Politics and human rights or politics through human rights?

We conclude this series with a conversation with Anja Mihr* focusing on the difference between ‘politics and human rights’ on the one hand and ‘politics through human rights’ on the other. Join us as she discusses with Graham Finlay the following questions: How can we safeguard democracy, freedom and human rights from threats? What role can re-imagined politics play in young democracies? What leverage, if any, can new ideas of politics have in authoritarian states?

*Anja Mihr is a political scientist, academic supervisor of the Master of Arts and Human Rights and Sustainability in Central Asia, and founder and Programme Director of the Centre on Governance through human rights at the Berlin Governance Platform.

On the relevance of meaningful participation of stakeholders in politics

One way to reimagine politics is to go through re-imagining the actual involvement of different actors. We talked about this with Gauri Van Gulik* who shared her insights with George Ulrich. Here are some of the questions you can expect to hear in the episode: How can we create spaces and resources in our communities for meaningful participation in politics? How can change makers define the political agenda and reshape the political space in a more humane, inclusive way? How to overcome polarisation in politics? How to re-engage youth in politics?

* Gauri Van Gulik is the co-Founder and Chair of Multitudes Foundation and has been human rights researcher and advocate in organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Gauri is also an alumna of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation, from which she graduated in 2006.

About the interplay between geopolitics and human rights

Current geopolitical tensions play a very relevant role in politics, but what is the role of human rights there? To answer some of the questions surrounding this highly debated issue, we invited Karim Bitar* and covered some additional points: What role do or should human rights play in current geopolitical tensions? How can political change movements in the Global South address the inefficacy of international organizations and global governance mechanisms? Is there any space for inclusivity, cultural sensitivity, and awareness of power dynamics into conflict resolution strategies?

*Karim Emile Bitar is Associate Professor of International Relations at Lebanon's Université Saint-Joseph (USJ) and Associate Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). He was Director of the GC Arab Master in Democracy and Human Rights from 2018 to 2023.

How can National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) impact on politics?

We continue the series with a conversation about spheres of influence in politics. We do this together with Debbie Kohner* who talks about NHRI and their monitoring role in enabling rights-based politics. Some of the questions we asked: How can human rights monitoring influence new ways of thinking and doing politics? Are NHRIs inevitably politicised? How can NHRIs help reverse practices that negatively affect the space and activities of civil society organisations and human rights defenders?

* Debbie Kohner has been Secretary General of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions since 2013.

The importance of making room for rights-based politics

In this episode, recorded during the FRA FORUM in Vienna, we focus on practicing human rights-based politics in institutional structures and spaces. Morten Kjaerum* brings in his professional and personal perspective to respond to the following questions: what space is there for human rights in politics? Are there new or regenerated ideas that can drive more rights-based politics?

*Morten Kjaerum was Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) in Sweden from 2015 to 2024. Before joining RWI, he was the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna from 2008 to 2015.

What about culture as politics?

Our guest in this episode is Alexandra Xanthaki*, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights. Based on her work and a series of reports that she has released, we asked her:

What role is there for culture and cultural rights in reimagining politics? Is culture politics? How can we safeguard the dignity and human rights of minorities and ‘under-represented’ groups in politics?

* Alexandra Xanthaki is Professor of Laws at Brunel University London and UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights since 2021.

On why leadership needs a long-term and rights-based view

One cannot talk about politics without discussing the characteristics of leadership. We asked Mary Robinson* her thoughts about a new approach suggested by her and The Elders: long-view leadership. Tune in to listen to her answers to the following questions: How are planetary crises transforming current politics? What instruments do world leaders need to re-shape international politics? What are the features of rights-based leadership in politics? How can international and regional organisations contribute to re-imagining politics?

* Mary Robinson is founding member of The Elders and Honorary President of the Global Campus of Human Rights. Among her past roles, she was President of Ireland (1990-1997) and former UN Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002).

Introducing the theme of the series

Our co-hosts Graham Finlay and George Ulrich engage in a conversation that looks at why this is the time to re-imagine politics and why it is important to do so through the lens of human rights. Listen on as they engage with the following questions: are human rights political? Is politics based on human rights? Should it be? How can human rights shape a renewed or re-imagined politics?

* George Ulrich is the Academic Director of the Global Campus of Human Rights. Among his main research interests are the history and philosophy of human rights, human rights diplomacy, human rights and development cooperation, health and human rights. Full bio here.