A presentation by Kim Lane Scheppele (Princeton University). This event is part of the Fundamental Rights Research Colloquium hosted by the Centre for Fundamental Rights.
Human rights were designed to counter the abuses of 20th century authoritarians. But 21st century autocrats have learned to observe those rights (more or less) while still putting unbearable pressure on their opponents. The new autocrats use economic pressures, ensuring that people who oppose the government are fired from their jobs, or that their businesses fail, or that austerity hits state 'enemies' more than it hits “friends.” The new autocrats are hiding behind “cruel markets” in which the kinds of injuries generally caused by free markets (unemployment, bankruptcy, poverty) are directed in political ways. But since the very idea of human rights was never designed to preclude the sorts of injuries caused by free markets, those affected cannot claim that their rights were violated. No one in a capitalist economy has a right to a specific job, or to prevent their business from failing, or to get state subsidies. How, then, should we think about how this new form of political repression works? Do we need to adjust our conception of rights to counter the new ways that autocrats repress their publics?
This presentation is part of the Fundamental Rights Research Colloquium's cluster on 'Authoritarianism, Populism and Fundamental Rights'.
Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Scheppele's work focuses on the intersection of constitutional and international law, particularly in constitutional systems under stress. After 1989, Scheppele studied the emergence of constitutional law in Hungary and Russia, living in both places for extended periods. After 9/11, she researched the effects of the international "war on terror" on constitutional protections around the world. Since 2010, she has been documenting the rise of autocratic legalism first in Hungary and then in Poland within the European Union, as well as its spread around the world.
Prior registration is required. Registered attendees will receive the dial-in details as well as a draft paper, on which the presentation is based, via e-mail prior to the event.
