Article

The Populist Challenge to Human Rights

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Abstract

The nationalistic, xenophobic, misogynistic, and explicitly anti-human rights agenda of many populist political leaders requires human rights proponents to rethink many longstanding assumptions. There is a need to re-evaluate strategies and broaden outreach, while reaffirming the basic principles on which the human rights movement is founded. Amongst the challenges are the need to achieve more effective synergies between international and local human rights movements and to embrace and assert economic and social rights as human rights rather than as welfare or development objectives. It will be crucial to engage with issues of resources and redistribution, including budgets, tax policy, and fiscal policies. There is a need for collaboration with a broader range of actors, to be more persuasive and less didactic, and to be prepared to break with some of the old certainties. Academics should pay attention to the unintended consequences of their scholarship, and everyone in the human rights movement needs to reflect on the contributions each can make. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

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... The increasing rise of populist leaders fundamentally challenges established democratic checks and balances by striving to centralize power and portraying themselves as the sole representatives of the "true will" of the people (Alston, 2017). This concentration of power undermines democratic processes, allowing executive branches to operate with little accountability and reducing the effectiveness of other institutions in maintaining checks and balances (Aitchison, 2017). ...
... For instance, Adamidis (2021) noted that populist leaders often attack the legitimacy of existing institutions, framing them as corrupt or self-serving to justify efforts to bypass or dismantle these structures. Similarly, Alston (2017) emphasized that populist movements frequently target the judiciary, aiming to undermine its independence and diminish its role in checking executive power. This tactic weakens democratic safeguards, as an independent judiciary is critical in upholding the rule of law. ...
... Bolsonaro's disregard for judicial oversight was evident in his public questioning of court decisions and threats to ignore rulings unfavorable to his agenda, as documented by Howe & Covell (2021). Moreover, his encouragement of military involvement in politics raised concerns about the erosion of civilian oversight and the potential shift toward authoritarianism (Alston, 2017). The administration's environmental policies and disregard for indigenous rights further illustrate how populist leaders undermine democratic governance. ...
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Populism has emerged as a significant challenge to democratic governance worldwide, as populist leaders seek to undermine checks and balances and consolidate power. This systematic literature review analyzes how populist movements weaken democratic institutions across different regions, focusing on the erosion of judicial independence, legislative oversight, media freedom, and human rights. This study examines case studies from Hungary, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States, revealing how populist leaders centralize authority, manipulate legal frameworks, and exploit societal grievances to sideline democratic norms. Populist rhetoric often frames democratic institutions as elitist and detached from the interests of the "true people," justifying actions that concentrate executive power and limit accountability. This impact extends beyond national borders and affects international law and global governance. In response, civil society, independent judiciaries, the media, academia, and international organizations play crucial roles in defending democratic values and building resilience against populist encroachment. Strategies such as enhancing legal protection, promoting civic education, strengthening oversight bodies, and reforming electoral systems are essential for countering populist threats. This study highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to address the root causes of populism's appeal and protect democratic institutions. Further research should explore how populists exploit digital media and the effectiveness of resistance strategies and conduct comparative analyses across regions to develop robust defenses against the erosion of democracy.
... Because of the threats these movements present, some scholars speculate about an "end time of human rights" (Hopgood, 2013). These challenges do not mean the demise of human rights, but they drive human rights proponents to rethink many of their assumptions, reevaluate their strategies, and broaden their outreach (Wuerth, 2016;Alston, 2017). ...
... In fact, such knowledge should solidify our commitment to the cause of human rights in the face of challenges. As Alston (2017) warns, "We should not be fooled into thinking that [human rights is] ever going to be a winning cause. It's an ongoing struggle" (p. ...
... This caution is necessary to sustain resilience in human rights struggles and resistance to skeptical and repressive forces. Also important are the needs for introspection and openness to criticisms from state actors and others (Alston, 2017). ...
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This chapter examines the limitations of global teacher education (GTE), defined as teacher education content and pedagogy targeted at producing globally competent teachers, whose practice is informed by global perspectives. Global teacher education is discussed with a particular focus on the Global South, especially the African context, drawing on critical and decolonial human rights education principles to make suggestions for its improvement. Referencing teacher education curricula from schools in the Global South and Global North, it illustrates how global content is already in place across teacher education programs in the social sciences and humanities, the sciences, vocational subjects, and educational foundations, albeit to a limited extent. The chapter also discusses how pressing contemporary issues, such as conflicts rooted in violence, intolerance, xenophobia, anti-feminism, and racism, challenge the appropriateness and effectiveness of global citizenship, social justice, and human rights education (HRE). Further, it in- forms the need to reassess GTE using critical and decolonial perspectives, particularly those emanating from the Global South and the field of HRE. Analysis indicates that the growing infusion of global content into teacher education programs does not correspond with the principles of global citizenship education (GCE), including compassion, empathy and solidarity. Instead, inconsistencies between increased global education in schools and the paucity of observable global citizenship behaviors are the result of predominantly neoliberal, nationalistic, and Eurocentric approaches to global teacher education. The chapter begins by describing global teacher education and discussing how HRE can inform it. Then the relationship between GTE and HRE is briefly discussed, and challenges for HRE and for GTE are examined. The chapter includes ideas for how the principles of human rights education can provide a pathway to revitalizing global teacher education.
... Third, another aspect in broadening its gaze concerns tackling the political economy determinants of human rights fulfillment. Significant fault lines in human rights approaches are surely to do with the lack of thorough engagement with popular economic concerns and issues (Alston, 2017). Increasing the capacity and fiscal space of the state to deliver is a prerequisite to social justice. ...
... But at the same time, it is precisely the more holistic approach of meta rights, with organising around political platforms and rights-based standards, and overt engagement with structural issues, which appears so important for any transformation to take place (Jones, 2022). A necessary additional entry point is that human rights engages much more with macroeconomics and economic policy (Alston, 2017). ...
... Hence, while women's human rights discourse may draw attention to discrimination and violation of rights, addressing these issues on the ground remains difficult. Alston (2017) argued that this may be because, "mainstream human rights advocacy addresses economic and social rights issues in a tokenistic manner at best, and the issue of inequality almost not at all" (p. 6). Many human rights groups focus on civil and political rights with an understanding that other social and economic rights will follow. ...
... Many human rights groups focus on civil and political rights with an understanding that other social and economic rights will follow. However, this is far from truth when viewed through the prism of those who face the brunt of the social, economic, and other inequalities (Alston, 2017). ...
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Traditional conceptions of disaster mitigation focus mainly on risk reduction practices using technology; however, disaster mitigation needs to be reconceptualized as a discursive and social intervention process in the disaster-development continuum to further women’s rights and equality and their emancipatory interests before, during, and after disasters. Such reconception would be more aligned with current formulations within the Sendai Framework of Action (2015–2030), which to an extent highlights the need to engage with gender inequalities through women’s leadership in disaster and development planning and the fifth UN Sustainable Development Goal on furthering gender equality. As discursive practices, disaster mitigation should question discrimination against and marginalization of women in disaster recoveries and development processes in different contexts. Discourse about women and gender is ingrained in the society and further perpetuated through regressive and patriarchal state policies and practices in the disaster-development continuum. A critical and progressive politics for women’s rights that furthers their equality would counter regressive discourses and their effects. Women experience discrimination through complex and multiple axes of power, such as race, class, ethnicity, and other social markers. Instead of treating women as a passive site for relief and recovery, nongovernmental organizations, both national and international, should work with women as persons with agency, voice, aspirations, and capacity to bring about policy and social change in the terrain of the disaster-development continuum. Critical humanitarianism and mobilizing women’s leadership would be a hallmark of such work. The relation between disaster mitigation and women’s rights is that of a virtuous cycle that calls for a synergy between disaster response and development goals to further women’s equality and rights. A vision for socially just and equal society must inform the relation between disaster mitigation and furthering women’s rights.
... 604 Likewise, international human rights are particularly opposed and treated as foreign intrusions within the domestic domain. 605 Populism generally adheres to a 'closed statehood' ideology 606 and thus seeks to limit the impact of international law on the respective national legal system. 607 However, the possible influence of the populist movement on the convergence factors is hard to assess, as populists rarely follow a coherent ap-proach. ...
Chapter
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The book examines the changing approach of courts in reviewing foreign affairs decisions of the executive. Traditionally, the judiciary awarded deference to executive decisions in that area, a notion that clashes with the idea of general judicial oversight in the modern constitutional state. As the problem is often looked at solely from a national angle, this thesis chooses a comparative approach taking into account the development in three democratic countries to identify general trends as well as differences. Thereby, it shows the development of a new judicial approach, which does not per se defer to executive assessments in the field.
... The failure to remember the experience under authoritarianism resulted in the populace becoming open to trade-offs and provided a fertile ground for the rise of Duterte. 69 Thus, '[c]itizens who once accepted democracy as the only legitimate form of government [became] more open to authoritarian alternatives'. 70 Simply, the importance of liberal order has been depreciated, the possibility of authoritarian rule has been oated and anti-liberal ideas have been accepted. ...
... Complementing this, a correlational study relies on diverse statistical tests to unveil coefficients of correlation between variables. These coefficients are expressed mathematically to indicate the strength and direction of a relationship, as emphasized by Alston (2017). In the context of this study, we will explore the association between financial attitudes and the spending habits of Teachers at TNHS. ...
Research
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The research conducted an in-depth analysis of the financial attitudes and spending habits of 55 Senior High School (SHS) teachers at Tacurong National High School (TNHS) using a quantitative research design and descriptive correlational technique. The study questionnaire was adapted and contextualized. Mean, Pearson Moment Correlation, and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to examine the collected data. The results revealed high levels of retention-time (saving) and anxiety, a low level of power prestige, and a moderate level of distrust frugality in the financial attitude domains. Meanwhile, the spending habits domains showed a moderate level of diversity and overspending and a high level of loyalty. The study result showed a low positive correlation between financial attitudes and spending habits. However, no single domain of financial attitudes was found to significantly influence spending habits. The findings of this study bear significant implications for Sustainable Development Goal number one: No Poverty, as understanding the financial attitudes and spending habits of educators can aid in developing targeted interventions to enhance financial literacy, promote sustainable economic behaviors, and contribute to poverty reduction efforts. Keywords: teachers, financial attitudes, spending habits, multiple regression analysis, Tacurong National High School
... Searching for causal accounts, several authors focus on the market's role in creating the dislocation that nourishes populism, while others centre on analyses of infrastructural development patterns (Moffitt 2016;Mudde and Kaltwasser 2018;Rancière 2014;Rodrik 2018). Research in political theory, meanwhile, tasks itself with providing the intellectual resources needed to assuage populism's harm as one would do with an environmental force (Alston 2017;Müller 2016Müller , 2018Wolkenstein 2015). ...
Article
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I compare Christopher Lasch's thought to specific features that research in political science attributes to contemporary populism. Lasch openly favoured a historical form of populism but is rarely considered when current forms of populism are discussed. The research literature characterizes populism as superficially tied to democracy while undermining it, as committed to the moral binary of people and elites, and as intellectually “thin” because it does not engage with the complex theories that ground other ideologies. These characters make populism incoherent and inimical to democracy. Lasch manifests all three characters while connecting them to a sustained worldview. Humans’ awareness of death is the core feature that makes them rational, ethical and equal. Attempts to dilute that awareness are inimical to the equality at democracy's basis. Experts and professionals encourage this dilution by promising remedies and progress. Democracy depends on ordinary people who resist elites and their complex phraseologies.
... The Government fails to implement the international recommendations and does not take any meaningful steps to prevent hate speech. This tendency falls squarely within a general populist approach towards IHRL and international human rights protection bodies, that questions the validity of international institutions and confronts them with ill-interpreted "national" interests (see Sadurski 2022;Humble 2022;Alston 2017). ...
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Even though hate speech is an extreme form of intolerance, which contributes to hate crime, the assessment of this particular behavior and its expressions is often problematic, because hate speech is difficult to define and even more difficult to investigate and punish. In the present article, the authors analyze the development of human rights standards (in particular as interpreted in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights) regarding freedom of expression and hate speech and look at their application in Poland and Slovenia through a comparative analysis of Polish and Slovenian law and practice. We noticed that challenges with fulfilling international obligations to adequately respond to and fight hate speech can be observed and that some room for improvement on the level of lawmaking, policymaking, and their effective implementation is present. The most evident challenge remains in the low rates of prosecution of hate crimes recorded by the police, which need to be addressed by both States. In Slovenia, some positive systemic and regulatory changes have recently been introduced, while in Poland there has been little progress and not all victims of hate speech are adequately protected by law. The authors suggest a focus on educating individuals about the harmful consequences of hate speech and acts, adapting legislation to appropriately punish individuals who spread hate speech, raising awareness and understanding of the rhetoric used in the public sphere, and increasing media support for the aforementioned awareness, keeping in mind that solutions on how to appropriately address or prevent hate speech are by no means simple or straightforward.
... Yet, the dominance of neoliberal and capitalist ideology has pushed most notions of accountability toward effectiveness and efficiency [56][57][58][59][60]. In an age of populism, accountability to other humans, and recognition of our interconnectedness, are eroded [61,62]. Aassertions of accountabilities tend to narrowly revolve around short-term cycles (e.g., annual budgets) or distracting public messaging and avoiding 'bad' publicity rather than accountability to each other and to upholding values like dignity, rights, or solidarity. ...
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Background Collective agreement about the importance of centering equity in health research, practice, and policy is growing. Yet, responsibility for advancing equity is often situated as belonging to a vague group of ‘others’, or delegated to the leadership of ‘equity-seeking’ or ‘equity-deserving’ groups who are tasked to lead systems transformation while simultaneously navigating the violence and harms of oppression within those same systems. Equity efforts also often overlook the breadth of equity scholarship. Harnessing the potential of current interests in advancing equity requires systematic, evidence-guided, theoretically rigorous ways for people to embrace their own agency and influence over the systems in which they are situated. ln this article, we introduce and describe the Systematic Equity Action-Analysis (SEA) Framework as a tool that translates equity scholarship and evidence into a structured process that leaders, teams, and communities can use to advance equity in their own settings. Methods This framework was derived through a dialogic, critically reflective and scholarly process of integrating methodological insights garnered over years of equity-centred research and practice. Each author, in a variety of ways, brought engaged equity perspectives to the dialogue, bringing practical and lived experience to conversation and writing. Our scholarly dialogue was grounded in critical and relational lenses, and involved synthesis of theory and practice from a broad range of applications and cases. Results The SEA Framework balances practices of agency, humility, critically reflective dialogue, and systems thinking. The framework guides users through four elements of analysis (worldview, coherence, potential, and accountability) to systematically interrogate how and where equity is integrated in a setting or object of action-analysis. Because equity issues are present in virtually all aspects of society, the kinds of ‘things’ the framework could be applied to is only limited by the imagination of its users. It can inform retrospective or prospective work, by groups external to a policy or practice setting (e.g., using public documents to assess a research funding policy landscape); or internal to a system, policy, or practice setting (e.g., faculty engaging in a critically reflective examination of equity in the undergraduate program they deliver). Conclusions While not a panacea, this unique contribution to the science of health equity equips people to explicitly recognize and interrupt their own entanglements in the intersecting systems of oppression and injustice that produce and uphold inequities.
... Люди, які відчувають себе «погано внаслідок... економічних змін, спричинених глобалізацією», мають почуття «страху й образи», які ефективно використовують «популістські» лідери. Більшість людей вважають, що вони «не мають можливості участі в правозахисній організації», яка існує для захисту ««шукачів притулку», «злочинців», [і] «терористів»» (там само), частково тому, що неурядові організації зосереджені на правах маргіналізованих меншин і не поширені порушення економічних і соціальних прав [1]. ...
... Moreover, these governments have been largely ineffectual at the national level in stemming the spread and addressing the consequences of the pandemic. As others have commented before us, these weaknesses are a result of at least a four-decade-long neoliberal onslaught on social and environmental protections and the institutions of the state in general (Alston 2017;Fouskas and Gokay 2020). ...
... Populists' apparent endorsement of democracy accordingly provides an opening to ethnocentrism, xenophobia and persecution (Alston, 2017;Rummens, 2017;Saffon & Urbinati, 2013). Populism, moreover, might rapidly transform democracy into authoritarianism. ...
Article
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Formulated as a common conceptual ground for all democracies, Popper's notion of the open society sprang from the mid-20th century context that demonstrated democracy's vulnerability to hijacking through its own electoral mechanisms. Popper's concept may accordingly be considered as a resource for combatting the populist appeal to majority decision and its threat of diminishing individual and minority rights. I examine the affirmative and critical aspects of such a consideration. On the affirmative side, the open-society concept allows room for both majority decision and the rights of individuals and minorities, as well as for particular group identities and class demands, showing that they may all cooperate to facilitate the growth of liberty, knowledge and the quality of life. Democratic institutions are justified from the grounds of this concept. Populism's equation of democracy with majority decision is, thus, incompatible with democracy's essence: decision by majority exists to cater to the vision that justifies that mode of decision making itself and cannot stay legitimate if it scuttles that vision. The more critical interpretation focuses on a detail of the open society's projected development. Popper tasks democracy's institutions with assuring conditions for progress through the expansion of knowledge. Popper expects the same process to modify the civic sphere's scope and content, as political bodies will be increasingly exposed to the expanding insights of scholarship and science. This anticipation involves grading the agents engaged in these two respective spheres, as well as looking forward to the ascendancy of one of them. Accordingly, the open-society concept might validate claims that, when seeking to confine the scope of majority decision through an emphasis on rights and law, constitutionalist and liberal approaches to democracy are subtly elitist.
... 8 Overall, the concern for human rights leadership in this article is aimed as a response to what is emerging about existing leadership deficits in practice and the academic literature and our understanding of the changing contexts and challenges for human rights defending and the demands these are putting to practice. 9 Building on our review of the literature below, we set out some research and practice directions for human rights leadership. This draws on the substantial social science work on leadership from outside the field, in particular leadership studies. ...
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Leadership is as an integral part of organisational practice that relates to individual or collectivistic forms of decision-making and action. In human rights work, this can include strategic decision-making, such as how issues are communicated or ‘framed’; how organisations, networks and communities are mobilised;, and how risk is managed and minimised.. This article applies a systematic scoping review approach to understand the scope of scholarly literature on human rights leadership and assess its volume and focus. We find that there is little work in the human rights practice literature that deals directly and explicitly with leadership. Human rights leadership is undefined and there have been no attempts to develop and apply the notion as analytical frame for examining or explaining organisational problems, practices, processes or outcomes. Further, the human rights practice literature gives little insight into how leadership can be supported and strengthened. In light of these gaps, we set out some research and practice directions that can inform a new agenda on human rights leadership. We draw on theories, concepts, frameworks and approaches from leadership work outside of human rights practice that might give shape to a new leadership agenda. In doing so, we propose several clusters of questions that might guide research on leadership as a crosscutting theme in human rights practice. We suggest the urgency for a new agenda on leadership is reflected in recent high-profile cases of leadership failures in rights-based organisations and the need for human rights leadership in the face of mounting global challenges.
... As other leaders of the international human rights movement have argued, it is time for IHR groups to stop shying away from controversial issues for fear of being labelled 'political'. Groups should name practices that traditionally have been outside the IHR canon as inside it (Alston 2017; Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights 2019). Solidarity as a value to guide practice serves as a counterweight to the tendency of the imaginary to tolerate consensus norms which favour status quo oppressions. ...
Article
The international human rights movement is undergoing an internal reckoning. The legitimacy of the human rights project is being questioned within the movement. These internal critiques render more visible and contestable the influence of human rights movement actors in the Global North over the international human rights agenda. Yet these critiques are incomplete. Grounded in decades of experience as an international human rights practitioner, this article uses the concept of the international human rights imaginary to explain why and how the technologies of traditional international human rights practice (practice forms) embed colonizing tendencies to supplant local knowledge and priorities. It argues that the harms of practice forms can be mitigated if international practitioners incorporate a principle of solidarity with local human rights struggles. The common understandings of what human rights are and how they should be defended are advanced by international nongovernmental organizations based in western Europe and the United States with access to international decision makers, institutions, and funding. These are the actors who exercise power to set the priorities for the international human rights movement. The human rights practice forms commonly used by dominant NGOs are integral to the political economy of the international human rights movement. These dynamics are illustrated through the three quintessential practices of statement advocacy, human rights reporting, and standard setting advocacy. Their study exposes how the imaginary operates in practice. North-based human rights actors need to reimagine human rights to be relevant to a multi-polar, pluralistic, and global—rather than to a merely North-based, western, and international—human rights movement.
... In 2018, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, noted several worrying trends, including protracted armed conflicts; more conflicts fought in densely populated urban areas; root causes of violence being unclear and difficult to address; armed actors being more numerous, more radical but also less political and less structured; wars often involving partners, allies, and coalitionsleading to a dilution of responsibility, fragmentation of chains of command, and an 15 Alongside international humanitarian law, States, international organisations, and other actors have given increased attention to the role of human rights in early warning and prevention of mass atrocity crimes, and in peace negotiations, peace-building measures, and transitional justice efforts. 16 Meanwhile, the so-called liberal international order has been challenged at various degrees and levels by a host of authoritarian and populist State leaders, 17 pursuing other models of global governance. What does the current rise of authoritarian populism around the world entail for the future of human rights? ...
... Debates on the international politics of human rights have largely echoed the criticism of the anti-pluralist and illiberal thrust of populist discourses ( Alston 2017 ). For Donders (2020 ), empirical evidence suggests that populist parties and movements violate the universal spirit of human rights by advocating a highly selective and discriminatory application of rights in favor of a fictive native and culturally homogenous "people." ...
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How do human rights activists imagine transitional justice amid sociopolitical conflicts that surface after peace agreements? Since its inception in the 2016 peace accords, Colombia's renewed endeavor to come to terms with its violent past has been overshadowed by massive protests and political polarization. In this article, I argue that populism, defined as a grid of intelligibility to make sense of frustrated demands and engage in politics, can help us understand the protest discourses of human rights defenders on transitional justice as they emerge from experiences with political marginalization and broken state promises. Based on interviews during six months of fieldwork in different conflict-affected regions, I contend that human rights defenders imagine transitional justice in terms of a larger political struggle that exceeds justice for past atrocities and can be described through three tropes that both resound with and challenge populism debates: truth as the frontier of political confrontation with right-wing elites, the “rights-defending victim” as a form of popular subjectivity and political underdog, and liberal overhaul of corrupted democratic institutions. Conceptually, my reconstruction of activist discourses serves a two-fold purpose: it bridges debates on transitional justice and contentious politics, and constructively challenges the ostensible incompatibility of human rights and populism.
Chapter
This chapter provides an overview of the current status of social work across the globe. The literature summaries outlined in this chapter provide an overview of various issues related to social work education and practice in different settings in different countries. Issues such as human rights, rights-based social work practices and education, clinical social work practices, populism and social work, the civic voluntarism model and the divide between Western social work and the rest of the world are discussed in this chapter.
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Legal scholars have been attempting to discern methods to safeguard democracy in the face of authoritarian populist projects. Much of the relevant discourse has centered on constitutionalism-based mechanisms like unconstitutional constitutional amendments, revision clauses, defensive/militant democracy, and institutions of accountability such as constitutional courts and fourth-branch institutions. Nonetheless, these tools have largely been ineffective in stopping or halting authoritarian populist projects. This chapter argues that superior options to confronting these authoritarian populist projects must be found in the political arena.
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This paper explores the multifaceted experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ+) people in selected African countries within legal, health, and educational sectors, and the broader society. It further highlights efforts that address issues around inclusion and social injustice. In the selected African countries (e.g., Ghana, Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda), LGBTIQ+ related activities are constitutionally illegal, leading to social discrimination or criminalization. Discrimination and stigma occur in various institutions which promotes homophobic sentiments, self‐harm and ostracization among LGBTIQ+ people. Notable countries like South Africa and Mozambique, have decriminalized same‐sex relationships, but these have not necessarily halted incidences of homophobia, social alienation, and discrimination that persist across the continent. In this article, queer theory and sexual minority stress theory are applied as contextual tools to explicate the everyday experiences of LGBTIQ+ people in sectors such as law, education, and health. As a contribution to the discourse on LGBTIQ+ people and research in Africa, this article further explores how discrimination, stigma, compulsive survival coping strategies, and legislation impede the overall psychosocial wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people. Although this paper's narrative is primarily restricted to a few selected African countries, the narratives are relatable to non‐Western states with collectivist cultural orientations.
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This article conceptualizes and operationalizes the right to protection and assistance to the family (Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) in relation to child protection services in England and the removal of children from birth families that are deemed to pose a risk to them. It identifies the differences between the social right to protection and assistance to the family and the more commonly known civil right to private and family life. The article merges doctrinal analysis of international human rights law with a peer-led methodology of socio-legal research reliant on issue prioritization and observations from social workers, families in poverty—primarily mothers—and young people who have experience of the care system. The process aims to respect all different forms of knowledge and to challenge the epistemic injustices that result from the systematic silencing of people in poverty. Besides this epistemic value, lived experience can illuminate the academic and practitioner understanding of the main problems facing people in poverty. In particular, in relation to the right to protection and assistance to the family, lived experience can shed light on the human impact of prejudice and the lack of adequate material support.
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It is common these days to lament the recession of democracy around the world. The way scholars address the issue of democratic backsliding shows that there is a significant gap between the expectation about democracy’s anticipated course of development and the current state of affairs. This article argues that the expectation that democracy would consolidate over time was produced by the progress narrative of democratic governance discourses. Drawing on narratology, it conducts a discourse analysis to demonstrate that today’s dismay about the recession of democracy is due to an unwarranted expectation that was created by the progress narrative of democratic governance discourses. It focuses on the periodisation of history in the construction of these discourses and investigates how scholars used the Cold War – post-Cold War dichotomy to create a progress narrative.
Book
Populism is a growing threat to human rights. They are appropriated, distorted, turned into empty words or even their opposite. The contributors to this volume examine these practices using the example of freedom of religion or belief, a human right that has become a particular target of right-wing populists and extremists worldwide. The contributions not only show the rhetorical patterns of appropriation and distortion, but also demonstrate for various countries which social dynamics favor the appropriation in each case and propose how to strengthen human rights and the culture of debate in democratic societies. The full text of this anthology can be downloaded from the website of the publisher "transcript Verlag" (open access): https://www.transcript-publishing.com/978-3-8376-6827-8/religious-freedom-and-populism/
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To mark the 15th anniversary of the Journal of Human Rights Practice (JHRP) in 2023, we launched an open call seeking reflections on two foundational questions for the journal: What do we mean by ‘human rights?’ How do we understand the term ‘practice’ in this context? The call welcomed short submissions (c.5,000 words), in a variety of formats. The outcome is in part a continuation of a conversation in the journal—as we return to certain authors, organizations, and issues—and in part suggests new possible futures both for the journal and for the human rights movement. Reports of the demise of human rights are exaggerated. In large measure this is because critics overlook, misrepresent or partially present the actual practice of human rights, in all its diversity. The norms, laws and institutions of human rights evolve slowly, are liable to state capture and politicization, and as such are easy targets for critics. The practices of human right, in contrast, are much more nimble and diverse, sometimes criticizing both dominant forms of power and the human rights mainstream, and as a result are harder to define, categorize, and analyse. The resilience of human right practices, carried by a great diversity of actors, attests to the fundamental appeal of its foundational claims—that power in all its forms should be held to account; and that people and communities should be treated with dignity and respect. While most academic literature, and criticism, still focus primarily on norms, laws and institutions, this journal has showcased research by both academics and practitioners that is practice-oriented, interdisciplinary, empirically grounded, contextually informed, and elevated but not buried by theory. Constructive critique is a fundamental part of this remit. Our interest is less in ‘criticism of’, which is negative, reactive and offers little by way of alternatives or routes forward, and instead prioritises ‘criticism to’, which is positive, proactive, and engages with the messy task of anticipating possible futures. By revisiting what we mean by ‘human rights’ and ‘practice’ the 15th anniversary Special Collection continues this tradition.
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The war in Iraq and the recent war in Ukraine symbolise the importance of resolving the crisis of international law and laws of war. In addition, the problematic aspect of these wars stems from the misconception of aggression or the composition of aggression. This falsity consists solely of the concept of aggression under international law, which has been abused, fragmented and confused. Therefore, this false idea of the concept of aggression under international law contributes to the development of modern conflicts. In an attempt to rationalise some of the fundamental failures in international law and the United Nations Security Council (hereinafter UNSC), this article seeks to examine whether the inclusion of ethics in the mechanism by which international law is implemented will be relatively useful. It explores whether ethical code can be incorporated into the mechanism by which international law is implemented, and if so, how can ethics enhance the existing rules and states' conduct? What role can ethics play in the justification of the use of force by the states, and what conclusion can be drawn from UNSC and states' practice? The article is divided into four sections. The first tries to explain the fundamental principles of ethics, while the second views international law in the conception of subject matter application and practice. The third section looks at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the UK/US invasion of Iraq. And the final part presents a philosophical conclusion on the subject matter. Keywords: Laws of War; Russia, Ukraine, Iraq and Ethics; International Law;
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The rise of exclusionary populism is widely regarded as one of the most significant phenomena in today’s political world. Despite this, the relationship between populism and security remains under-explored in the literature, including the affective power of populist security narratives. Against this background, this paper conducts a comparative analysis of radical right populist discourse in response to two recent shocking crimes in France and Ireland. The different expression given to security concerns in the two countries, such as a much less antagonistic ‘flaunting of the low’ in France, is suggestive of a more contingent and institutionally mediated relationship between security and populism than the existing literature would suggest.
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When are human rights defenders at risk of being killed? Echoing research on journalist killings, we argue that a democratic context makes it easier for human rights defenders to operate and incentivizes them to continue activities and to pursue information that puts them at risk. De jure protections that defenders have may not be enforced or may not protect defenders from bad actors engaging in politically motivated murder. These factors make human rights defenders more likely to be killed by actors trying to avoid the spotlight and exposure in democratic systems than in other types of regimes. Autocratic regimes provide fewer opportunities to freely advocate for human rights and to pursue or disseminate information about human rights violations by state or non-state actors, reducing the likelihood of defender mortality. Using two new sets of cross-national data on the number of killings of human rights defenders between 1997 and 2010 and from 2014 to 2020, we find that these arguments are generally supported when controlling for other factors that affect the killing of human rights defenders, particularly in democracies with lower state capacity.
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Since 2016 a series of unexpected developments such as Brexit and the shock election of Donald Trump have drawn attention to the rise of populism as one of the most significant phenomena in today’s political world. This populist ‘explosion’ is widely regarded as a significant threat to democracy and human rights, particularly the rights of minorities. So how should the human rights movement best respond? Speaking to the special issue theme on the meaning of and challenges to human rights, this article advances an argument for human rights claims-makers to learn the ‘lessons from populism’ in terms of its emotional appeal. Part 1 reviews the scholarly literature on human rights and the phenomenon of radical right populism to date, including the co-option of rights language by the far right. Part 2 builds on this literature to identify weaknesses in the legalistic way that (political) rights claims are advanced and argues that constructivist perspectives on rights may help ‘speak rights to’ populism. The final part argues that further research into emotions as the ‘language of values’ may help put empirical and conceptual flesh on the bones of a more ‘constructivist’ view of human rights.
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With a view to contributing to a more nuanced view on the use of the vulnerability rhetoric in times of crisis, the article addresses the relationship between the “crisification” and “vulnerabilization” of human rights protection. In so doing, it discusses the concepts of crisis and vulnerability, as well as the related human rights obligations incumbent on states. By contemplating upon some of the processes through which the rhetoric of vulnerability both opens doors to protection and closes them, the article deconstructs vulnerabilization as an active legal and societal process in addressing different situations seen as crises. In so doing, it challenges the on-face neutrality of the concept of vulnerability as a tool to target protection in exceptional times and calls for an approach to vulnerability in times of crisis that is more firmly anchored in the normative baseline of international human rights law.
Book
The emergence of human rights within development and the evolving relationship was increasingly brought to bear upon key debates and policies over the last couple of decades. This book provides a critically informed, comprehensive and multi-disciplinary entry-level account of this engagement between human rights and development. It is theoretically and practically grounded and explores three over-arching questions and themes: First, why and how have human rights made this breakthrough? Second, is there agreement on human rights as a concept and how it is being used and understood within diverse development practices at global, national and local levels? Third, how can we gauge the impact of human rights based approaches upon development outcomes? The book concludes with what the future may hold for human rights and development. In-depth understanding of human rights as a development challenge and development as a human rights one, is presented and delineates the diverse responses and alternative critical approaches. Wide ranging in scope, it covers many examples of human rights within development, including global policy initiatives, and vulnerable groups, such as those living in poverty, socially excluded, people living with HIV/AIDS, residents of informal settlements, and human rights defenders. This book will be an essential resource for social science students, particularly in the fields of development studies, human rights and geography, as well as those interested in the intersection between law, human rights and social change. It should also appeal to practitioners in development and human rights. Chapter 1|23 pages The Relevance of Human Rights and Development Chapter 2|39 pages Development in Theory and Practice Chapter 3|45 pages Globalisation and Shifting Worlds of Development Chapter 4|45 pages Human Rights Controversies and Convergences Chapter 5|42 pages Actors and Institutions in Human Rights and Development Chapter 6|41 pages Intersections – Rights-Based Approaches to Development Chapter 7|29 pages The Human Right to Health and Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Chapter 8|46 pages Impact in Rights-Based Approaches Aligning Actors, Institutions and Interests Chapter 9|6 pages Shaping Human Rights and Development Futures
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Why do human rights matter to development?• Brief introduction to characteristics of human rights and development• Approach and overview: Multidisciplinarity, Actors, Interests, and Institutions.
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The article explains how populists have exploited the weaknesses of liberal constitutionalism and the public-private divide. It argues that populists have not rejected constitutionalism as a project but a negative version of it. In its place, they incorporated their vision of a government unrestricted by individual rights and entered the private sphere with their doctrines. The lesson from the victories of populism is therefore to move toward positive constitutionalism that ensures the well-being of all. Drawing on the concept of relational autonomy, the article explains what this shift consists of in the areas of reproductive rights and gender-based violence. The conclusions outline a shift in the operation of the basic principles of constitutionalism, focusing on the relational nature of rights understood not only as shields, but also as claims to positive state action.
Chapter
In this book, James Gallen provides an in-depth evaluation of the responses of Western States and churches to their historical abuses from a transitional justice perspective. Using a comparative lens, this book examines the application of transitional justice to address and redress the past in Ireland, Australia, Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. It evaluates the use of public inquiries and truth commissions, litigation, reparations, apologies, and reconciliation in each context to address these abuses. Significantly, this novel analysis considers how power and public emotions influence, and often impede, transitional justice's ability to address historical-structural injustices. In addressing historical abuses, power fails to be redistributed and national and religious myths are not reconsidered, leading Gallen to conclude that the existing transitional justice efforts of states and churches remain an unrepentant form of justice. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
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What factors shape support for the human rights of prisoners and asylum seekers at the individual level? Although the human rights literature has expanded greatly in the last 30 years, comparatively little attention has been paid to (a) the many human rights outside of a very small set of physical or bodily integrity rights and (b) the role of public opinion. We build a theoretical model of various human rights as public opinion-related policy choices, developing the micro-foundations of public support for the human rights of vulnerable subpopulations. Drawing on the broader literature on public policy and international norms, we use experimental methods to test whether calls to rational effectiveness or international norm cascades improve support for the rights of prisoners and asylum seekers. Although we find baseline support for these rights in the United States and Canada, our findings also imply that rhetoric on the potential costs of human rights policy could reduce popular support, even when such policy is consistent with international norms.
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This analysis of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (HRtWS) uncovers why some groups around the world are still excluded from these rights. Léo Heller, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, draws on his own research in nine countries and reviews the theoretical, legal, and political issues involved. The first part presents the origins of the HRtWS, their legal and normative meanings and the debates surrounding them. Part II discusses the drivers, mainly external to the water and sanitation sector, that shape public policies and explain why individuals and groups are included in or excluded from access to services. In Part III, public policies guided by the realization of HRtWS are addressed. Part IV highlights populations and spheres of living that have been particularly neglected in efforts to promote access to services.
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This article considers the benefits and pitfalls of international human rights law as a component of artificial intelligence (AI) governance initiatives. It argues that (1) human rights law can serve as an authoritative resource for providing definitions to highly contested terms such as fairness or equality, (2) it can be used to address the problem of international regulatory arbitrage, and (3) it provides a framework to hold public and private actors legally accountable. At the same time, the paper considers recent critiques of human rights law and its application to AI governance, such as (1) lack of effectiveness; (2) inability to effect structural change, and finally, (3) the problem of cooptation. The article argues that while there is room for international human rights in the realm of AI governance, we should look to it with tempered expectations as to its promises and limitations.
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This article inquiries about the use of Twitter by the two radical right-wing populist Iberian parties, the Spanish VOX and the Portuguese Chega, during election campaigning. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, it analyses the tweets posted on their official accounts during the campaign running up to the last general elections held in Spain and Portugal. The results indicate diverging uses of Twitter and differences in their thematic political agendas. VOX chiefly exploits people’s feelings of national unity in the face of Spain’s peripheral nationalism and stirs up fear of illegal immigration. Chega cultivates a sense of insecurity to legitimize its punitive legalistic proposals, such as applying the life sentence and the chemical castration of paedophiles. VOX more frequently employs colloquial and aggressive language. These differences reflect the asymmetric positions of power occupied by the two parties but do not jeopardize the development of an Iberian-inspired radical-right populism.
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The citizens of wealthy, established democracies are less satisfied with their governments than they have been at any time since opinion polling began. Most scholars have interpreted this as a sign of dissatisfaction with particular governments rather than with the political system as a whole. Drawing on recent public opinion data, we suggest that this optimistic interpretation is no longer plausible. Across a wide sample of countries in North America and Western Europe, citizens of mature democracies have become markedly less satisfied with their form of government and surprisingly open to nondemocratic alternatives. A serious democratic disconnect has emerged. If it widens even further, it may begin to challenge the stability of seemingly consolidated democracies.
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