Symposium: Human Rights, Memory and Democracy at a Crossroads
About this Event
For many scholars, 2025/2026 bookmarks the end of the era of human rights and a rules-based international order that emerged in the aftermath of World War II. Since the 1990s, the concepts and goals of memory, transitional justice, democracy and human rights have been intricately interwoven. This event seeks to look back at these concepts and interventions in order to carve out pathways moving forward.
October 15 4:30pm-5:00pm (Sky Classroom, B261, Fraser Building, Law Faculty):
Keynote Lansdowne Lecture by Leigh A. Payne (University of Oxford) -- "The Right Against Rights in Latin America"
October 16 9:30am-5:00pm (Upper Lounge, Student Union Building):
Three interlocking sessions with distinct temporal or directional logic will inform our discussion on the use and usefulness of these concepts:
- Session One is on Memory and Human Rights with the focus on the past looking backward
- Session Two is on Human Rights and Democracy with the focus on the present under pressure
- Session Three is on Democracy and Memory, facing forward, toward futures
This symposim is co-sponsored by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the Centre for Global Studies.
Lansdowne Lecture co-sponsered by UVic Latin American Studies, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and the Centre for Global Studies.
October 15
🕑: 04:30 PM - 06:00 PM
Lansdowne Lecture (Keynote) with Dr. Leigh A. Payne
Info: Sky Classroom, B261, Fraser Building, Law Faculty -- From President Bolsonaro’s openly racist, misogynist, and homophobic rhetoric in Brazil, to the politicisation of gender ideology leading to the rejection of a Peace Deal in Colombia, right-against-rights movements have grown in numbers, strength, and influence in recent years. New anti-rights groups, worryingly, are intent on blocking, rolling back, and reversing the legislative advances by traditionally marginalised people (women, LGBTIQ+, BIPOC, migrants, and others). The talk will explore how they are fundamentally different from previous right-wing mobilisations in the region, and why it is of vital importance to study, analyse, and understand them in a global context.
Leigh A. Payne is emeritus professor of Sociology of Latin America, St Antony's College, University of Oxford. She is the author of numerous scholarly projects on human rights, transitional justice, and social movements.
October 16
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Morning Mixer & Welcome
Info: Upper Lounge in the Student Union Building 9:30 Morning mixer
9:45-10:15 Welcome
🕑: 10:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Session One: Memory and Human Rights (Looking Backward)
Info: Upper Lounge in the Student Union Building -- Chair: Kristin Semmens (UVic)
SPEAKERS: Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams (Líl’wat) (UVIC and PETF Fellow), “DRIPA, the 1846 Oregon Treaty and the Future of Indigenous-Settler Relations” Jordan Stanger-Ross (UVic)
Cynthia Milton (UVic, PETF Fellow)
Yasmine Khandil (UVic)
Matt Huculak (UVic)
Maria Juliana Angarita (PETF Fellow)
🕑: 01:45 PM - 03:15 PM
Session Two: Human Rights and Democracy (Present Under Pressure)
Info: Upper Lounge in the Student Union Building -- SPEAKERS: Michelle Bonner (UVic), "The Possibilities of Human Rights to Resist Democratic Backsliding" Avigail Eisenberg (UVIC)
Cindy Holder (UVic)
Victor Ramraj (UVic)
🕑: 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Session Three: Democracy and Memory (Forward, Toward Futures)
Info: Upper Lounge in the Student Union Building -- SPEAKERS: Oliver Schmidtke and Matt James (UVic)
Emma Swan (UVic, PETF Scholar)
Shireen Hassim (Canada 150, Univ. Carleton)
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 0.00
