{"id":295124,"date":"2020-02-19T12:28:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T17:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=295124"},"modified":"2023-11-08T20:24:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T01:24:18","slug":"new-book-calls-for-an-ethics-of-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/02\/new-book-calls-for-an-ethics-of-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Feel that clean air and voting are human rights? It\u2019s partly on you"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"Kathryn

Kathryn Sikkink, a leading expert on international human rights, argues that it\u2019s time to talk about a new ethics of responsibilities to deal with climate change, voting, digital privacy, and other pressing issues.<\/p>

Photo by Martha Stewart<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tFeel that clean air and voting are human rights? It\u2019s partly on you\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tNew book calls for the embrace of an \u2018ethics of responsibility\u2019 to solve social, economic, and political problems\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
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After years of writing about human rights, Kathryn Sikkink<\/a> has decided to focus on responsibilities. It is what lies at the heart of her new book, \u201cThe Hidden Face of Rights: Toward a Politics of Responsibilities.\u201d The Gazette sat down with the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> to talk about her call for a new \u201cethics of responsibilities\u201d and the role of individuals in dealing with climate change, voting, digital privacy, and other pressing issues.<\/p>\n

Q&A<\/h2>\n

Kathryn Sikkink<\/h3>\n

GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>You have written many books about human rights, but your new book focuses on obligations rather than rights. Why is there a need to talk about what you call \u201ca politics and ethics of responsibilities,\u201d and what does it involve?<\/p>\n

SIKKINK:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The main point I want to underscore is that this book is about rights and responsibilities, not about responsibilities instead of rights. The important word here is \u201cand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Human rights are incredibly important, but to advance human rights and implement them, it\u2019s just not enough for everyone to only talk about their rights. To implement rights, we have to talk about the responsibilities of many actors that make it possible for people to enjoy their rights. We, human-rights theorists and activists, have known for a long time that for every right there has to be an actor with a corresponding responsibility to make sure that right can be exercised. But sometimes, human-rights activists only want to talk about states\u2019 responsibilities and not about the responsibilities of other actors. States\u2019 responsibilities are incredibly important, but responsibility can\u2019t only rest with the state.<\/p>\n

GAZETTE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong>Some people might think this approach of the \u201cethics of responsibilities\u201d is na\u00efve and overstates the impact individuals can have. What is necessary to make this more than a symbolic statement?<\/p>\n

SIKKINK:<\/strong><\/strong> Many human-rights activists are lawyers, and they think about rights in terms of the liability model: Who\u2019s to blame? Who can we sue? Who can we put in jail? That\u2019s a good model for implementing some rights, but it doesn\u2019t get far enough with most rights. I\u2019ve written a book about responses to mass atrocities, and it\u2019s all about how we need to prosecute state officials for mass atrocities. I believe in the liability model for some rights. But there are other rights such as the right to vote, in which actors\u2019 responsibilities can really make a difference. In some parts of our country today, voter suppression by state actors is a conscious policy. Citizens can\u2019t just wait for the state to do its job. We have to be conscious of what other actors can do to take responsibility to circumvent voter suppression and support voter turnout.<\/p>\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> You talk in your book how the ethics of responsibilities can be applied to climate change. How so?<\/p>\n

SIKKINK:<\/strong><\/strong> There\u2019s been a move underway to talk about a right to a clean environment and a right to a stable climate. I\u2019m not opposed to the idea, but in order to move ahead, we have to talk about the responsibilities of all actors, including the states. Now that our federal government has abdicated its responsibilities entirely with regard to climate change, we can\u2019t just twiddle our thumbs and wait for another election in the hope it will bring a government to office that cares about climate change. There are many other actors that can step forward. They don\u2019t have legal responsibility, but they do have an ethical and political responsibility. I\u2019m talking about corporations that are interested in working on climate-change issues, but also about state and municipal governments. For example, Massachusetts offers subsidies for solar panels, and Cambridge has a terrific recycling program and a brand-new curbside composting program.<\/p>\n\r\n

“All normative change in the world begins with a group of deeply committed individuals.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\n\r\n

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