Chairs:

• Meghan Campbell
• Rishika Sahgal
• Ben Warwick

SPEAKERS

Eve	Lister
George	Katrougalo
Giacomo	Delledonne
Cássius	Guimaraes Chai
Giuseppe	Martinico
Iyabode	Ogunniran
Nicolás	Madriñán Serna
Rishika	Sahgal
Vanessa	Suelt Cock
Jennyfer	Munar Florez
Rishika	Sahgal

The rapid deterioration of the rule of law, democratic backsliding and decay, the escalation of armed conflicts, and the rise of far-right populism—both internationally and domestically—have plunged the world into a persistent state of crisis, placing human rights under mounting strain. In some instances, human rights are explicitly targeted by far-right parties in the UK and across Europe, who advocate withdrawal from international conventions such as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention to advance anti-immigration agendas. In other cases, however, the human rights framework—and its violation—is sidelined. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, or the Russian aggression against Ukraine, are rarely framed primarily as human rights violations. Instead, they are portrayed through the lens of international criminal law or international humanitarian law.

This ambivalent place of human rights needs to be reconsidered. Economic and social rights—and their neglect—often lie at the root of these crises, for instance, by helping to explain the conditions that lead impoverished communities to support right-wing policies in the UK and Europe and economic and social rights can also be weaponized to advance autocracy, conflict and right-wing populism. In other contexts, these rights are clearly among the casualties of conflict, as seen in the obliteration of Gaza or the devastating impact of Russia’s war on essential infrastructure for the well-being of Ukrainians.