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We invite scholars, policymakers and practitioners in the fields of human rights, democracy and related disciplines to submit paper proposals for a workshop on democratizing human rights. This workshop will explore how participatory processes can address the tensions between majority rule and minority rights, and between the universality of human rights and the particularities of local contexts. Proposals should draw connections between democracy and human rights. We are also interested in proposals to examine how democratic innovation and mechanisms of deliberative democracy can help actualize the core principles of human rights—such as dignity, equality, and justice—by making them responsive to the needs and voices of all people, especially those who have historically been marginalized, both within states and transnationally.
We welcome proposals that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes, and consider diverse theoretical and empirical perspectives: 1. Democracy and the Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights 2. Universal Human Rights and Democracy in the International Political Order 3. The Sociopolitical Implications of Deliberative Democracy for Human Rights 4. Democratic Innovations, Deliberative Technologies and Human Rights 5. Majority Rule, Minority Rights and Democracy in the Information Age 6. Human Rights, Democracy, and Environmental Sustainability.
Proposals are due on January 15, 2025. Selected papers will be announced in February 2025. The workshop is scheduled for October 23-24, 2025.
The Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice (CHRRJ) is a McMaster research centre dedicated to the multidisciplinary and transnational study of human rights and restorative justice processes around the world. It aims to address historical atrocities and contemporary human rights violations as well as explore the ways in which societies seek to rebuild and repair in the aftermath of conflict.
