Speakers:
Saeid Reza Ameli
Tasneem Chopra
Sohail Daulatzai
Ramon Grosfoguel
Sandew Hira
Saeed A Khan
Rajeesh Kumar
Laurens De Rooij
Mary Ryan
Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar
WHEN: Saturday, 10 February from 9.30am – 4.30pm
WHERE: Sarah Fell Room, Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
About the event:
In a heightened era of American Exceptionalism under an overtly chauvinistic President and administration, IHRC is convening a conference to unmask the more systemic problems that undergird US Exceptionalism. In particular this conference will focus on the Americanisation of Human Rights, and the praxis of human rights, arguing that they have become a tool of US led foreign policy rather than a transformative discourse that seeks to liberate individuals, groups and indeed large sections of society who are oppressed by unjust systems.
The conference will be convened in two parts:
(i) The US Model and Praxis of Human Rights
How has advocacy and narrative changed over the last fifty years?
How does it need to change to tackle manifest injustice in the contemporary era?
Issues for possible discussion:
Institutionalisation of American Exceptionalism in International Organisations e.g UN, Security Council, World Bank, IMF, WTO
The War on Terror
The War(s) on Drugs
The roll out of COINTELPRO type measures and its impact on global human rights advocacy
Americo-centrism
The Double Standards of American Exceptionalism and the American Discourse of Human Rights
American Exceptionalism as a Domination Policy of Human Rights
American Globalisation of Human Rights
Americanisation of Human Rights
Americanisation, Power, Hate Policy and Human Rights
(ii) The US as a failed state
How and what do current modes of human rights narrative and praxis mask internal injustices, indeed the contradiction at the heart of the US State?
Issues for possible discussion:
The Prison Industrial Complex
Guantanamo and the Guantanamisation of the US
Black, Latina, Indigenous and other Narratives of Oppression and Liberation
EVENT INFO:
– The Worship Space is located on the ground floor next to the bookshop. This space belongs to the Friend’s House and thus will not be segregated, so please kindly use your own discretion. The qibla direction and prayer mats will be provided.
– Lunch will be provided and there will be breaks for tea and coffee
– Disabled access is available
– Registration table is located on the first floor above the main reception
– Registration is mandatory
– Getting here:
Rail:
From its position opposite Euston’s rail and tube stations, it is a ten-minute walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras International. All major rail terminals are easily reached by tube.
Tube:
The nearest tube stations are Euston and Euston Square, which are on the Northern, Victoria, Metropolitan, Circle, Hammersmith & City lines and overground.
Bus:
Routes 18, 30, 73, 205 and 390 stop outside Friends House. Routes 10, 59, 68, 91, 168, and 253 stop nearby.
Car:
There is no on-site parking available at Friends House. The local roads have metered parking bays and fall within the Congestion Charge zone.
There are three disabled blue badge parking bays located in Endsleigh Gardens. There are alternative, longer-term parking facilities under Euston Station.
