Human rights: Early days or coming to an end?
| Author | Morten Kjaerum |
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0924051918806723 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Subject Matter | NNHRR Toogdag Lecture |
Lecture
Human rights: Early days
or coming to an end?
Morten Kjaerum
Professor and Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and International Law, Sweden
Abstract
The speech addresses how human rights are being challenged and to what extent we are wit-
nessing the end times of human rights. Neo-liberalism and populism coming from different corners
converge and contribute to the erosion of human rights as well as rule of law institutions. Attempts
to link human rights to one or the other economic theory contribute to lifting human rights away
from their status of being universal. Human rights are not there to substitute ideological systems,
instead it is a far more limited project. In the latter part of the speech new bottom-up trends pulling
in the opposite direction are highlighted. As an outcome of the financial crisis and the growing
inequality, a stronger awareness has emerged globally about the negative consequences of cor-
ruption and tax evasion on human rights and democratic institutions. Human rights are regaining a
momentum and credibility in that space. This is closely linked to the new human rights city
movement, where local communities take greater responsibility in realizing human rights for their
citizens. Finally, in this part the mainstreaming of human rights in laws and political strategies is
addressed together with the concept human rights by design. The speech ends on a forward-
looking note recognizing the immense challenges that confronts the liberal democracy and human
rights currently, however, also recognizing the depth of human rights in most communities.
Keywords
Human rights, neo-liberalism, populism, human rights cities, human rights by design
Lecture held at the Toogdag of the Netherlands Network of Human
Rights Research (NNHRR), Tilburg on 22 June 2018.
1. Introduction
Thank you very much for the invitation to speak here this morning. I look forward to the discus-
sions today and also to exploring ways of strengthening the collaboration between the Dutch and
Corresponding author:
Prof. Morten Kjaerum, Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and International Law, Sweden.
E-mail: morten.kjaerum@rwi.lu.se
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2018, Vol. 36(4) 311–318
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0924051918806723
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