A New Politics of Human Rights

On November 5th-7th, at the Pyle Center, UW Madison is hosting a conference about human rights. Sponsors of the event include the UW-Madison Human Rights Program, UW Madison Go Big Read Program, Global Legal Studies Center, LACIS, UW Law School, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Center for South Asia. According the the event’s website, the conference, A New Politics of Human Rights: Crossing Disciplines, Regions, and Issues, was planned with the questions listed below in mind.

• What concepts may usefully undergird an ever-growing and more heterogeneous field of study and practice in a twenty-first century world?
• If human rights comes to stand for “everything” (every right is fundamental and rooted in the human), does it come to stand for nothing and undermine its premise? Put differently, if human rights becomes a standard language of law and accountability policy, and a standard language of moral claim and political mobilization, does it lose its counter-hegemonic potential?

The conference is free and open to the UW Madison community, community members, and anyone interested in human rights. The conference coordinators ask that attendees register by October 23rd. Walk-ins are also welcome. To register click here. (Link to register is no longer available.)

For more information about the event, including a draft of the conference schedule, click here. (Link to conference schedule is no longer available.)

For more information about the Human Rights Program at UW Madison click here.