Social Movements and Human Rights Diplomacy From Below: The Dynamism of International Law

In September 2013, a symposium held at the United Nations in Geneva commemorated the first historic conference of Indigenous leaders with the UN in 1977. Surviving members of that pioneering generation reflected on what had driven them to engage with the international system, what they had hoped to achieve, and what had been accomplished over the decades. Indigenous youth were also present, symbolically linking past struggles with future aspirations. During that gathering, a respected Mohawk Elder, Kenneth Deer, offered a message that resonates deeply with the human rights project: “Never drop the moral high ground”. This essay takes that message as both a point of departure and a guiding thread. Rather than beginning with doctrinal developments or institutional achievements, it starts “from the end” – from the frustrations, doubts and critiques voiced at the grassroots level. Many people today express deep disappointment with the gap between international human rights norms and their implementation. Human rights language is frequently perceived as having been co-opted by states, used selectively or rhetorically to advance geopolitical interests, whether framed along North-South or East-West divides. This reality raises a series of fundamental questions. Can the human rights paradigm retain its moral authority when states instrumentalize it? Are human rights – originally forged through bottom-up struggles and intended as safeguards against state power – at risk of becoming merely another tool in the hands of governments? Is diplomacy an exclusive domain of states and professional diplomats, or can social movements also engage in forms of diplomacy, albeit from below? And if so, how realistic and effective can such engagement be within international arenas such as the United Nations? By examining the historical evolution of international human rights law and focusing in particular on the women’s movement and the Indigenous Peoples’ movement, this essay argues that “diplomacy from below” is not only possible but has been transformative. Social movements have exercised moral authority, reshaped legal norms, and left a lasting imprint on international law – precisely by refusing to abandon the moral high ground.