Image of Harvard Kennedy School building.

Harvard Kennedy School Insight

Featured Interview: Timothy McCarthy on Human Rights and Social Movements

"There have been moments throughout our history when times of great social change have been catalyzed by the dynamic relationship between enlightened leaders on the one hand – presidents who are willing to change, willing to evolve in office – and social movements that actually push them and demand that they do so. And so when you think about the abolition of slavery in the 1860s, it was achieved because of a movement that unfolded over the course of two generations, which influenced and persuaded an enlightened leader to do the right thing morally, ethically and politically."

More Insight Interviews: