Monthly Archives: August 2022

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Slavery helped bring about the deadliest military conflict in the history of the United States the American Civil War.

The Trans-Atlantic trading routes brought in more than 12 million enslaved Africans to the Western Hemisphere between 1525 and 1866. However, approximately 388,000 slaves were brought into North America with only 10.7 million surviving the voyage to the New World. The Abolition Movement was a key part of the fight to abolish slavery in the United States.

Slavery in the United States was officially abolished on December 6, 1865, with the ratification of the 13th Amendment after it was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. The amendment declares that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Previously, the most significant effort to end slavery was made by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation which stated, "all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." This, however, did not end Slavery because it only freed slaves in areas actively rebelling against the Union and not in the border states such as Kentucky or West Virginia. Therefore, Lincoln sought to make the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery the top priority of the Republican Party platform in the 1864 Presidential election.

Slavery was one of key issues that caused the American Civil War. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

Congress passed the 13th Amendment shortly before conclusion of the Civil War. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

HOW LINCOLN, DOUGLASS EMERGED TO REUNIFY AMERICA IN 'THE PRESIDENT AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTER'

Initially, the 14th Amendment passed the Senate but failed to pass in the House of Representatives in April 1864. However, after the 1864 election, the House voted in favor of the amendment with a vote of 119-56. In February 1865, Lincoln approved the resolution and submitted it for ratification in the state legislatures. Thereafter, the 14th and 15th Amendments soon joined the 13th in order to protect the civil rights of Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War.

JUNETEENTH: WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO WE CELEBRATE IT?

Mississippi was the last state to ratify the 13th Amendment in 1995 but did not submit the official paper work until 2013. (AP Newsroom)

The 13th amendment was ratified by the necessary three-fourths of states in December 1865. Mississippi became the last state of the four that voted not to ratify it. In 2013, Mississippi officially ratified the amendment after failing to make it official by notifying the US Archivist when the state legislature originally ratified it in 1995.

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What year was slavery abolished in the US? - Fox News

The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 50th Regular Session from June 13 to July 8, 2022. If you missed it, here is what happened regarding the abolition of the death penalty!

DURING THE DEBATES

Opening her last session as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet informed the Human Rights Council about the evolution of the human rights situation in the world. This speech was marked by strong information about the death penalty: In Singapore, I am also concerned about the recent executions of two people for drug-related offenses. It is estimated that more than 60 defendants are on death rowI urge the government to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, especially for non-violent drug crimes. Michelle Bachelet also welcomed the announcement of measures taken to abolish the death penalty in its entirety in the Central African Republic and to abolish the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, as well as the commitment of the President of Zambia to abolish the death penalty.

Yao Agbetse, spoke about some positive developments in the country, including the adoption of the law on the abolition of the death penalty.

The death penalty was also mentioned during the presentation of the Secretary-Generals report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Javaid Rehman. He expressed concerns about the increase in executions, particularly for drug-related offenses.

The Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Anas Marin, spoke about the death penalty in Belarus: Amendments to the Criminal Code have broadened the scope of the death penalty to include planning or attempting to commit terrorist acts.

CIVIL SOCIETY ORAL STATEMENTS ON THE DEATH PENALTY

On the occasion of this 50th session, several members of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty presented oral statements on the death penalty.

During the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on 22 June, the International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT) wished to draw attention to some news concerning the death penalty in sub-Saharan Africa during their oral statement. Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), also intervened in a video recording to highlight the increase in executions in 2021 as well as the use of the death penalty as a political tool or means of diplomatic pressure by certain States. ECPM also encouraged states to vote in favor of the Resolution for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty in December 2022.

On July 6, 2022, the interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the Central African Republic was held. ECPM, the International Federation of ACAT (FIACAT) and Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture in the Central African Republic (ACAT-RCA) intervened in an oral statement to congratulate the Central African authorities and deputies for the vote in favor of the abolition of the death penalty in CAR.

In an oral statement by Harm Reduction International (HRI) to the UN Human Rights Council on the right to life, the organization referred to the fact that the death penalty remains a punishment for drug-related offenses in 35 countries today and urged member states to respect the obligation to protect the right to life.

A group of 20 experts issued a statement on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, noting that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found widespread rights violations related to drug law enforcement, including extrajudicial killings and abuse of the death penalty.

The Human Rights Council adopted the outcome of Southern Sudans Universal Periodic Review on July 4. The recommendations on the abolition of the death penalty were and the authorities of Southern Sudan were also urged to work towards the abolition of the death penalty.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

The Human Rights Council adopted 23 resolutions and one decision and appointed eight mandate holders. Although there was no specific resolution on the death penalty at this session, one of them was related to the death penalty:

Belarus In a resolution on the human rights situation in Belarus, the Council expressed concern about the use of the death penalty in a context where fair trial guarantees are not respected. It extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus for a period of one year.

SIDE EVENTS

Contrary to the last session held in March, the side events were able to resume in a hybrid format. However, very few were organized during this session in general.

A side event on youth and the death penalty was organized by the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations, the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) and eight UN member states (Belgium, France, Moldova, Mongolia, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and Timor-Leste).

The International Commission against the death penalty co-organized with Kazakhstan a side event consisting of a roundtable on lessons learned by countries from national experiences in the global campaign for a universal abolition of death penalty.

Finally, the Human Rights Council marked its 50th session by organizing an interactive high-level discussion allowing stakeholders to reflect on achievements and lessons learned since its first session in 2006. Take a look at the origins and work of the Human Rights Council.

The fifty-first regular session of the Human Rights Council is scheduled to take place in Geneva from 12 September to 7 October 2022.

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The United Nations Human Rights Council met for its 50th Regular Session from June 13 to July 8, 2022. - WCADP - World Coalition Against the Death...

Preferential tax regimes are often used to attract high-income and high-wealth foreigners by offering them a lower tax burden on their income and wealth. Such developments have indirectly created an environment in the EU where member states compete against each other for labor and capital. In the end, this will likely have a harmful effect on the EU single market, unless member states reconsider their tax policies.

The EU Tax Observatory recently published an empirical study of tax competition between member states, paying close attention to the taxation of individuals. The study found that certain preferential tax regimes implemented by member states could be harmful to the EU single market if they continue.

This comes in the wake of a recent crackdown by the EU on member states selling golden visas and schemes to acquire EU citizenship by investment. Reported abuse of such schemes by Russian oligarchs shone a further spotlight on the practice in certain member states, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine.

Typically, when an EU member state offers lower tax rates on wealth and, especially, on (high) personal income, it must find a way to cover the lost revenue that is a natural result of preferential tax regimes, since state expenditure and commitments do not reduce.

To achieve this, some member states have opted to increase social security rates which are paid by the general population and only some foreign workers. (Foreign workers who are temporarily assigned to work in another member state will in most cases be exempt from social security contributions in the host member state because they continue to be covered by social security in their home country.) The EU Tax Observatorys report shows that this option is generally preferred by countries in the eastern part of Europe.

Other member states have opted to compensate for the lost revenue by increasing taxation on the general population or by introducing other forms of taxation.

This contrasts with some non-member states, such as Switzerland, that actively pursue a policy of attracting talent and capital by offering low taxes at both the individual and corporate level, with no intention or need to raise revenue elsewhere to compensateon the basis that attracting business increases overall tax revenues and GDP.

For the past 15 years since the global financial crisis, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, G20 and EU have been laser focused on addressing the harmful effects of tax policies and practices globally that provide perceived unfair advantages to certain businesses and corporates. This has produced a number of initiatives, such as enhanced transfer pricing rules, anti-avoidance treaty provisions, new nexus and apportionment rules for the digital economy, reporting of potentially aggressive tax arrangements, abolition of harmful tax practices, and, most recently, a minimum global corporate tax rate. Taxation on personal income and wealth, however, was not a part of that Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) agenda.

It is only more recently that the EU has picked this topic up following the study published by the EU Tax Observatory. In January 2022, the University of Munich produced a report, at the request of the European Parliaments Economic and Monetary Affairs Sub-committee on Tax Matters, that considered tax competition for mobile taxpayers. The report looked at preferential personal tax arrangements and tax rates within the EU, and the evidence for tax-induced mobility. The study considered preferential tax rules in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, France, Malta, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg.

Consequently, we can expect that the attention of policymakers will begin to turn towards harmful tax practices with respect to the taxation of mobile taxpayers, particularly as the long-running G20/OECD project grinds to a conclusion with the agreement on BEPS 2.0 Pillar One (allocation of business profits) and Pillar Two (minimum corporate tax rates). The time is certainly near when similar focus is given to personal tax competition between states.

Now that the pandemic has accelerated hybrid home working, more individuals are looking to work remotely across borders. A consideration for tax rates in such arrangements is often a significant influence on a choice of destination for remote working. If this trend of remote working across borders continues to increase, as many predict, it will potentially shift tax revenues from high-tax to low-tax countries, thereby depleting state revenue in high-tax countries. Several countries already promote themselves as digital nomad and remote worker destinations by offering work visas that do not require a local sponsor, often in conjunction with tax concessions (and nicer weather).

It is often argued that sovereign states are free to compete for talent, tax revenue and capital, just as they are free to compete on trade and technology. As we have seen with the BEPS project, however, the global community takes a dim view of harmful competition arising from excessive tax exemptions and negligible tax rates, and is willing to act multilaterally to discourage such practices.

Although EU initiatives on taxes on personal income and wealth have a long way to go before an agreement is reached and changes are implemented, the EU continues to introduce a range of other reforms that will have a lasting effect on the EU labor market. In 1996, the EU adopted a directive that defines a set of core terms and conditions for employment that an undertaking must follow when it posts employees from one EU country to another (the host country). This directive has been revised recently and one of the more significant revisions concerns salary. According to the revised directive, posted workers must be paid at least as much as local workers in the same position (the so-called equal pay condition) and the payment must include all mandatory elements of a salary and not only a base salary.

Additionally, the EU has implemented mandatory registration of posted workers in the host country. Several member states have extended the registration obligation beyond the scope of the EU directive, such as requiring registration of workers posted from a non-EU country and registration of self-employed persons. Non-compliance with the core terms and conditions for employment and the registration of posted workers is usually heavily sanctioned and is often treated as a criminal offense. Recently, authorities have been focusing on labor inspections and more audits are expected.

There are more EU directives coming into effect that place additional requirements on employers, such as written contracts with clearly defined terms and conditions when work is expected to last at least four weeks. The EU is also putting pressure on member states to define and update minimum wages and engage social partners to organize and to bargain salaries and other working terms and conditions collectively.

Countries will be forced to comply with EU defined norms and parameters of what constitutes fair tax competition, and they will need to look for international solutions when they think about new tax policies and other initiatives aimed to attract foreigners and capital. Otherwise, the current imbalances in the EU single market regarding movement of people and their capital will create losing and winning member states that, in the end, could erode the foundation of the EUs free movement of persons, services and capital.

The more holistic approach to policies and initiatives is already relevant for the increasing number of cross-border remote workers. The EU Economic and Social Committee has just published an opinion urging member states to offer flexibility in taxation of remote workers, such as implementing thresholds that would postpone the triggering of taxation in the host member state. The same flexibility is proposed in the field of social security contributions.

Although there is a generally positive view on diminishing burdens on remote workers and their employers, these discussions are facing new issues. One of these concerns is the definition of remote workers. If certain relaxations are implemented in respect of remote workers, should they apply only to individuals working from home or should they also encompass those working from a hotel or a short-term rental? Should relaxations applicable to remote workers apply irrespective of the type of work an individual performs, or should there be other requirements? For example, no interaction with local markets, etc.

These discussions will determine whether the future holds an aligned approach to remote working or a situation where each member state acts unilaterally. The outcome of these discussions and solutions could eventually influence general attitudes towards the EU and national governments, especially if some states are left behind, unable to access qualified workforces and sources of capital. It should be remembered, of course, that tax positions between member states of the EU are largely governed by bilateral tax treaties rather than EU regulations, so this is an area where the OECD plays an important role.

The Netherlands provides an interesting example of an existing preferential tax regime for inbound workers. The Dutch regime offers an exemption to foreign workers in which 30% of their income is free from Dutch taxes. This is generally considered to be a very advantageous tax regime that has attracted a lot of qualified workers to the Netherlands. However, the Dutch government is currently considering abolishing the regime altogether.

Similar to the crackdown on golden visas and corporate profit-shifting, we can expect multilateral action by the powerful high-tax countries in the OECD and G20 to force the abolition of harmful individual tax practices in smaller states seeking to attract expats, digital nomads and inbound investment.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Daida Hadzic is KPMG Head of Quality for Global Mobility Services (EMA) and Daniel Foster is KPMG Director, Tax & Legal, Global Mobility Services, Switzerland.

The authors may be contacted at: danielfoster@kpmg.com and Hadzic.Daida@kpmg.com

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Special Tax Regimes for Mobile Individuals and Their Impact on the EU's Single Market - Bloomberg Tax

The programs grant funding means that students get paid for their work and research. Forty-two Young Scholars, 10 Ignite Research Scholars and one Community-Based Researcher participated this summer.

The Newsroom connected with some of the student scholars to find out more about what they studied, what its like to work with a faculty mentor and how their research benefits their academic careers.

Major: Computer engineering

Research Title: Effect of Recycled Concrete Aggregate on Concrete Properties

Faculty Mentor: Rita Lederle, Engineering

Grant: Ignite Research Scholars

Describe what youre researching this summer.The research consists of testing concrete with varying levels of recycled concrete aggregate, or RCA. Testing includes compressive strength, flexural strength, electrical resistance, shrinkage, and freeze thaw stability testing.

What is the most interesting thing youve found so far in your research?The electrical resistivity of concrete. Through this research I have found concrete can act as an insulator when dry and therefore high resistance, or can be conductive when wet with a lower electrical resistance.

What has been the most valuable part of having funded research be part of your undergraduate experience at St. Thomas?I get to learn something new and outside of my comfort zone while still having a connection to the engineering field, which allowed me to find my interest in the electrical resistivity test.

What have been the biggest benefits of working with an academic adviser like you have this summer?The greatest benefit of working with Dr. Lederle is learning about all the different connections other fields have to civil engineering and just how important it is to be able to work with others of a different field. Dr. Lederle also gave me many opportunities to find my own interests in this research and explore that, making this a valuable experience.

Majors: Biology and Spanish

Research Title: Dopamine-Related Gene Expression in the Social Decision-Making Network in Response to an Infidelity Challenge in the Monogamous Zebra Finch

Faculty Mentor: Sarah Heimovics, Biology

Describe what youre researching this summer.I am conducting research on gene expression in the brain of zebra finches in relation to their pair bond status and maintenance. Zebra finches are socially monogamous birds who pair bond with a single mate. I am measuring relative amounts of gene expression using a technology called RT-qPCR. This technology allows us to use mRNA from the brain regions of interest. We are interested in characterizing the role of dopamine in fidelity and pair bond maintenance. Therefore, I use brain regions in the social decision-making network and look at genes that are related to dopamine.

What is the most interesting thing youve found so far in your research?I have found that a brain region called the nucleus accumbens has a significant role in the maintenance of relationships in relation to dopamine. We found that the gene expression of an enzyme that makes dopamine is higher in males who do not participate in extra-pair courtship.

What has been the most valuable part of having funded research be part of your undergraduate experience at St. Thomas?This experience has taught me valuable new technical skills, but additionally skills such as troubleshooting and science communication. I have also created important relationships with my peers and mentors. Undergraduate research opportunities were a large reason I chose to attend St. Thomas, so having my own project funded has been a priceless experience for me. I hope to continue research after graduation and feel that UROP has helped me prepare for my future.

What have been the biggest benefits of working with an academic adviser like you have this summer?Dr. Heimovics is an incredible mentor who really encourages independence in relation to my research but also provides the support I need. She trusts me to perform much of my work on my own and allows me to follow my interests within neuroscience. She has provided me opportunities that felt impossible at the undergraduate level like writing my own manuscript and presenting at large conferences. Additionally, she helps me network with other faulty to advance my research and scientific knowledge. Dr. Jenne Westberry also plays an important role in our lab and in my research. I have the ability to strengthen my scientific skills through the partnerships of different specialties. Both professors enhance my research experience and are role models to me in and outside of my research.

Research Title: The Dakota Conflicts and the Union Soldier

Faculty Mentor: David Williard, History

Describe what youre researching this summer.I am researching soldiers from Minnesota who fought in the U.S.-Dakota War from 1862-65. Many of these soldiers joined the military to fight the Civil War but found themselves stationed on the Minnesota frontier. The research focuses on examining how these men viewed their service, themselves and the conflict in which they were participating in light of the larger Civil War.

What is the most interesting thing youve found so far in your research?Seeing how the soldiers who were stationed on the frontier in Minnesota thought about the Civil War. Even though these soldiers were stationed just about as far from the Civil War as they could be, the central questions of the war were frequently on their minds. Issues like the preservation of the Union, supremacy of the federal government, and the abolition of slavery are frequently mentioned in the letters and diaries of these soldiers and were important to them.

What has been the most valuable part of having funded research be part of your undergraduate experience at St. Thomas?Getting the experience of real historical research. I have been able to practice archival research and have been exposed to many different types of primary and secondary sources. Overall, this experience and the skills I have learned are great building blocks to be able to continue the study of history.

What have been the biggest benefits of working with an academic adviser like you have this summer?Working with Dr. Williard has been a great experience! The biggest benefits of working with him is the depth of his knowledge on and passion for this subject and his experience with this sort of research. His advice on how to approach archival research was especially helpful. Meeting with Dr. Williard regularly throughout the summer has really helped me stay on track and explore some interesting directions to take this project.

Research Title: Wearable Driver Monitoring System

Faculty Mentor: Cheol-Hong Min, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Describe what youre researching this summer.I have been researching the development of a machine learning algorithm for a noninvasive, wearable system using electroencephalography to automatically detect and monitor drowsiness in drivers on the road. The goal is to create a warning system to alert the user of periods of inattentiveness to increase awareness and prevent accidents that are a result of distracted and drowsy driving.

What is the most interesting thing youve found so far in your research?How to take large amounts of data that at first glance have seemingly no meaning to it and extract valuable insights to be analyzed and applied elsewhere.

What has been the most valuable part of having funded research be part of your undergraduate experience at St. Thomas?Having the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and develop critical thinking skills while applying them to find solutions for relevant problems in the world.

What have been the biggest benefits of working with an academic adviser like you have this summer?One of the biggest benefits has been having a source of professional guidance, motivation and expertise to aid in learning and understanding the essential skills necessary to conduct successful academic research.

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Undergraduate Summer Research Highlights - Newsroom | University of St. Thomas - University of St. Thomas Newsroom

A landmark decision was made recently in the long history of efforts to protect people from injury and illness at work. At a hybrid conference held by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, for those attending in person, delegates voted in favour of a resolution to make the principle of a safe and healthy work environment a human right. Thats correct; we managed to reach the third decade of the 21st century without a safe workplace being a fundamental right of us all.

Safety, health and wellbeing at work is, without question, the most important of all responsibilities facing those who employ others. It can be a matter of life and death and deserves to be front and centre of any debate on work as it is performed today as well as the future of work. That it isnt in the public conscience in the same way as, say, climate change has long been the challenge facing those of us who work in the health and safety profession and who strive to make workplaces healthier and safer. Yet, nearly 2.8 million people are estimated to lose their lives each year to avoidable, unnecessary work-related injuries or illness. That is a conservative estimate, in my view, and many, many millions more suffer serious, often life-changing injuries or ill health at work.

Are we talking only of high hazard industries here, such as construction and mining? No, work of all kinds can damage both our physical and mental health as well as our wellbeing, and the figures for workplace fatalities, injuries and ill health tell us that collectively we are failing to protect everyone at work, and that is simply unacceptable.

All human beings, wherever they live and work, have a right to a safe and healthy workplace

So, the decision by delegates at the 110th International Labour Conference to adopt the resolution was more than simply a landmark decision in the history of safety and health at work; it was vital.

Personally, I have always believed that this was a glaring omission from the ILOs Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, but now it sits alongside the effective abolition of slavery and child labour and the elimination of discrimination at work as a fundamental right of all us.

Is it really going to make a difference? Lets consider it. The decision ensured all ILO member states declared a commitment to respect and promote the right to a safe and healthy work environment. In human rights terms, it means the right to return home safely at the end of a working day is inalienable or unconditional. It is universal, meaning all human beings, wherever they live and work, have a right to a safe and healthy workplace.

You could argue that in a world in which we have international standards and regulatory frameworks, occupational safety and health doesnt need to be ratified as a human right. You could say there are ample checks and balances, in the shape of rules and regulations, enforcement agencies, societal pressures and scrutiny from investors and customers, to make this decision unnecessary.

I understand these reservations, but I dont agree with them because based on my 30 years on international health and safety experience it is not a level playing field and some countries have much more advanced frameworks and processes in place than others. I am sure you all know that. I am conscious that a lot of progress has been made in the 20th and 21st centuries to upgrade the safety and health of working people in most parts of the world. In fact, the promotion of safe, healthy workplaces is now considered central to the sustainability agenda and a core consideration at Board level by many companies.

The statistics on workplace fatalities tell that us we are still falling woefully short, however. The ILO decision matters because it brings other things into the picture.

Human rights create a common framework of values recognised universally. Essentially, they are the only values system recognised globally, and state actors, such as Governments, are duty-bound to put in place frameworks and challenge violations where they confront them. Regulatory frameworks differ from country to country, but human rights, in their universality, make us accountable to each other.

International human rights law will also provide an essential framework and guidance to responsible and sustainable policy-making and I am convinced that in developing and emerging countries, the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work can now guide the formulation of new safety and health regulations.

I now hope to see Governments and other state actors put in place the framework, policies and control processes to position the health, safety and wellbeing of their greatest assets first and forefront. They need to stand up and challenge violations of the human right to a safe and healthy work environment, internally within their own countries and externally within their value chains. Hopefully governments and policy makers can look to responsible corporations and see how they apply best-in-class standards across their sites globally and then take internationally-recognised standards from other countries and use this as a frame for their own policies and regulations.

The decision, to make safe and health work environments a human right, means I will now be speaking more regularly to my colleagues both within and outside of LOral. I suspect similar conversations will be had in organisations worldwide.

Based on my experience as an occupational safety and health professional, the ILO decision is a game changer and will result in legislative changes across many countries where legislation is light, non-existent or not enforced. It could also result in more visibility within the human capital, sustainability (people sustainability, that is) and ESG agendas. This is an historic decision, and it will save lives.

Malcolm Staves is Global Vice President Health & Safety at LOral, occupational health and safety strategic partner for the Capitals Coalition and a former advisory board vice-chairman of the Centre for Safety & Health Sustainability. Malcolm is also co-founder of OneWish, a global coalition of organisations working to see more women assume leadership positions in the field of health and safety.

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A safe and healthy working environment is now a human right - Workplace Insight

The new edited volume Wicked Problems: The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice (Oxford University Press, 2022) brings together interdisciplinary authors to explore the ethical questions, dilemmas and obligations that both activists and academics have to confront in the midst of work to build a more just and peaceful world. The book was co-edited by Ernesto Verdeja, associate professor of political science and peace studies at the University of Notre Dames Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, associate professor of sociology at the University of San Diegos Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and Douglas Irvin-Erickson, assistant professor and director of the Genocide Prevention Program, at George Mason Universitys Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

The book grew out of conversations between the three editors about the lack of sustained ethical reflection in policymaking efforts and many social movements.

The genesis came from noticing that there are all these opaque spots in our respective fields, said Verdeja. We wanted to write something that was a serious work of scholarship,and also accessible and punchy. We wanted it to draw in authors who have a foot in both the academic and practice worlds, and the book includes contributions not only from scholar-practitioners in academia, but also many practitioners working in peacebuilding everyday, from high-level policymaking to grassroots activism

The result was an edited volume featuring 17 chapters exploring topics ranging from Black armed resistance and police abolition to nonviolent direct action to end poverty to rethinking the roles of allies in social movements and understanding dilemmas within transitional justice processes.

The final volume includes chapters by three additional Kroc Institute faculty members. Ashley Bohrer, assistant professor of gender and peace studies, explores dilemmas of prefigurative and harm-reduction approaches in social movement work, deconstructing the typical binary between working to achieve preferred ends in the present despite actions that might cause potential harm versus developing a movement where the methods and ends are in harmony.

Laurie Nathan, professor of the practice of mediation and director of the Kroc Institutes Mediation Program, wrote a chapter focused on the ethics of negotiating with armed actors during armed conflict, a situation that often necessitates tradeoffs and compromise, and where the actions needed to ensure justice, accountability, and peace might be in conflict with one another. George Lopez, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., professor emeritus of peace studies, co-authored a chapter focused on establishing an ethical code for (re)building peace after the use of sanctions. Verdeja himself also wrote a chapter focused on the dilemma of making decisions that might cause harm in the present in order to prevent future atrocities.

We hope that people will engage with the book as an opportunity to wrestle with the profound ethical dilemmas at stake in peace studies work, said Verdeja. Sometimes framing questions abstractly gets us away from the messiness of everyday practice, and were hoping that this book can help fundamentally reorient our approach to some of these challenging questions.

The authors wrote the book with a wide range of audiences in mind, including academics, practitioners, people involved in ongoing movements for justice, lay people and students.

The book was written in an accessible way because we want younger or early career people involved in peacebuilding and peace studies to explore these kinds of questions, said Verdeja. They are the future of the field and these movements.

Listen to a podcast featuring a conversation between all three authors:

Originally published by Hannah Heinzekehr at kroc.nd.edu on August 22, 2022.

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New book explores wicked problems facing peace studies scholars and practitioners // Department of Political Science // University of Notre Dame -...