The world today is on an accelerated path toward rising authoritarianism, widening inequality and unsustainable growth. This time of crisis has strained peaceful relations between people and nations and has caused the decline of human rights.

Featuring a keynote from Dr. Albert Barume, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, this conference seeks to engage the structural forces shaping our world in this moment and explore critically the role and relevance of human rights as a moral, political and legal force for social action and transformative justice.

Where does the human rights project stand in relation to the struggle for human dignity, equality, repair of our relationship to the Earth, and the creation of alternative models of social life and organization? What is the role of legal frameworks and international institutions in ordering the world toward these values? What gives us reason for hope in this moment?

In-Person Only at UCLA School of Law