The Future of Human Rights: A Book Talk with Alison Brysk

Human rights have fallen on hard times--yet rights are needed now more than ever. We stand at a crossroads between expansion and contraction of rights: new voices, spaces, and pathways contrast with declining democracies, deepening citizenship gap, and regression in the international regime. How can we secure a pragmatic future for rights based on evolving political practice? We will outline strategies for reclaiming rights in a post-liberal world.

Alison Brysk is the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Professor of Global Governance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been selected as a Distinguished Scholar in Human Rights of the International Studies Association and the American Political Science Association, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Fulbright Professor in Canada and India, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has lectured throughout Latin America, Asia, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

This book talk is part of ISHR's new speaker series on Human Rights Under Pressure: Constructive Critiques and Responses.