CALL FOR PAPERS
COSMOPOLITAN DEMOCRACY II
NOVA SCHOOL OF LAW
06-07 OCTOBER 2022
Free Online International Conference
According to the cosmopolitan tradition, the democratic government of a group by itself, following the principle of popular sovereignty, should include the whole of humanity (and also the future generations) to be truly democratic.
However, within contemporary local democracies, most violations of human rights are caused by identity issues. In this context, the priority of the Inter-American System of Human Rights, for instance, is to monitor the demands of excluded groups who are affected in terms of rights to participation and expression, who suffer social or institutional violence, and who have difficulty accessing the public sphere, the political system, and social or legal protection. Most cases concern violence practiced by police against certain groups, violence against women tolerated by state authorities, deprivation of land and the political participation of indigenous people and communities, discrimination against the Afro-descendant population, and abuse on the part of bureaucracies against undocumented immigrants. Individual cases reveal structural discrimination (even through "neutral practices") and violence against certain groups. It is important to note that most of the issues are brought to the court by civil associations and NGOs, and that the action of the court is monitored by these associations. The same happens in the European Court of Human Rights, where European democracies are accused of discrimination against Roma and ethnical minorities, violation of social and economic rights of non-national individuals, expulsion of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers who run the risk of having their human rights violated if expelled to their original country.
This conference aims to examine the ways of situating the local democracy in a cosmopolitan horizon and invites contributions examining this issue from different perspectives.
The abstract for a 20-minutes presentation has to be submitted by
20 May 2022
by using the 'SUBMIT ABSTRACT HERE' button below.
The list of the selected participants will be posted on the conference website, section 'Participants', on 31 May.
