UNAOC Research Network Partner Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion held its first conference on Religion and Human Rights Pragmatism, September 24, at the International Affairs Building at Columbia University.
This first workshop, of two, examined how attitudes about human rights change and diffuse across cultures. Among the questions that were asked were:
- What affects whether religious groups support or oppose rights improvements?
- What is the role of local “early adopters”, including religious leaders, in promoting change and translating global norms into local terminology and practices?
Panelists included: Amitav Acharya, American University; Charli Carpenter, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; Emilie Hafner-Burton, University of California at San Diego; Daniel Goldstein, Rutgers University; Samuel Moyn, Columbia; Tsveta Petrova, Columbia Harriman Institute; Anthony Richter, Open Society Foundations; James Ron, University of Minnesota; Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch; Kathryn Sikkink, University of Minnesota; Alfred Stepan, Columbia; and Leslie Vinjamuri, SOAS.