Uses and Abuses of the Language of Human Rights
Throughout the Next 5 Minutes the continuing relevance of the language of "human rights" will be represented through very concrete examples, all of which emphasise the actuality of struggles in the present. These instances will show the ways in which traditional human rights insistence on memory, revelation and documentation are given new power through the tactical uses of mainstream as well as small scale self "do it yourself" media.
Alongside the priority given to actual moments of testimony, from those with the most at stake, there is also a panel that will be as open as possible to theoretical innovation. A core aim of these discussions will be to look at the growing gulf between the pragmatic, de facto theories of human rights that have emerged in specific situations over the past fifteen years and the human rights orthodoxy of the major international players such as governments and major NGOs. This discussion might help to separate the things, which it is smart to be critical or cynical about from the very important and innovative work being done around the world, but all of which is currently called "human rights".