Abstract
At the time of writing, the United Kingdom is grabbling with its decision to abandon its European Union membership. As the country is divided and hate incidents are increased by almost 50%, this think-piece presents a critical analysis of Europe’s missed opportunity for social justice. The paper presents evidence by analysing the civil and political rights jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in order to explore the potential of what it calls the “human rights project” for a regional democracy. The paper shows that a key objective of the European Convention of Human Rights was the development of case law that would construct a regional democracy for bringing consistency in the enjoyment of civil and political rights across the continent. This “human rights project” was well underway, but is now hampered by contemporary forces of power and control that are ridiculing the work and status of the Council of Europe. The paper identifies three levers that move these forces, namely: financial and security terror as well as nationalism. The paper warns that if these forces are not managed, the backlash in social justice will continue while the human rights project for a regional democracy will come to its demise.
Highlights
Following the atrocities of two World Wars, on 10 December 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt noted in her speech before the UN General Assembly: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world
Rights was the development of case law that would construct a regional democracy for bringing consistency in the enjoyment of civil and political rights across the continent
The paper warns that if these forces are not managed, the backlash in social justice will continue while the human rights project for a regional democracy will come to its demise
Summary
Following the atrocities of two World Wars, on 10 December 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt noted in her speech before the UN General Assembly: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?. While on the one hand the paper illustrates the potential of building the human rights project for a regional democracy, on the other it identifies reactionary forces of power and control that reverse social progress, and hamper this regional plan. The rise of nationalist and far-right parties in Greece, the Netherlands, the UK, France and so on bear evidence that progress to social justice is being hampered while the widening gap between the powerful and the powerless in many areas of civil rights protection has brought a significant backlash in how we accept what is normal and what is not This decline is gradually being accepted as justifiable due to the convincing nature of these reactionary forces which I aim to unpack. The paper must be read as the think-piece that it was intended to be
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