'Human rights inside and outside' - Call for papers

This conference, which is sponsored by the International Institute of Social Studies and Erasmus School of Law, is part of the research project Integrating Normative and Functional Approaches to the Rule of Law (INFAR) and will take place at the ISS Campus in The Hague on 31 May and 1 June 2018.

The conference builds on the core idea of the INFAR project and applies this to human rights discourse and practices. Human rights are a core normative idea for law, but need to be used in practice by various actors in order to function. What happens when that is done? More particularly, what side-effects does the use of human rights by various actors have for human rights as a normative proposition within law and politics?

Thematic strands

Two thematic strands run through the conference as a whole.

• The first strand concerns the participation of the people whose rights are at stake. This means considering not only the voice of those affected in human rights procedures and policymaking, but also investigating the broader social implications of efforts to promote their human rights.
• The second strand concerns the role of human rights in pursuing broader political and economic goals. If we see human rights as a dimension to be taken into account, or as a core set of values to realize, in the work of various actors, from constitutional courts and intergovernmental organizations to corporations, regulators and business associations, a closer look at the interactions of human rights mobilizers with the political and commercial purposes of these actors seems warranted.

For further details and an elaboration of the themes of the conference, please download the detailed call below.

Submissions

The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2018.