“The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming and emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism, and constitutes one of the main connections between them.” Edward Said: Culture and Imperialism “There is no political power without control of the archive, if not of memory.” Jacques Derrida, Archive Fever “One of the […]
Category: Human rights
Babri Masjid Afterlives on Human Rights Day
Coinciding with Human Rights Day 2022, a two day virtual conference took place December 9-10, 2022 on the topic “Afterlives of Babri Masjid: Thirty Years Later. For contextual background on the Babri Masjid, see in the library catalog subjects: “Babari Masjid (Faizabad, India)“ and “Communalism India Faizabad.” For representative publications of the conference speakers, see: -Ahmad, Irfan, […]
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC)
On Human Rights Day, we might devote attention to the many groups that have been protesting against recent shifts in the understanding of “citizenship” in India. The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, was designed to amend the Citizenship Act 1955 to recognize specific types of illegal immigrants, segregated by religion and country of origin. It was […]
Archives and Human Rights: International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10th: an Interview with Lucas Massuco (AHDA fellow, ISHR, CU, Memory Museum, Argentina)
For the upcoming occasion of International Human Rights Day on December 10th, I sat down with Lucas Massuco, 2020 Fellow at the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability (AHDA) Program at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR, Columbia University); Institutional Coordinator at the Memory Museum (Municipality of Rosario, Argentina), and Political Scientist […]
Black Lives Matter International
“You watched my brother die. That could have been me. I am my brother’s keeper. You in the United Nations are your brothers’ and sisters’ keepers in America, and you have the power to help us get justice for my brother George Floyd. I am asking you to help him. I am asking you […]
On World Refugee Day 2020 — Rohingyas
One of many current global refugee crises is that of the Rohingyas. A Muslim group long resident in Myanmar, many Rohingyas have been displaced as refugees to South Asia (and other regions), most especially Bangladesh and India. Rohingyas have also experienced lack of welcome in South Asian countries. While often viewed in news reports as a […]
Celebrating Dr. Ambedkar’s Birthday and Legacy
Ambedkar Jayanti (Bimbhao Ambedkar’s birthday), which takes place on April 14th, comes upon us this year in most unusual and harsh circumstances, when an enormous percentage of people across the planet is sheltered at home and the COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of tens of thousands. Under these unprecedented realities which expose the deeply […]
December 10th: International Human Rights Day: an interview with Chris Laico, Archivist at RBML
For the occasion of International Human Rights Day, which falls on December 10th every year, I sat down with Chris Laico, Archivist at RBML, who along with Catherine Carson Ricciardi and Carrie Smith*, is responsible for processing human rights related collections. I asked Chris a few questions about archives, human rights, his daily work, […]
Sorry, This Page Does Not Exist!: The Brazilian Presidential Transition (2018) Web Archive
The web lives in the present tense. But, as librarians understand all too well, scholarly research and knowledge production require sustainable long-term access and preservation of evidence that supports the deciphering and understanding of the world. The broken links we encounter throughout the web can signify the loss of important information, sometimes when it seems […]
Online Resource: American Jewish Joint Distribution Council Archives
The JDC Archives holds the institutional records of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee since its founding in 1914. Given the nature of JDC’s work and the role it has played over more than a century of activity, these collections are among the most significant in the world for the study of modern Jewish history […]