Kenneth Roth at the Cambridge Public Library

Name: Kenneth Roth at the Cambridge Public Library
Start: 2025-04-03T18:00:00-04:00
Location: Cambridge Public Library

Schedule

Thu, 03 Apr, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Cambridge Public Library | Cambridge, MA

Harvard Book Store, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Kenneth Roth—former executive director of Human Rights Watch—for a discussion of his new book "Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments". He will be joined in conversation by Mathias Risse—Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University.
TICKETING
RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a hardcover copy of "Righting Wrongs" and pick it up at the event. Kenneth Roth will sign copies of his book after the presentation.
ABOUT "Righting Wrongs"
From the long-time head of Human Rights Watch, the fascinating and inspiring story of taking on the biggest villains and toughest autocrats around the world.
In three decades under the leadership of Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch grew to a staff of more than 500, conducting investigations in 100 countries to uncover abuses—and pressuring offending governments to stop them. Roth has grappled with the worst of humanity, taken on the biggest villains of our time, and persuaded leaders from around the globe to stand up to their repressive counterparts.
The son of a Jew who fled Nazi Germany just before the war began, Roth grew up knowing full well how inhumane governments could be. He has traveled the world to meet cruelty and injustice on its home turf: he arrived in Rwanda shortly after the Genocide; scrutinized the impact of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait; investigated and condemned Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. He directed efforts to curtail the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims, to bring Myanmar’s officials to justice after the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, to halt Russian war crimes in Ukraine, even to reign in the U.S. government. Roth’s many innovations and strategies included the deployment of a concept as old as mankind—the powerful tool of “shaming”—and here he illustrates its surprising effectiveness against evildoers.
This is a story of wins, losses, and ongoing battles in the ceaseless fight to rend the moral arc from the hands of injustice and bend it toward good.
BIOS
Kenneth Roth is the former executive director of Human Rights Watch. He has extensively investigated human rights abuses around the world, focusing especially on the world’s most dire situations, the pursuit of international justice, the major powers’ foreign policies, the work of the UN, and the global contexts between democracy and autocracy. He has written for "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "The New York Review of Books", and other major publications. He spends his time between New York and Geneva.
Mathias Risse is Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. His work primarily addresses questions of global justice ranging from human rights, inequality, taxation, trade and immigration to climate change, obligations to future generations and the future of technology, especially also the impact of artificial intelligence on a range of normative issues. He has also worked on questions in ethics, decision theory and 19th century German philosophy, especially Nietzsche. In addition to HKS, Risse also teaches in Harvard College and the Harvard Extension School and is affiliated with the Philosophy Department. He has also been involved with executive education at Harvard and in collaboration with international organizations. Risse is the author of "On Global Justice and Global Political Philosophy", as well as "On Trade Justice: A Philosophical Plea for a New Global Deal" (with Gabriel Wollner) and "On Justice: Philosophy, History, Foundations". Risse serves as Co-Director of Graduate Studies at the Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics (jointly with Danielle Allen), as well as Director of the McCloy program, a fellowship program for German students. He is also affiliated with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Learn more: www.mathiasrisse.com
CO-SPONSORS
The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy serves as the hub of the Harvard Kennedy School’s research, teaching, and training in the human rights domain. The center embraces a dual mission: to educate students and the next generation of leaders from around the world in human rights policy and practice; and to convene and provide policy-relevant knowledge to international organizations, governments, policymakers, and businesses. Learn more at www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr.
The Cambridge Public Library serves as a doorway to opportunity, self-development, and recreation for all its residents, and as a forum where they may share ideas, cultures, and resources among themselves and with people around the globe. Learn more at cambridgema.gov/cpl.