Thursday, April 30, 2015
4:30 p.m.
Joukowsky Forum
Reception to follow.
Margaret Keck, Professor of Political Science, The Johns Hopkins University and Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
The two authors of Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Cornell University Press, 1998) will reflect on how transnational advocacy networks have evolved since the turn of the millennium and what their impact on politics, both global and local, has been.
Keck and Sikkink’s work was one of the crystallizing moments in the recognition of the role of new actors in global politics. In their book they coined the concept of ‘transnational advocacy networks,’ -- networks of activists organized around principled ideas or values that coalesced and operated across national frontiers. They traced the impact of these networks on issues like human rights, violence against women and environmental sustainability. Their ideas remain a key reference point for those trying to understand the impact of transnational activism today.