Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay

On Tuesday, October 24th, the Clements Center for National Security and the UT-Austin Department of History hosted Debbie Sharnak, Assistant Professor of History at Rowan University, for a book talk on her recent release Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay.

Debbie Sharnak teaches courses on Latin American History, with a special interest in human rights, US-Latin American relations, sports, and the Cold War. Dr. Sharnak earned her B.A. at Vassar College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before coming to Rowan, she was a Lecturer for Harvard University’s History and Literature program, where she was awarded the Harvard Excellence Teaching Award and the Stephen Botein Teaching Prize. She has also taught at New York University, Tufts University, and Hunter College.

Dr. Sharnak’s research studies the history of human rights, transnational advocacy networks, Latin America, and foreign policy. In her most recent book, Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), she explores the origins and evolution of human rights discourse in Uruguay, particularly during its transition back to democratic rule. The work addresses issues of transitional justice, the rise of the transnational human rights movement, and the shifting terrain of human rights in the 1970s and 1980s. She is also the co-editor of a forthcoming volume, Uruguay in Transnational Perspective (Routledge, 2023).

For more information about this event, contact Elizabeth Doughtie at [email protected].

View photos from the event here.