by Deniz Yonucu

reposted from H-Announce. The byline reflects the original authorship.

 

Human Rights Work and Transnational Legal Activism: Limits and Potential
February 8 and 9, 2019

International human rights laws and bodies have been one of the key sites of the struggle against state crimes and human rights abuses in the post-World War II era. Yet, the discrepancy between the promises of international human rights laws and what they actually do has not gone unquestioned. While in some contexts numerous international treaties, conventions and regulations have served as a means of pressuring governments to improve human rights, in certain other contexts international human rights laws and movements have become a part of the problem. The constituents of international human rights movements have frequently been criticized for being complicit with neoliberal and neocolonial projects and policies. Continue reading