2024
Seventh Annual NNHRR Conference
Toogdag 2024
Resilient Rights: Tools for Inclusion and Justice
Image © Stephanie Triefus
Wednesday 26 June and Thursday 27 June 2023
Venue: Utrecht University
Organized by the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, Utrecht University and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM).
Access the Programme of the event here!
It has become a much-used trope to state that human rights are under pressure. From democratic backsliding to the weakening of the rule of law, and from shrinking civic space to violations of rights in the context of armed conflict, migration, and climate change, rights protection and thus people's dignity and equality face severe challenges. As previous annual Toogdagen have reflected, this may even be called a multi-crisis of rights and especially affects people in vulnerable situations. The 2024 Toogdag, hosted by Utrecht University and its Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), proposes to look at these matters from a different, complementary angle: not the pressures on human rights, but rather their resilience will be the starting point.
The 2024 Toogdag will thus focus on whether and how human rights can be resilient in the face of new challenges. Can, should and do they actually function as tools of inclusion and justice? Do they, normatively, philosophically, politically and/or practically have the capacity to play such roles in the different fields of today's human rights enquiry and protection? How do human rights help to include (and if so, how?) often overseen interests, such as those of people with disabilities or indigenous people, of people beyond a country's borders or without a country's (or any) nationality, people with less accepted gender identities, or even future generations? Can they counter exclusionary or unjust trends, such as in the newest online developments around artificial intelligence, or in the fields of taxation, migration, or criminal law? Have critical legal approaches, such as TWAIL or feminist critiques, helped to galvanise the resilience of rights, and if so, how? Are there best practices for how human rights have been used as tools by excluded groups and thus have become true tools or strategies of resilience? And in this context, what is the role of non-state actors, from civil society to the business sector? Are there ways to counter the pressures on domestic and international human rights systems, institutions and watchdogs in order to make them more robust and resilient? Are there blind spots within current human rights norms, procedures or systems that in themselves risk contributing to exclusion rather than inclusion?
Access the Programme of the event here!
Register here.
Highlight: NNHRR PhD Workshop: Telling the Story of Your Research
Today, stories determine which product we buy and which party we vote for. They determine which books we read and what research we fund. In this active workshop you will find the perfect story to share your research with and practice telling that story. It is all about finding a story that makes your research clear and urgent, bringing it closer to the audience and making it tangible - and presenting that story in such a way that it suits you, your style, and your research, and takes an audience with you.
Date and time: 26 June 2024. 14.45-17.00h. followed by drinks (17.00-19.00h. at the Jeu the Boules Bar)
Location: Utrecht University, Janskerkhof 2-3, Utrecht
Please note: this workshop is suitable for up to 20 people.
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