Webinar Summary
International human rights law did not come into existence top-down, out of the benevolent intentions of states, even though states eventually began to recognize that large-scale human rights abuses could pose a threat to the international order. Rather, it came into existence from the bottom-up efforts of ordinary people in civil society to ally with each other in solidarity and demand their rights, often through organized nonviolent campaigns and movements that pressured elites and powerholders to recognize individual rights (freedom for slaves, women’s rights, labour rights, and children’s rights, to name a few). Unlike international law generally, the real source of international human rights law has been the coordinated, organized and non-violent forceful efforts of individuals—in other words, what one can refer to as people power. This webinar will discuss the relationship between people power movements and international human rights and how civil resistance campaigns can further strengthen human rights law.