During the country’s dictatorship from 1973 to 1985, Uruguayans suffered under crushing repression, which included the highest rate of political incarceration in the world. Debbie Sharnak will give a talk on her book, Of Light and Struggle, which explores how activists, transnational social movements, and international policymakers collaborated and clashed in response to this era and during the country’s transition back to democratic rule.

At the heart of the book is an examination of how the language and politics of human rights shifted over time as a result of conflict and convergence between local, national, and global dynamics. examines the utility and limits of human rights language used by international NGOs, such as Amnesty International, and foreign governments, such as the Carter administration.

Debbie Sharnak is Assistant Professor of History and International Studies at Rowan University and a senior fellow at Foreign Policy Research Institute. She is the author of the book “Of Light and Struggle”: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay and the co-editor of the volume Uruguay in Transnational Perspective. Other work has appeared in the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, TALLER, Diplomacy and Statecraft, and several edited volumes on topics such as Latin America, human rights, and transitional justice. She holds an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA from Vassar College.

This event is in-person but also available via Zoom.