This Symposium was held via Zoom online, the recording is available here. The Symposium poster is available here.
In the past year, we have witnessed popular uprisings that have led to changes in governments in Algeria, Sudan, and Puerto Rico. At the same time, the United States has used various methods to encourage or force regime change in Iran, Syria, and Venezuela. Internal popular uprisings are often undertaken on pretexts of defending or extending human rights, but they can sometimes result in abuses of human rights. And calls for regime change in the name of “democracy” and “human rights” are often used to justify imperial intervention resulting in additional domestic repression.
PROGRAM
A full program with a summary of each presentation is available here, biographical details of each speaker are available here.
9:00 Welcoming Remarks
9:15 - 11:00 Collective Action and Human Rights on Three Continents
Four Threats: What U.S. History Reveals about American Democracy Today
Suzanne Mettler, The John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions, Cornell University
African Protestors: Troublemakers or Heroes?
Lisa Mueller, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Macalester College
Anti-Government Protests in Hong Kong: Diverse Challenges to Human Rights
Ji Yeon Hong, Assistant Professor, Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
11:00 - 12:30 Break
12:30 - 2:30 Political Change and Human Rights in Sudan
From Revolution to Revolution: The Promises and Risks of Ending 30 Years of Military-Islamist Rule in Sudan
Harry Verhoeven, Associate Member, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
Popular Change in (Revolutionary) Sudan and (Evolutionary) Ethiopia: An Early Comparative Analysis
Aly Verjee, Fellow, Rift Valley Institute
The Human Rights Drivers and Consequences of Sudan’s 2018-2019 People’s Revolution
Suliman Baldo, Senior Policy Advisor, The Sentry
Human Rights Priorities during Sudan’s Transition
Jehanne Henry, Associate Director, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch
All events are free, online, and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Email dussourd@buffalo.edu to register.
Sponsors: Alison Des Forges Memorial Committee; Jack Walsh; University at Buffalo: Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, Confucius Institute, Department of History, Gender Institute, Humanities Institute, James Agee Chair in American Culture, Office of the Vice Provost for International Education.
This symposium honors the life and work of human rights activist Alison Des Forges (1942-2009). For more information email Roger Des Forges at rvd@buffalo.edu, Ellen Dussourd at dussourd@buffalo.edu, or Shaun Irlam at irlam@buffalo.edu.