Episodes
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Politics and human rights or politics through human rights?
We conclude this series with a conversation with Anja Mihr* focusing on the difference between ‘politics and human rights’ on the one hand and ‘politics through human rights’ on the other. Join us as she discusses with Graham Finlay the following questions: How can we safeguard democracy, freedom and human rights from threats? What role can re-imagined politics play in young democracies? What leverage, if any, can new ideas of politics have in authoritarian states?
*Anja Mihr is a political scientist, academic supervisor of the Master of Arts and Human Rights and Sustainability in Central Asia, and founder and Programme Director of the Centre on Governance through human rights at the Berlin Governance Platform.
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On the relevance of meaningful participation of stakeholders in politics
One way to reimagine politics is to go through re-imagining the actual involvement of different actors. We talked about this with Gauri Van Gulik* who shared her insights with George Ulrich. Here are some of the questions you can expect to hear in the episode: How can we create spaces and resources in our communities for meaningful participation in politics? How can change makers define the political agenda and reshape the political space in a more humane, inclusive way? How to overcome polarisation in politics? How to re-engage youth in politics?
* Gauri Van Gulik is the co-Founder and Chair of Multitudes Foundation and has been human rights researcher and advocate in organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Gauri is also an alumna of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation, from which she graduated in 2006.
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Missing episodes?
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About the interplay between geopolitics and human rights
Current geopolitical tensions play a very relevant role in politics, but what is the role of human rights there? To answer some of the questions surrounding this highly debated issue, we invited Karim Bitar* and covered some additional points: What role do or should human rights play in current geopolitical tensions? How can political change movements in the Global South address the inefficacy of international organizations and global governance mechanisms? Is there any space for inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and awareness of power dynamics into conflict resolution strategies?
*Karim Emile Bitar is Associate Professor of International Relations at Lebanon's Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) and Associate Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). He was Director of the GC Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights from 2018 to 2023.
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How can National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) impact on politics?
We continue the series with a conversation about spheres of influence in politics. We do this together with Debbie Kohner* who talks about NHRI and their monitoring role in enabling rights-based politics. Some of the questions we asked: How can human rights monitoring influence new ways of thinking and doing politics? Are NHRIs inevitably politicised? How can NHRIs help reverse practices that negatively affect the space and activities of civil society organisations and human rights defenders?
* Debbie Kohner has been Secretary General of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions since 2013.
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The importance of making room for rights-based politics
In this episode, recorded during the FRA FORUM in Vienna, we focus on practicing human rights-based politics in institutional structures and spaces. Morten Kjaerum* brings in his professional and personal perspective to respond to the following questions: what space is there for human rights in politics? Are there new or regenerated ideas that can drive more rights-based politics?
*Morten Kjaerum was Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) in Sweden from 2015 to 2024. Before joining RWI, he was the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna from 2008 to 2015.
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What about culture as politics?
Our guest in this episode is Alexandra Xanthaki*, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights. Based on her work and a series of reports that she has released, we asked her:
What role is there for culture and cultural rights in reimagining politics? Is culture politics? How can we safeguard the dignity and human rights of minorities and ‘under-represented’ groups in politics?
* Alexandra Xanthaki is Professor of Laws at Brunel University London and UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights since 2021.
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On why leadership needs a long-term and rights-based view
One cannot talk about politics without discussing the characteristics of leadership. We asked Mary Robinson* her thoughts about a new approach suggested by her and The Elders: long-view leadership. Tune in to listen to her answers to the following questions: How are planetary crises transforming current politics? What instruments do world leaders need to re-shape international politics? What are the features of rights-based leadership in politics? How can international and regional organisations contribute to re-imagining politics?
* Mary Robinson is founding member of The Elders and Honorary President of the Global Campus of Human Rights. Among her past roles, she was President of Ireland (1990-1997) and former UN Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). -
Introducing the theme of the series
Our co-hosts Graham Finlay and George Ulrich engage in a conversation that looks at why this is the time to re-imagine politics and why it is important to do so through the lens of human rights. Listen on as they engage with the following questions: are human rights political? Is politics based on human rights? Should it be? How can human rights shape a renewed or re-imagined politics?
* George Ulrich is the Academic Director of the Global Campus of Human Rights. Among his main research interests are the history and philosophy of human rights, human rights diplomacy, human rights and development cooperation, health and human rights. Full bio here. -
A picture of the world we want to see
In conversation with Thomas Coombes
We conclude the series with a conversation about embracing hope. As a final reflection, we want to hope for the future and draw a picture of the world we want to see. We do this together with Thomas Coombes* who talks about why it helps to focus more on the human in order to achieve change and what a checklist of hope-based human rights communication would look like.
* Thomas Coombes is a global communications strategist who developed hope-based communications to help the human rights and other progressive movements develop new narratives for social change. He has spent 15 years working in political communications for Amnesty International, Transparency International, the European Commission and global PR firm Hill & Knowlton. Thomas is an Alumnus of GC Europe.Take your hope-based pledge here.
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The importance of hopefulness in creating justice
In conversation with Marina Shupac
In this episode, we focus on practicing hope and on good examples of aspiration, solidarity and resilience as opposed to negative feelings of suffering. Marina Shupac* brings in her professional and personal perspective to respond to the following questions: in what ways is hope a key for the empowerment of rights-holders? How can it be appreciated as a driver for change? How can it make the broken stronger?
* Marina Shupac is an award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker and human rights practitioner from Moldova. Her film Last Chance for Justice was commissioned by the BBC World News and won, among other honours, the One World Media Awards. Marina was also awarded the Senior Minority Fellowship with the UN OHCHR and the Sakharov Fellowship with the EU Parliament. With an ethnic minority background, Marina is passionate about stories that diminish divisions between “us” and “them” and create solidarity among people. She is an Alumna of GC Caucasus.
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The power of telling a human storyIn conversation with Andrew Leon Hanna
We want to continue our journey to better understand what it means to hope for the human, and to do so we will talk about the power of telling a human story. Our guest Andrew Leon Hanna* will answer some important questions: why is it important to use a common ground rather than divisive narratives? A human story rather than statistics and jargon? How can we amplify the powerful voices of unsung heroes?
* Andrew Leon Hanna is author of a Financial Times Book of the Year, a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, and a Harvard-trained lawyer. He co-founded DreamxAmerica, whose PBS film was nominated for a Chicago Emmy® and which connects small businesses to zero-interest loans. Hanna received an MBA with honors from Stanford and a JD with honours from Harvard. Full bio here.
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The need to stress achievements (big and small)
In conversation with Mary Lawlor
In the face of the current backlash against human rights, we want to reflect on how to hope for the better and what we can learn from the need to stress achievements in our continuous human rights struggles. We discuss some key questions with Mary Lawlor*: what evidence is there that human rights work? How do we talk about hope without focussing on threats (when human rights defenders are under attack, for instance)? How to better recognise positive achievements?
* Ms. Mary Lawlor is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders since 1 May 2020. She was born and educated in Ireland and is an Adjunct Professor of Business and Human Rights. She was the founder and director of Front Line Defenders (2001-2016) and Director of the Irish Section of Amnesty International (1988 to 2000). Full bio here.
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The importance of positive human rights narratives
In conversation with George Ulrich
In the first GC Podcast Series, we widely explained why talking with human rights sceptics is not only relevant but also conducive to increased motivation for further action. Still, an important question remained: how to improve a meaningful human rights discourse? George Ulrich* shares his thoughts and answers additional questions: how do we prompt positive and engaged reactions to human rights issues? Is there a way to bring a positive vision of human rights to people’s everyday lives? * Prof. George Ulrich is the Academic Director of the Global Campus of Human Rights. Among his main research interests are the history and philosophy of human rights, human rights diplomacy, human rights and development cooperation, health and human rights. A key focus of his teaching is to equip students to effectively engage with expressions of human rights scepticism. He was the host of the first GC Podcast Series. Full bio here.
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Are human rights real? How do they exist?
Ontological scepticism questions the very being of universal human rights. In its most explicit form, it asserts that human rights do not exist. As famously stated by the British moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre in response to the proclamation of rights belonging to all human beings merely on account of being human: ‘there are no such rights, and belief in them is one with belief in witches and in unicorns.’
Contemporary critics have, on a variety of related counts, expressed doubt about the concept of universal human rights for example questioning whether the abstract idea of humanity can ground a comprehensive and inclusive normative framework committed to social justice.
What such expressions of ontological scepticism confront human rights advocates with, above all, is the need to seriously reflect on the concept of human rights. The issue is not in a trivial sense whether human rights exist but rather how they exist, where they derive from, and what renders them normatively compelling.
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Are human rights politically neutral? Does proliferation of human rights water down the very concept?
Expressions of political scepticism about human rights may involve an assessment both of how human rights claims feed into and affect political processes and, conversely, the role of politics in facilitating the realisation of human rights. Political sceptics contend that human rights claims are politics in disguise, have a disruptive influence on political processes, or divert attention from urgently needed political action.
A distinct but related form of political scepticism is linked with the idea of a proliferation of human rights, which acknowledges that certain ‘fundamental’ rights constitute valid universal standards, but contends that the notion of universal human rights is being extended much too far in contemporary discourse, thus watering down and potentially compromising the underlying concept.
Should human rights maintain a presumption of political neutrality or should they rather make common cause with particular political agendas, for example related to the redistribution of wealth and affirmative action in relation to public goods and access?
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Are human rights an unrealistic luxury?
Pragmatically-oriented expressions of human rights scepticism do not take issue with the concept of human rights as such. Rather, they question the relevance and efficacy of human rights in particular settings. They may acknowledge that human rights express a noble ideal to which one can aspire, but in current circumstances it is a luxury that society cannot afford.
This argument is based on the implicit premise that compliance with human rights inevitably happens at the expense of other societal objectives, notably economic progress and national security and stability, and conversely, that the prioritisation of such objectives sometimes necessitates a disregard for human rights.
An obvious response is to seek to demonstrate that the given societal objectives can be realised in a human rights compliant fashion. However, in order to be convincing, this needs to be demonstrated in concrete terms in the actual situations that people inhabit. The devil here lies in the detail: How to constructively negotiate such tensions?
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Whose values? Whose experience? Are human rights inclusive?
Value-based objections to human rights are commonly stated with reference to culture and/or religion. They may further be linked with a claim that human rights are shaped by and express distinctly Western values.
The perception of a certain degree of incompatibility between human rights standards and prevailing cultural norms is widespread and not adequately answered by arguments at the theoretical level. While cultural traditions indeed are dynamic and shaped both by external influences and internal contestations, it must by the same token be acknowledged that value transformations happen slowly and that points of friction between local values and international human rights norms cannot be overcome all at once.
It therefore makes sense for human rights advocates to ask themselves how to react in practical terms to such concerns and focus on preventing the most egregious abuses while seeking to find points of compatibility that bring human rights close to home.
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Human Rights under pressure: when, why and how to engage with sceptics?
In the current era of rising illiberalism and backlash against hard won human rights standards, there is a pressing need to stand firm, hold governments to their agreed international obligations and adopt a confrontational 'naming and shaming' approach to abuses and critics of Human Rights.
If this is a pertinent reaction in many situations, it should also be recognised that voices of scepticism may express valid concerns. There may be something important to be learnt from carefully listening to critical voices. This said, there are clearly also voices of opposition to human rights and patterns of neglect and abuse that call for resolute resistance.
As it is not clear how best to calibrate and balance the different available approaches, our series starts with the following question: is it possible to determine when to adopt an adversarial 'naming and shaming' approach towards detractors and when to engage in constructive good faith interaction with exponents of scepticism towards human rights?
