A Conference on Human Rights: Theory, Narrative, Post-Coloniality
Oct. 16-17, 2009
The Clarke Initiative seeks to support and engage with interdisciplinary discourse of relevance to law and development. As part of this objective, the Clarke Initiative was pleased to co-sponsor a conference at Cornell University on the crucially important topic of human rights. The conference, organized bt the English Department, brought together noted authorities from both law, and literary and cultural studies, to investigate aspects of emerging human right discourse. A full program can be found here (PDF)
Description of the Conference, "Human Rights: Theory, Narrative, Postcoloniality"
The philosophical, political, and legal construct of human rights has recently inspired significant debate among literary, cultural, and other theorists, especially in terms of rights' status within post-colonial societies. While human rights have become the world's dominant language for pursuing social justice, their globalization to the non-western world has not been without substantial costs. At the same time, various critics have posited the intimate relationship of literature to human rights, calling attention to how narrative enacts individual and communal recovery, as well as naturalizes the broader ideals accompanying rights.
This day and a half conference will investigate from multiple disciplinary perspectives these and related questions about human rights with particular emphasis on theoretical approaches to rights. The conference begins Friday afternoon with a keynote address, followed by a reception. Saturday's events include morning and afternoon sessions, a round-table discussion, and a concluding reception.
Speakers include:
Homi Bhabha, Harvard University (keynote) - "Affects and Interests: Some Thoughts on the Culture of Human Rights"
Elizabeth Anker, Cornell University - "Taking Paradox Seriously: Toward an Embodied Theory of Human Rights"
Joseph Slaughter, Columbia University - "Pathetic Fallacies, or, A Drinkard's Vision of Human Rights"
Pheng Cheah, U.C. Berkeley - "Acceptable Uses of People"
Peter Fitzpatrick, School of Law, Birbeck College, University of London - "Necessary Deceptions: Indigenous Claims and the Humanity of Rights"
Chantal Thomas, Cornell Law School - Chair
Grant Farred, Cornell Africana Studies and English - Chair
The Clarke Initiative is proud to announce a two-day conference for Law and Development in the Middle East. During Sept. 11-12, Cornell Law School, hosting Middle East scholars from the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and from our own Cornell community, who will explore new directions in research for law and development in the Middle East and North Africa.
On Friday, Sept. 11, the Law School will host a public lecture on Islam and Democracy, delivered by Prof. Mohammad Fadel from the University of Toronto Law School, with commentary provided by Prof. David Patel from Cornell's Department of Government and chaired by Prof. David Powers from Cornell's Near Eastern Studies Department. This conference will be held in Room G85, Myron Taylor Hall (the Law School).
On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Law School will host an all-day conference with speakers from universities across the US, and from as far away as Birzeit University, the University of Tel Aviv, and the American University in Cairo; several speakers are also from such international organizations as the United Nations Development Programme, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for the Study of United Nations Systems. The conference will include individual panelists as well as round-table discussions. Topics will include, among others, an exploration of different frameworks for law and development in the Middle East and North Africa; legal frameworks for the Islamic world; law and development in Palestine; a case-study of Egypt; and the role of the city in the legal development of the Middle East.
The participants for the second day of the conference are:
Amr Shalakany (American University in Cairo)
Alvaro Santos (Georgetown Law Center)
Asem Khalil (Birzeit University)
Linda Mansour (National Lawyers' Guild)
Zina Miller (Tufts University)
Raef Zreik (Georgetown Law Center)
Shiva Balaghi (Brown University)
Yishai Blank (University of Tel Aviv)
Annelise Riles (Cornell Law School)
Aziz Rana (Cornell Law School)
Jerry Frug (Harvard Law School)
Mitchell Lasser (Cornell Law School)
Chantal Thomas (Clarke Initiative Chair, Cornell Law School)
Ziad Fahmy (Cornell)
Adel Abdellatif (Chief of the United Nations Development Programme's Regional Programme Division for the Regional Bureau of Arab States)
Yassin El-Ayouty (Center for the Study of United Nations Systems and the Global Legal Order)
Sital Kalantry (Cornell Law School)
For more information about Saturday's conferences, please contact Dawne Peacock, at (607) 255- 5978 , or at dawne-peacock@lawschool.cornell.edu.
Other Events:
The Clarke Initiative will be holding several other lectures and conferences this year with Middle East scholars. Details to follow.
