Friday 19 January 2024 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Berkowitz/Finley Lecture Hall
About
This lecture is a hybrid event.
There is a sandwich lunch at 12.30 pm in the Old Library at the Centre. All lecture attendees welcome.
Lecture summary: Cultural rights have been invisible in the human rights discussions. They are the main absent from discussions on SDGs and the achievement of social justice. The lecture will explore the main reasons for this. It will argue that unfortunately culture and cultural heritage are still discussed in really restrictive ways, pushing aside their transformational natures. I will discuss the main issues where in my view cultural rights are needed but not fully used; they include gender equality, sustainable development, and the right to science. The main argument is that leaving no one behind, a well-known phrase of the United Nations, cannot really be materialise without the implementation of cultural rights.
Related paper: not mandatory but for more information, participants may wish to read my report to the UN HRC 2021 entitled “Cultural rights: an empowering agenda”, UN Doc A/HRC/49/54. For more familiarity with the work of the Special Rapporteur, partiicpants may visit the mandate’s page https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-cultural-rights
Alexandra Xanthaki was appointed UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights in October 2021. She is Professor of Laws at Brunel University London, United Kingdom. Alexandra has published on cultural rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, cultural diversity, cultural heritage, balancing cultural rights with other rights and interests, and multicultural aspects of international human rights law. She holds a law degree from Athens University, a masters degree in 'Human Rights and Emergency Law' from Queen's University, Belfast and a PhD from Keele University, on the 'Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United Nations' that she did under the supervision of Patrick Thornberry. Alexandra is a member of the Summer Human Rights Faculty in Oxford University.
Chair: Dr Joanna Gomula
The Friday Lunchtime Lecture series is kindly supported by Cambridge University Press & Assessment.