On today’s 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, pee...
Apr 01, 2024•46 min•Ep. 66
On today’s 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 Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Charters is a Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law specializing in indigenous peoples’ rights in international and constitutional law. Together they discuss her new position on the commission, the status of Māori representation in government, the ...
Mar 15, 2024•32 min•Ep. 65
On today’s 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 Americ...
Mar 01, 2024•37 min•Ep. 64
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 t...
Feb 15, 2024•52 min•Ep. 63
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 ...
Feb 01, 2024•43 min•Ep. 62
On today’s 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 Bell’s most recent book, “Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World” 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 hierarc...
Jan 15, 2024•31 min•Ep. 61
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 wh...
Dec 15, 2023•55 min•Ep. 60
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 — an organization that advises businesses on human rights due diligence — 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 epi...
Dec 01, 2023•33 min•Ep. 59
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 exp...
Nov 15, 2023•30 min•Ep. 58
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 Instr...
Nov 01, 2023•30 min•Ep. 57
On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Kenneth Roth, who led Human Rights Watch as its Executive Director for almost 30 years. Together they discuss the history of Human Rights Watch and Roth's reflections on his tenure, whether human rights still hold power in the world, how to bring about change in countries with abusive governments, difficult case countries, the future of human rights and democracy, and a preview of Ken's new book, Righting Wrongs. Roth is a Vis...
Oct 02, 2023•37 min•Ep. 56
Justice Matters will return this October. In the meantime, we'd like to share with you a podcast we think you will enjoy by our friends over at Strength & Solidarity. Strength & Solidarity is a podcast about the tools, tactics, and ideas driving and disrupting the human rights movement around the world. Host Akwe Amosu has over 30 episodes of interviews with human rights defenders form around the globe discussing ideas about how we use the language of human rights, how we build sustainab...
Sep 19, 2023•38 min•Ep. 55
The human rights podcast Justice Matters returns this October with host Maggie Gates, Executive Director of the Carr Center, and a team of Harvard faculty members acting as rotating co-hosts, including Mathias Risse, Aminta Ossom, Rob Wilkinson, and Yanilda Gonzalez.
Sep 12, 2023•2 min•Ep. 54
On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Dr. Leslie Alexander about the history of Black Internationalism and its ties to today’s global Black Lives Matter movement. Her newest book, Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States, examines how the Haitian Revolution and the emergence of Haiti as a sovereign Black nation inspired the birth of Black internationalist consciousness in the United States. Alexander is the Dr. Marti...
Dec 15, 2022•25 min•Ep. 53
Where do universal human rights begin? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Professor Martha Davis about local movements and human rights cities. Davis teaches constitutional law, US human rights advocacy, and professional responsibility at Northeastern Law School, where she is a Faculty Director for the Program for Human Rights and the Global Economy. A Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, sh...
Nov 28, 2022•29 min•Ep. 52
What is critical race theory and why is it under attack? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman discusses critical race theory with Dr. Victor Ray, Carr Center Fellow and F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor at the University of Iowa. Together they explore the related topics of structural racism and intersectionality, and how race shapes social processes typically considered race neutral. Dr. Ray is also a Nonresident Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. As ...
Oct 28, 2022•28 min•Ep. 51
What is black witnessing, and how does it connect to movements for racial equity and justice? Can capturing a moment shape a movement? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Dr. Allissa Richardson about the power of communication on social and racial justice. Dr. Richardson is an Associate Professor of Journalism at USC Annenberg School. She researches how African Americans use social and mobile media to produce innovative forms of journalism, especially in times of cr...
Sep 23, 2022•38 min•Ep. 50
What is the responsibility of businesses to uphold human rights? What is the role of civil society to hold businesses accountable? And how well is the human rights movement equipped to deal with the emerging challenges of the digital age? In this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman discusses these questions with Mike Posner, Professor at the Stern School of Business and director for the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU. Posner served in the Obama Administration from 2009-201...
Jul 29, 2022•31 min•Ep. 49
This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dara Kay Cohen, a Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research spans the field of international relations including: international security, civil war and the dynamics of violence, and gender and conflict. On this episode they discuss rape during contemporary civil wars, research methods for collecting qualitative data about sexual violence and the ethics of research, her findings abou...
Jun 30, 2022•35 min•Ep. 48
This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Yanilda María González, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School who researches police violence and how it relates to democracy and citizenship, with a focus on Latin America. In this conversation they discuss how to facilitate having dialogue around police reform with people from different backgrounds, authoritarianism and policing, civil society’s role in holding politicians and police accountable, rac...
May 31, 2022•25 min•Ep. 47
How does a leader strive for social justice for their community and country? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women from 2013-2021, and the first woman to hold the position of Deputy President of South Africa. From her background as a teacher in South Africa and as an active part of the anti-aparteid struggle, through to her positions in the first democr...
Apr 29, 2022•29 min•Ep. 46
This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Sima Samar about the situation in Afghanistan, the status of women and girls in the country, and the role and responsibility of the international community. Dr. Samar is a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement and has held the positions of Special Envoy for the President of Afghanistan, State Minister for Human Rights and International Affairs, Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human...
Mar 21, 2022•24 min•Ep. 45
For this month’s episode of Justice Matters, we’re digging into our archives to present a special episode for Black History Month. Featuring excerpts from three conversations with a range of speakers from academia and activism, our guests discuss the historical legacy of enslavement, the periods of progress followed by rollbacks, the promise and peril of the current moment, and how we build more inclusive and just societies for the future. Join our host Sushma Raman as she speaks with Wade Hende...
Feb 22, 2022•25 min•Ep. 44
How does the country’s history affect the present — and how can we envision a more just future for everyone? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a noted historian and professor at Harvard Kennedy School, as they discuss the legacy of slavery; the intersection of racism, economic inequality, and criminal justice; and the importance of creating anti-racist institutions. Dr. Muhammad directs the Institutional Anti-Racism and Accountabili...
Jan 27, 2022•38 min•Ep. 43
How do the values being built into AI affect our public and private lives now and into the future? What is the importance of a global human rights framework in driving discussions around the democratization of AI? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Annette Zimmermann, political philosopher at the University of York, and Technology and Human RIghts fellow at the Carr Center. They discuss many of the ideas in Dr. Zimmermann’s forthcoming book, The Algorithmic...
Dec 16, 2021•33 min•Ep. 42
Human rights defenders are increasingly the targets of repression by states and private organizations. Join us this month on the Justice Matters podcast as host Sushma Raman talks with Nicholas Opiyo, Ugandan human rights lawyer and fellow at the Carr Center, about campaigning for civil rights and political freedoms in Uganda, and the clampdown on freedom of speech and freedom of press, as well as the rights of LGBTQ+ communities in the country.
Nov 29, 2021•31 min•Ep. 41
How are new information technologies used in both civic engagement and social control in countries around the world? What do human rights have to do with the global information environment? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Phil Howard, Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University and a Fellow at the Carr Center, about his research on how digital media impacts political life around the world.
Oct 29, 2021•29 min•Ep. 40
How do democracies die? What lessons can we learn from the past as we seek to build more democratic societies and participatory public spheres? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Steve Levitsky, Professor of Government at Harvard University, Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and co-author with Daniel Ziblatt of the bestselling book “How Democracies Die”. They discuss the state of democracy in the world today, weak and informal...
Sep 30, 2021•28 min•Ep. 39
How can we ensure accountability when international criminal law is violated? How do we approach seeking justice for past atrocities? And in an era of widespread disinformation, what happens when people lack trust in the very purveyors of justice? Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the ICC, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss accountability and justice in the global arena.
Sep 01, 2021•23 min•Ep. 38
Can one movie make a difference in a nation's trajectory? Released in 1915, The Birth of a Nation was the first film to be screened in the White House. Mired in racists stereotypes, the film is credited with the resurgence of the KKK. In this month's episode of Justice Matters, Economist Desmond Ang joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the impact of media on racial hate.
Jul 30, 2021•31 min•Ep. 37
