2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

How can human rights activists and women’s historians inform and enrich each others’ work? This question will animate a conversation between activists Charlotte Bunch and Roxanna Carrillo and historians Lisa Levenstein and Katherine Marino that will transcend time, fields, and geographic borders.

The panel will begin with the speakers collectively mapping origins for “women’s human rights” advocacy. Marino and Levenstein will describe the history of transnational initiatives for women's human rights at the United Nations, from the UN Charter (1945) and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) to the United Nations conferences in Vienna (1993) and in Beijing (1995), which publicly advanced the concept “women’s rights are human rights.” Bunch and Carrillo will explain how international networks have used this framework to promote social change today.

Bunch and Carrillo will lead a discussion among the speakers about the difficulties and politics of documenting the history of this ongoing struggle. They will reflect on how scholarship can both promote and undermine contemporary activism. After posing questions to Levenstein and Marino about their research, they will open the conversation to the audience. The discussion will probe the challenges that both historians and activists face, of navigating complex relationships between inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, institutions, and individuals in different geographical locations.

Bringing together perspectives that are typically separate – Latin American history, U.S. and international women’s history, international relations, feminist theory and sociology, and the “front lines” of contemporary social movements – this panel will generate new perspectives on writing histories of women’s human rights.