Is Human Rights a Fable? (with Professor Samuel Moyn)

03/26/18 • 53 min

Is Human Rights just a fable? To uncover this question, we venture down 'history' lane with Professor Samuel Moyn. What’s so special about the 1970s, and how does how we think about the emergence of human rights impact how we think of what human rights are, and what they are supposed to do? Join us and find out on this episode of Declarations.

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Do Borders Hide or Reveal Rights? (With Dr Monica Figueroa)

In this episode, we talk about race, racism, borders, and human rights. What kinds of borders are erected around the rights you have - and the rights you don’t? Are human rights a language of liberation from structural oppression, or can it be an oppressive language itself? How can we decide? We were joined by Dr Monica Moreno Figueroa, a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Monica’s research interests include the lived experience of ‘race’ and racism; feminist theory and the interconnections between beauty, emotions and racism with a focus on Latin America.

Next Episode

Repeal the 8th: Developing a Rights Framework for Abortion?

In this episode, we are joined by Helen Jennings and Caitlin de Jode, who are organising a conference on ‘The Development of Abortion Rights in a Changing Europe’; the first of its kind in Cambridge. Helen, Caitlin, and their team, want to bring together scholars, activists and experts on the matter, to talk about how we can develop a meaningful framework through which abortion rights - amidst brexit and Ireland’s referendum on the 8th amendment - can be realized. What european, as well as global phenomena, are currently in motion that make this a particularly pressing matter now? What is the impact of conscientious objection on the provision of abortion to women in the UK? How should these competing rights be balanced? What changes - beyond the legal - are necessary, and who can help affect change?