Michael Ignatieff: HUMAN RIGHTS AT 75 - END TIMES OR REBIRTH?

Oliver Rathkolb in conversation with Michael
Ignatieff


HUMAN RIGHTS AT 75: END TIMES OR REBIRTH? 75 Years of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN
General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948, is a milestone
document in the history of human rights. Drafted by
Representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds
from all regions of the world, it set out, for the first time,
fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
In their talk at Bruno Kreisky Forum, Oliver Rathkolb and Michael
Ignatieff will debate whether human rights have a future in a
world where the international order is in tatters, violence has
inflamed the Middle East, and Ukraine struggles to repel an
invasion.  A rebirth of moral universalism, a commitment to
the equality of peoples and nations, has never been more urgent,
but is it possible?


 


Michael Ignatieff served as President and Rector
of the Central European University between 2016 and 2021. He now
is a professor in CEU’s history department. An international
commentator on contemporary issues of democracy, human rights,
and governance and a Canadian citizen, Ignatieff is also an
award-winning writer, teacher, former politician, and historian
with a deep knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe.


Oliver Rathkolb is Professor of Contemporary
History at the Department of Contemporary History at the
University of Vienna, and has chaired the department from
2016-22. He is Chairperson of the Academic Committee of the House
of European History and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
of Bruno Kreisky Forum. He has published numerous books on
European and Austrian history, on the history of international
relations and on cultural and economic history.