The event series is deeply inspired and co-led by our community of partners worldwide – people and movements that have not stopped questioning the establishment, reclaiming the streets, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The events are framed around ECCHR General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck’s latest book The concrete utopia of human rights: A look back into the future (published in German by S. Fischer) [1].

New narratives and the end of business as usual

The current critical narrative of human rights provides a very bleak outlook – as if the last two decades illustrate the fact that the battle for human rights has been lost. Against this skeptical discourse, a growing, rational counter-voice has emerged. It is grounded in the lived experiences of human rights victories, inspired by unshakable mobilizations in the Global South, and equally considers social movements and civil society actors and their struggles, not just legal discourse. It refuses to be confined to narrow Western perspectives on human rights.

Faced with a multifaceted climate crisis, a pandemic, deeply unequal economic models, and authoritarianism, human rights activists can no longer go on with business-as-usual. The unprecedented transitions we are experiencing are the chance to rethink strategies, alliances and new ways forward.

Colonialism, paternalism, capitalism: How historical legacies shape our present

To design sustainable models to fight injustices, we must consciously reflect on history and legacies, and have that directly inform our strategies for action. How and why does colonialism continue to shape so much of our current social, economic and political world order? Why does paternalism marry so well with neoliberal capitalist agendas? How have dominant economic and development models enabled such environmental damage? How are the consequences of the climate crisis symptoms of racial, social and political inequalities? What needs to change in order to mitigate climate change in a way that does not further exacerbate existing inequalities? What can we learn from the way the world dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic?

In being informed by the historical roots and politics that underpin systemic injustices, we can better understand what needs to change. But more important is to learn from and listen to human rights actors in different parts of the world. The language of human rights is no longer for the exclusive few. It has become entangled in countless local, regional initiatives and movements around the world, particularly in the Global South.

The possibilities of a concrete utopia for all

Human rights law is without question a relevant tool to resist or upset structural injustices. But it also bears the potential for constructive change. The exceptional body of principles enshrined in law gives us a normative basis, and thereby a recognized right, to reclaim more of what is due. It also allows human rights actors – activists, artists and lawyers – to pragmatically formulate our right to move closer to a concrete utopia of human rights for all.

Alejandra Ancheita, Joshua Castellino and Wolfgang Kaleck kicked off the event series and discussed how, when faced with a climate crisis, a pandemic, deeply unequal economic models, and authoritarianism, human rights activists can no longer go on with business-as-usual. These unprecedented global transitions are a chance to rethink new strategies and ways forward, and reclaim human rights and their potential for change.

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Katharina Pistor speaks with Guillermo Torres, Johan Horst and Miriam Saage-Maaß about how corporate power and law are intertwined.

Law not only organizes and secures economic profits, it is a crucial factor in creating wealth. Our guests explore how economic and financial law are important factors in creating corporate power, and our legal and political options to restrict this dynamic of growing corporate wealth and power. Can human rights, especially economic and social rights, play a role in insuring our societies become more equitable?

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The ongoing climate crisis has dramatic consequences for our planet. One of the main causes of climate change and environmental degradation is the capitalist economic system, which also reinforces social, racial and gender inequalities. Technological developments cannot be the only solution to address this crisis. We need to fundamentally rethink our societies and economic models.

In this conversation, our guests discuss the role human rights can play in an equitable transformation. Human rights can help affected communities and others achieve their demands for sustainable climate policies. They can also force governments and businesses to connect environmental concerns and social justice. Do we also need new human rights approaches to do this? What is the relationship between human rights and environmental rights? And who bears the ultimate legal responsibility for the climate crisis?

César Rodríguez-Garavito, Arpitha Kodiveri, Luisa Neubauer and Miriam Saage-Maaß talk about human rights’ potential to fight climate change and environmental degradation.

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has, in unprecedented ways, highlighted the importance of the right to health. The pandemic sharpens the focus on social inequalities between the Global North and the Global South, while the discrepancy between the rich and the poor is also palpable here in Germany: how healthy one is, has much to do with access to wealth.

The unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is a serious cause for alarm. The wrangling over profits and the power struggles between Western companies and states prevent a fair distribution of the vaccines to all regions of the world. As a result, an end to the pandemic is not in sight, and tragic consequences will continue to unfold.

From a human rights perspective, the demand for equal access to vaccines worldwide has an indispensable dimension to it: medicines and vaccines cannot be a commodity. However, powerful political and economic actors have asserted the right of intellectual property.

Meena Jagannath, Achal Prabhala, Andreas Wulf and Miriam Saage-Maaß discuss what needs to change for medicines and vaccines to no longer be treated as commodities, but instead as common goods and what role can the global health rights movement play when up against big pharma’s interests.

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

From widespread surveillance, torture and disappearances to the increased criminalization of protest and restrictive rules on associations, we are unquestionably witnessing a global pushback against civic spaces.

The repressive tactics that seek to strip legitimacy and rights from activists and other civic actors is not just to be deplored in authoritarian countries, but also a very real threat in liberal democracies as well. While the phenomenon of shrinking spaces is certainly not new, the intersectional crises we face – from socio-economic inequality to climate change, the global pandemic, the rise of far-right populism, new technologies and the further concentration of wealth and power into fewer hands – demand that we rethink our approaches and strategies for resistance.

How did the closing of civic spaces has occurred despite the existence of supposedly well-established human rights systems? What have we learned and unlearned from the conversation around shrinking spaces over the last decade? In which ways have these trends solidified? And how and where has resistance proven (in)effective?

Ben Hayes, Isha Khandelwal and Wolfgang Kaleck discuss concrete visions for organized forms of resistance. To tackle the structural challenges we face, individualized solutions will not be enough. In times that require the forging of new alliances and sustainable responses, our guests will discuss not only how to react to current trends, but also how to collectively rethink spaces and develop counterstrategies for resistance.

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Contemporary feminist movements in recent years have developed significantly worldwide in ways that speak to their revolutionary potential – including within authoritarian contexts. How can their theories, political content, and organizational forms – from grassroots collective activism to organized strikes – effectively bring about the political transformation and social change needed in our patriarchal societies? What are their demands and visions for the future? What are the difficulties in realizing these visions? What will sustain – and not limit – the movements’ more radical visions? What is the importance of acknowledging how discrimination is forged at the intersection of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, religion, and more? 

While neoliberal feminism has become part of the dominant discourse and can often serve the continuation of capitalist market rules, we will reflect on whether feminism should ultimately imply a global indictment of capitalism. How has the concept of “work” evolved in recent years? How can feminism describe and grasp the recent crises emerging from the impact of pandemic restrictions, unequal access to vaccines, and climate justice? How can we support postcolonial feminist approaches that address structural injustice? 

Marta Dillon, Magdalena Baran-Szoltys and Wolfgang Kaleck discuss how human rights can be leveraged without reproducing gendered violence or reinforcing patriarchal systems of oppression.   

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Colonialism continues to shape our current social, economic, and political world order to a substantial degree. In a discussion with prominent human rights advocates at this last event of our series, we will bridge different aspects of a larger struggle, encompassing reparations claims for German colonial crimes in Namibia, the legacy of slavery, unfinished decolonization, as well as the vibrant Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. How can human rights law be used to resist and counteract (post)colonial injustices? How are these movements broadening and intensifying their connections to human rights work and networks? 

Throughout the period of its colonial rule, Germany dispossessed the Namibian population, racially oppressed them, and deprived them of their rights. The German genocide committed against the Ovaherero, Nama, and San in Namibia in the beginning of the 20th century killed tens of thousands. However, the German government, in its so-called “reconciliation agreement” with Namibia in June 2021, decided only to acknowledge the acts of genocide as egregious crimes from “today’s perspective,” and thus refused to offer effective remedies and reparations to work toward restorative justice. This illustrates yet again how former colonial powers seek to evade genuine legal responsibility.

In the United States, the Black Lives Matter movement is indivisible from a historical hegemonic complex of (post)colonial crimes, incorporating slavery, imperialism, white supremacy, and structural racism. This history shapes the movement’s foundations and larger vision. At the same time, reparations claims for slavery are still being fought for. To what extent do colonial legacies inform how sustainable models of struggle and strategies of resistance may be devised? 

To connect these struggles together from a human rights perspective, Sima Luipert, Vince Warren, and Meena Jagannath take part in a conversation moderated by Wolfgang Kaleck.

You can also listen to the conversation on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.