Taming Power in Times of Globalization: What Role for Human Rights?

Call for Papers

Conference-workshop

Taming Power in Times of Globalization:

What Role for Human Rights?

Monday, 30 November 2015, and Tuesday, 01 December 2015.

Irish Centre for Human Rights

National University of Ireland Galway

Galway, Ireland

The ways power is exercised today at the global level seems to be qualitatively different, demanding new responses from international law and other relevant disciplines. In particular, it seems that today the exercise of power at the global level is less controllable, less subject to restraints and checks than some decades ago. Global governance, international or global constitutionalism, legal pluralism are terms indicating some of the ways developed in the scholarship to comprehend, analyse and respond to challenges posed by the contemporary forms of exercise of power at the global level.

Human rights are featured prominently in the Western thought as hallmarks of protection of individuals against the arbitrary exercise of power.

Human rights form today a core of any Western constitutional order. However, the role of international human rights as mechanisms for controlling exercise of power at the global level is articulated only rudimentarily. The conference aims at providing a forum for discussion about the place of human rights in current discourses on globalization. Instead of assuming that human rights are a proof of the possibility to control power at the global level, the conference aims at examining this premise from a variety of perspectives.

The following are some of the questions the organizers would like to see addressed.

·      What human rights are part of international constitutional order?

·      How legal pluralism/global governance/various theories of constitutionalism conceive the role of human rights as a mechanism for limiting exercise of power at the global level?

·      What are the consequences of different answers?

·      How precisely human rights as guarantees against arbitrary exercise of power function within different visions?

·      Are there any alternatives available to the human rights language?

·      Can other mechanism of control over arbitrary exercise of power at the international/global level be imagined?

Contributions can address these and other related issues from a variety of perspectives, both theoretical and empirical. Critical and interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged.  Contributions examining relavant issues from a historical perspective, or integrating experience of non western legal traditions are also welcome.

Contributions will be selected following a peer-review process. The selection will be based on the following criteria: relevance to the conference theme, originality, overall coherence of selected papers with a view of producing engaging discussion. The organizers have publication plans for the presented papers. The precise format of publication will be discussed during the conference. Therefore, all selected contributions must be original and not published elsewhere. All presenters will be required to submit full papers in advance.

Accommodation for presenters will be provided. There are limited funds available to cover travel expenses. Please indicate while applying whether you would like to be considered for reimboursment of travel expenses and indicate if possible the approximate amount.

Submission guidelines:

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words long; contain the name, institutional affiliation and contact details of the author; indicate a title of the presentation, questions to be addressed, methodology and overal approach. Abstracts should be sent by 15 March 2015 in Word format to Ekaterina Yahyaoui [email protected] and Zoi Aliozi [email protected]

For inqueries, please contact Dr Zoi Aliozi at [email protected]

Important dates:

Abstract submission: 15 March 2015

Communication of decisions: 10 April 2015

Submission of draft papers: 1 November 2015

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The conference is part of the project led by Dr Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenko entitled ‘International Protection of Human Rights as a Constitutional Issue: Problems, Prospects and Promises’ finacially supported by the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement No PCIG13-GA-2013-618183

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