Human Rights and Populism

Professor Jolyon Ford re-joined the Australian National University (ANU) Law School in 2015 from research positions with the Royal Institute for International Affairs (‘Chatham House’) and the Global Governance Programme at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. He has over 20 years’ experience in over 30 countries, working on legal, human rights, and governance issues in government, an inter-governmental organisation, civil society, think tanks, and the private sector. He is the author of Regulating Business for Peace (Cambridge, 2015) and co-author of Regulatory Insights on Artificial Intelligence (Elgar, 2022). Born and educated in Zimbabwe, he holds degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Cambridge University, and the ANU.

"A scholarly, sophisticated and clear-headed analysis of the real impact of the last decade’s global ‘populist backlash’ against human rights, and the appropriate response by advocates for still-admirable universal principles. Ford challenges us, in effect, to be more introspective and less insulting – to rethink our inclination to blame the ‘deplorables’ for what too often have been shortcomings in our own sensitivity and priority-setting. It’s a timely wake-up call."Gareth Evans, Former Australian Foreign Minister, President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group, author of The Responsibility to Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and For All, Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Australian National University‘The rise of human rights and the decline of colonialism, along with the prohibition on the use of force, were among the signature achievements of international law in the twentieth century. Yet the twenty-first has seen the rise of populist political forces that challenge human rights in form and substance, including explicit denunciations of that discourse by leaders of countries that were once among its greatest champions. In this book, Jolyon Ford examines populism and its impact on human rights, as well as how scholars and activists can and should respond. Importantly, that response goes beyond a counter-populist agenda and embraces the opportunity for a critical evaluation not only of what populism has done to human rights, but also what it has revealed.’Simon Chesterman, Vice Provost (Educational Innovation), National University of Singapore‘The human rights movement has often not reacted well to criticism. This is particularly true of its response to populism. While populism confronts human rights with a great many challenges, it also provides an opportunity for those of us who continue to support human rights with an opportunity to radically evaluate what we stand for and why. This book offers a thoughtful and accessible scholarly tool for undertaking the kind of constructively critical self-analysis the human rights movement urgently needs to engage in. I recommend it to anyone who cares about human rights and social justice.’Andrew Fagan, Essex Law School, Director, Human Rights Centre

• Introduction Questions to explore Outline of the book Caveat, clarification, caution I Patterns: ‘Populism’ and its claimed impact on human rights in recent times Defining ‘populism’ Backslide Backlash II Problems: Putting the ‘populist challenge’ narrative in perspective Couching the ‘populist era’ in some historical perspective Enduring critiques or drawbacks of the human rights project ‘Distortive’ ‘Disconnected’ ‘Delegitimised’ III Progress?: Evaluating proposals to counter populism and revitalise human rights Reframing ‘Populist backlash’ as blindness ‘Populist backlash’ as distraction ‘Populist backlash’ as window (of opportunity) Reviewing Prescriptions advanced for revitalisating human rights Evaluating prescriptions for revitalisating human rights Recalculating Are human rights still powerful? A persistent belief in the rights frame Great expectations? Questions of substance versus form Conclusion Index