2016 Thomas Keenan "Claiming Human Rights"

Human rights are, above all, claims. Before and after they are inscribed in laws and conventions, protests and pamphlets, they are claims addressed by us, to us, and about us. This rhetorical character of rights claims offers a lever through which we can understand how they succeed or fail. The lectures will ground this account of human rights claims in a series of exemplary instances from the front pages and front lines of today's struggles over rights.

The respondent to the lectures is Dr Jess Whyte (Western Sydney)

State Library of NSW
Metcalfe Auditorium
5.30 pm to 7.30 pm

Monday, April 4, Lecture 1
The lecture series will be opened by Julian Burnside QC. 
Reception starting at 5pm

Introduction

The Evidence of Humanity

Response and Q&A

Wednesday, April 6, Lecture 2
Making Claims with Images

Response and Q&A

Friday, April 8, Lecture 3
Beyond Raising Awareness

Response and Q&A

Thomas Keenan(Bard College) directs the Human Rights Project (opens in a new window) and helped create the first undergraduate degree program in human rights in the United States. He is the author of Fables of Responsibility (1997) and, with Eyal Weizman, Mengele's Skull (2012).