[PhD Defence] Lisa Roodenburg

On Wednesday June 9, at 14.00 hours CET, Asser PhD researcher Lisa Roodenburg will defend her PhD thesis 'Anticipating Friction - The role of human rights in urban debates on migration and diversity: The case of Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires'. 

Asser academic director and chairperson of the Executive Board Prof. Dr Janne Nijman, and Prof. Ernst Hirsch Ballin are her supervisors. Co-supervisor is Dr Geoff Gordon. Lisa's research has been part of the project ‘The Global City: Challenges, Trust and the Role of Law’, funded by the Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds.

The defence ceremony will take place at the Aula, Oude Lutherse kerk in Amsterdam, and you can join via live stream here.

‘Anticipating friction – The role of human rights in urban debates on migration and diversity: The case of Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires’
Lisa Roodenburg’s research centres on the interaction between the city, and its actors and human rights. In recent years, local governments more frequently collaborate with other actors, such as NGOs and international organisations, for the realisation of human rights; they apply and translate human rights norms directly in their local policies and legislation – in some cases independent of their national governments. The urban engagement with human rights, however, is not a linear process. It involves making choices on how to engage with human rights: which rights to focus on, how to understand human rights, what kind of activity to organise, for which target group and with whom to collaborate. Such choices are not made in a vacuum, because cities do not function as coherently operating actors, nor do the local governments ruling them. On the basis of fieldwork research on migration and diversity debates in three very dissimilar cities - Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires - this research explores how the particularities of cities define how human rights function. Read more of Lisa’s research here.

About the Asser Institute PhD Programme
The T.M.C. Asser Instituut's PhD Programme is a dynamic platform in an intimate research environment. PhD researchers are trained to work at the cutting edge of international law, conducting independent research at the interface of academia and practice, connecting also with other Dutch universities. The programme is interdisciplinary, designed to foster greater insights into the practices of international law in times of change. Asser PhD researchers benefit from close contact with (daily) supervisors. They are supported by professional training activities, featuring collaborative theoretical and methodological queries to assist the development of each dissertation.