro (eds), A Research Companion to Feminist Legal Theory (Ashgate Companion Series, 2012) and Sari Kouvo and Zoe Pearson (eds), Feminist Perspectives on Contemporary International Law: Between Resistance and Compliance? (Onati/Hart, 2011). She has also edited three volumes on Gender Issues and Human Rights (Edward Elgar Publishing, Human Rights Law Series, Series Editor, Sarah Joseph, forthcoming 2012) and prepared a bibliographic chapter, ‘Feminist Approaches’, in Oxford Bibliographies Online: International Law, ed. Tony Carty (New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012). Professor Otto has held visiting positions at Columbia University, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and the University of British Columbia. In 2004 she was the Kate Stoneman Endowed Visiting Professor in Law and Democracy, at Albany Law School. She helped draft a General Comment on women’s equality for the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and a General Recommendation on treaty obligations for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Speaking of Silences: Legacies of Sexual Violence in Peru--A Talk by Kimberly Theidon. (March 29, 2012)

5:00-6:30 PM/ Room 210 in Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Square South (NYU School of Law)

Please join the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law, the Centre for Latin American and Carribean Studies, the Center for Media, Culture, and History, and NYU's Department of Anthropology in welcoming esteemed medical anthropologist (Harvard), Kimberly Theidon, in a multi-disciplinary discussion on sexual violence and transitional justice in Peru.

RSVP and a valid ID required for admission to the event. Event will be followed by a Q & A, as well as a brief reception. To RSVP, please email Audrey Watne at watnea@exchange.law.nyu.edu

About our Speaker:

Kimberly Theidon is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University. A medical anthropologist focused on Latin America, her research interests include domestic, structural and political violence; theories and forms of subjectivity; human rights and international humanitarian law; truth commissions, transitional justice and reconciliation; the politics of post-war reparations; comparative peace processes; the anthropology of development; and US counter-narcotics policy.

Dr. Theidon’s first book, Entre Prójimos: El conflicto armado interno y la política de la reconciliación en el Perú, draws upon extensive qualitative research on political violence, trauma, religious movements and transitional justice in post-war Peru and was awarded the 2006 Premio Iberoamericano Book Award Honorable Mention for outstanding book in the social sciences by the Latin American Studies Association. She is currently conducting research in Colombia and Ecuador on two interrelated themes: the causes and consequences of populations in displacement, refuge and return, with a particular interest in the role of humanitarian organizations in zones of armed conflict; and the paramilitary demobilization process in Colombia. Dr. Theidon is the executive director of Praxis: An Institute for Social Justice www.praxisweb.org

The talk will be introduced and moderated by CHRGJ Faculty Director and NYU Professor of Anthropology, Sally Merry. For a full bio, see: http://www.chrgj.org/about/staff.html#sally

“The Wronging of Human Rights”: A Lecture by Shaheed Fatima (March 5, 2012)

6:00-8:00 pm/ Greenberg Lounge, Vanderbilt Hall. 40 Washington Square South

About the event:
One of Britain’s most prominent human rights lawyers, Shaheed Fatima, will discuss some of the key human rights issues that have arisen in the context of the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism efforts in recent years. The lecture will ask whether the role of human rights has become unjustifiably exaggerated or whether it deservedly maintains its central status. It requires addressing questions such as: what is the proper balance between security and freedom? Is it a balance that judges can strike, by the application of law, or is it (or should it be) the province of executive decision-makers? The discussion is co-sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and the Hauser Global Law School Program

About our speaker:
Shaheed Fatima, a barrister at the English Bar, was educated at the Universities of Glasgow, Oxford and Harvard, has appeared in some of the leading recent human rights cases -both before English and European courts - including those which have arisen out of the UK's involvement in Iraq and its post-9/11 counter-terrorism measures. She was awarded the Liberty/Justice "Human Rights Lawyer of the Year" Award in 2007 and is on the Attorney General's "A" Panel of Counsel. She has a diverse practice, ranging from human rights law to commercial law to international law, in which she acts for claimants, defendant government departments, NGOs and states. She is the author of "Using International Law in Domestic Courts" (second ed forthcoming in 2012). She was a Lecturer at Harvard Law School in 2009 and will be teaching at NYU School of Law as a Global Professor of Law in autumn 2012.
The Lecture will be moderated by the co-chair of the CHRGJ, Professor Philip Alston.

RSVP and valid ID required. The event will be preceded by a reception from 6:00-6:30.

Please RSVP to Audrey Watne.

Struggling to Survive: Sexual Violence and Exploitation of Women and Girls in Post-Disaster Haiti (March 1, 2012)

6:00-8:00 PM/ Vanderbilt Hall, Room 218 (40 Washington square south)

About the event:
On the occasion of the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, please join partner organizations KOFAVIV, MADRE, and NYU School of Law’s Global Justice Clinic/Center for Human Rights and Global Justice for a panel discussion about the ongoing crisis of sexual violence and exploitation in post-earthquake Haiti. The event will feature grassroots advocates from Haiti and legal experts in the areas of human rights advocacy and gender-based violence, who will discuss two reports the organizations authored on sexual exploitation and gender-based violence in Haiti: “Yon Je Louvri: Reducing Vulnerability in Haiti’s IDP Camps” and “Struggling to Survive: Sexual Exploitation of Displaced Women and Girls in Port au Prince, Haiti.” The panel will further address the challenges that lie ahead in protecting women and girls from sexual violence and mitigating the disturbing practice of sexual exploitation..

Background:
Two years after the January 2010 earthquake, conditions of vulnerability have made young women and girls living in Haiti’s IDP camps particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation. While it has been challenging to assess prevalence rates, the GJC’s recent survey—results of which are discussed and analyzed in “Yon je Louvri”—reported that 14 percent of households surveyed in their study had at least one member of the household had been a victim of sexual violence since the earthquake. And while there are no reliable statistics on the prevalence of sexual exploitation in IDP camps, or post-earthquake Haiti more generally, sexual exploitation—as reported on in “Struggling to Survive”—has also been identified as an issue in nearly every humanitarian or human rights report on women’s rights since the earthquake. The scenario is thus grim: not only are women and girls vulnerable to acts of outright sexual violence, but they also increasingly report having to resort to exchanging sexual acts in return for food and benefits, including coupons, access to direct aid distributions, cash for work programs, money, or even a single meal. Women and youth who engage in survival sex are especially at risk of involuntary or unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other related health problems, as well as being more vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Eramithe Delva, Leader, KOFAVIV, Panelist
Malya Villard Appolon, Leader, KOFAVIV, Panelist
Jocie Philistin, Leader, KOFAVIV, Panelist
Meg Satterthwaite, Faculty Director, CHRGJ; Professor, Global Justice Clinic, Panelist
Cynthia Soohoo, Director, International Women’s Human Rights Clinic, Associate Professor, CUNY Law School, Moderator

Please RSVP to Audrey Watne.

International Law and Human Rights Scholarship Conference

(February 29, 2012)

8:00am-12:00pm/Furman Hall, Rm 310

(March 1, 2012)

1:00pm-3:30pm/Furman Hall, Rm 310 and 4:00pm-6:30pm/Vanderbilt Hall, Rm 210

(March 2, 2012)

1:00pm-3:30pm/Furman Hall, Rm 310

Please join the Institute for International Law and Justice and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice as we host the school-wide International Law and Human Rights Scholarship Conference over three days: Wednesday, February 29 - Friday, March 2. The conference, which accepted submissions from NYU School of Law JD, LLM, and JSD students, will provide an opportunity for presentation of papers, discussion, and debate on key issues of international law.

In addition to IILJ Scholars, several students have been selected to briefly present their papers and will receive comments from an NYU faculty member and/or international law expert, who will lead discussion and debate following presentations. The program for the conference is attached.

Open to the Public. ID required for entrance to building.

Please email questions to Angelina Fisher

For more general information on the conference, see www.iilj.org and http://www.chrgj.org/opportunities/conference.html

Conflict Security and Development Series Spring 2012: Accountability to Beneficiaries of Humanitarian Aid: What is it and How Can it Be Measured? (February 28, 2012)