Human Rights Impact: Developing an Agenda for Interdisciplinary, International Research

The language of human rights has become pervasive in political discourse. Concomitantly, governments have begun mainstreaming human rights into public administrations, international and national human rights commissions have been established (or reformed), human rights organizations have multiplied, and signals abound that human rights is becoming a profession. Yet the growing salience of human rights discourses and practices has accompanied continuing, flagrant violations. What then is the effect of human rights laws, policies, and interventions? How can ‘impact’ be defined and measured? This question is being urgently asked by practitioners and scholars. Drawing together an emerging community of researchers and practitioners, subject to securing appropriate funding, the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University is planning to launch a research programme on this theme.