Atomic Voices: Redressing Nuclear Harm: Transitional Justice in the Nuclear Age

About

This is part of the Managing the Atom Atomic Voices Series. It will be from 10:00am-noon on December 1 and is open to the public. The Zoom webinar registration can be found here.

Nuclear deterrence and disarmament discussions often center on potential future use and threats of use of nuclear weapons. Attention is growing, however, on the harm that nuclear weapons have already done, mostly focused on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and on nuclear testing impacts. This seminar offers a nuclear justice lens derived from concepts of transitional justice (TJ). Traditionally applied in the context of human rights violations the analytical and normative framework can be used to study the nuclear past and present efforts to address it. We propose to understand nuclear harm as a form of “systemic wrongdoing”. Specifically, recent work by TJ scholars on colonial crimes and post-colonial injustice bears direct relevance for discussions on nuclear justice. We use the different “pillars” of TJ – criminal liability, redress, truth-telling, and reform – to analyze the progress made since the start of the nuclear age in addressing nuclear injustice and to identify gaps and potentials for political and legal action. The seminar builds on the 2021 Peace Research Institute Frankfurt report Beyond the Ban: A Global Agenda for Nuclear Justice.

Note: any recording or use of content from this webinar by the public or media is restricted. We request that you ask for permission before using any material from the webinar.

Speakers

Francesca Giovannini (Moderator) is the Executive Director of the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs. In addition, she is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she designs and teaches graduate courses on global nuclear policies and emerging technologies.

Jana Baldus is a Doctoral Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) studying the increasing polarization within the NPT, focusing on different conceptions of the nuclear norms and structural differences within the NPT regime.

Caroline Fehl is a PRIF Senior Researcher whose work revolves around international security norms and institutions with a focus on nuclear disarmament and arms control, and international criminal justice.

Sascha Hach is a PRIF Doctoral Researcher, teaches at the University of the Federal Armed Forces and studies rule and resistance in the nuclear order and the role of the UN in international security, disarmament, and arms control.