Education as a Tool in Preventing Violent Conflict:
Suggestions for the International Criminal Court
Martha Minow
Dean and Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor, Harvard Law School
When political leaders, scholars, and activists consider ways to prevent genocide and mass atrocities, their options include monitoring and early warning systems, global diplomacy and military forces for humanitarian intervention, and efforts to strengthen the rule of law. Education usually falls at the end of the list, but it could be the most important way to prevent mass violence. The International Criminal Court offers innovative opportunities to engage 110 member nations in collaborative educational efforts. In this lecture, Minow will consider the possibilities afforded by the Rome Statute, the leadership of the ICC prosecutor, and the benefits and limits of education in preventing violent conflict.
Martha Minow is an expert in human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities. At Harvard Law School since 1981, she teaches civil procedure and constitutional law and writes and teaches about law, culture, and narrative. She served on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo and helped launch Imagine Co-existence, a program of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to promote peaceful development in post-conflict societies. In partnership with the Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology, she has worked to increase access to the curriculum for students with disabilities.
Minow’s books include Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good; Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence; Not Only for Myself: Identity, Politics and Law; and Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion, and American Law. Her latest book, In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Educational Landmark, will be published in 2010.
Free and open to the public.