This book aims to prospectively conjecture about what the coming decades may hold for human rights. The authors in this volume discern where current trends are likely to lead and try to make sense of the future they herald. Human rights – as a legal, political, and social practice – have experienced significant achievements and successes, some notable setbacks and failures, and numerous unprecedented and unforeseen events and developments. Sceptics even claim that the idea of human rights has failed to deliver on its radical promise of emancipation. The chapters in this volume deal with ways to reimagine the existing human rights framework, the future of the African human rights system, the place of human rights in economic policy-making, reparations for chattel slavery, and the right to free education for all children. The thematic and disciplinary breadth of contributions makes this book a resource for scholars, practitioners, and students alike. In analysing and critically discussing matters of climate change, right to a healthy environment, preventing disasters and building resilience, and resource management it provides timely and important contributions. However, the book does not limit itself to discussing current-day challenges, it also covers issues concerning the regulation of artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making, as well as potential paths in the future relationship between the African and the European Human Rights Court. Reflections on the Future of Human Rights will be beneficial to students, scholars, and researchers interested in international law, human rights, and politics. Overall, the book is suitable for anyone interested in human rights and their evolution in theory and practice. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Nordic Journal of Human Rights.

In recent years, political philosophers have debated whether human rights are a special class of moral rights we all possess simply by virtue of our common humanity and which are universal in time and space, or whether they are essentially modern political constructs defined by the role they play in an international legal-political practice that regulates the relationship between the governments of sovereign states and their citizens. This edited volume sets out to further this debate and move it ahead by rethinking some of its fundamental premises and applying it to new and challenging domains, such as socio-economic rights, indigenous rights, the rights of immigrants and the human rights responsibilities of corporations. Beyond the philosophy of human rights, the book has a broader relevance by contributing to key themes in the methodology of political philosophy and addressing urgent issues in contemporary global policy making.

The past sixty years have seen an expansion of international human rights conventions and supervisory organs, not least in Europe. While these international legal instruments have enlarged their mandate, they have also faced opposition and criticism from political actors at the state level, even in well-functioning democracies. Against the backdrop of such contestations, this book brings together prominent scholars in law, political philosophy and international relations in order to address the legitimacy of international human rights regimes as a theoretically challenging and politically salient case of international authority. It provides a unique and thorough overview of the legitimacy problems involved in the global governance of human rights.

In recent years, political philosophers have debated whether human rights are a special class of moral rights we all possess simply by virtue of our common humanity and which are universal in time and space, or whether they are essentially modern political constructs defined by the role they play in an international legal-political practice that regulates the relationship between the governments of sovereign states and their citizens. This edited volume sets out to further this debate and move it ahead by rethinking some of its fundamental premises and applying it to new and challenging domains, such as socio-economic rights, indigenous rights, the rights of immigrants and the human rights responsibilities of corporations. Beyond the philosophy of human rights, the book has a broader relevance by contributing to key themes in the methodology of political philosophy and addressing urgent issues in contemporary global policy making.

The past sixty years have seen an expansion of international human rights conventions and supervisory organs, not least in Europe. While these international legal instruments have enlarged their mandate, they have also faced opposition and criticism from political actors at the state level, even in well-functioning democracies. Against the backdrop of such contestations, this book brings together prominent scholars in law, political philosophy and international relations in order to address the legitimacy of international human rights regimes as a theoretically challenging and politically salient case of international authority. It provides a unique and thorough overview of the legitimacy problems involved in the global governance of human rights.