Many of the most vexing challenges in human rights today involve protecting vulnerable populations from the ravages of environmental degradation, food insecurity, and climate change— threats that can only be tackled through truly interdisciplinary work bridging the natural and social sciences, humanities, and law. Since 2010, at the request of campesino groups in Guatemala, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights has been engaged in such a project.

The work examines the causes and implications of environmental changes in relation to access to water and food in a specific area affected by the recent expansion of large agroindustrial plantations. They have supported the work of local leaders by conducting scientific research into the nature and causes of the threats driving their vulnerability, such that they might more effectively advocate for long-term solutions. The work reveals the urgency of greater engagement with these issues in the face of accelerating climate change, and yet also underscores the limitations of the ways we usually think about sustainability, research, and responsibility.

Angelina Snodgrass Godoy is the Helen H. Jackson Chair in Human Rights and Director of the Center for Human Rights at the University of Washington.

This event is sponsored by ASU's Institute for Humanities Research and co-sponsored with the School of International Letters and Cultures, Chasqui, and the master's in Social Justice and Human Rights, New College.