Trump and human rights

Photo: Marco Verch/Flickr CC BY 2.0

The day after Donald Trump’s surprising victory, openGlobalRights asked leading human rights figures, “How should human rights activists respond?”

Here, we curate the responses we receive, as leading scholars, activists and NGO leaders debate how best to grapple with the rise of an explicitly rights-rejecting superpower.

The day after Donald Trump’s surprising victory, openGlobalRights asked leading human rights figures, “How should human rights activists respond?”

Here, we curate the responses we receive, as leading scholars, activists and NGO leaders debate how best to grapple with the rise of an explicitly rights-rejecting superpower.

August 29, 2019

To protect human rights abroad, preach to Trump voters

Religious leaders can help convince the most ethnocentric and authoritarian American voters to oppose Washington’s backing of abusive dictators.

By Howard Lavine & James Ron

Español

June 27, 2019

No, Americans don’t support airstrikes that kill civilians, even when they target terrorists

Polls that show Americans support airstrikes against suspected terrorists ignore some very large caveats.

By James Ron & Howard Lavine & Shannon Golden

June 27, 2019

Americans to Trump: If war comes, follow the Geneva Conventions

Recent studies argue that Americans are relatively insensitive to the laws of war. There’s only one problem: that conclusion is wrong.

By Alexander H. Montgomery & Charli Carpenter

March 15, 2018

Fighting for indigenous rights in the Trump era

American Indians are actively resisting Trump’s efforts and working to achieve their civil and human rights, even as US federal and state governments work to erode ...

By Tereza M. Szeghi

Español

January 22, 2018

Five key battles for re-imagining democracy in a radically changed world

The challenges facing civil society now aren’t about reviving our weakening de-mocracies—they are about re-imagining democracy for a radically changed world.

By Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

November 29, 2017

Evidence indicates that we should be hopeful—not hopeless—about human rights

We compare our current human rights situation not to the past but to an imagined ideal world, and thus we always fall short.

By Kathryn Sikkink

Español Português

November 24, 2017

Trump’s threats to a liberal world order are not entirely new

Trump’s attitude towards human rights is not entirely new: our presumed liberal world order is more about liberal economics and pursuing wealth than about protecting ...

By David Forsythe

May 1, 2017

Using the Sustainable Development Goals as a weapon against populism

The Sustainable Development Goals could give activists the rhetoric they need to hold the Trump administration accountable.

By Martin S. Edwards & Lis Kabashi

April 18, 2017

“Speaking truth to power:” a call for praxis in human rights

Human rights require struggles over power and systems of thought—not just fights against individual violators and institutional inequities.

By Alicia Ely Yamin

March 24, 2017

Republicans move to break with the United Nations

Republicans are revisiting a move to withdraw from the United Nations and related human rights treaties—what would this really mean?

By Paige Berges

March 14, 2017

Will human rights law actually protect us from fascism?

Human rights regimes such as the European Convention on Human Rights are unlikely to shield citizens against the wave of authoritarianism threatening liberal democracies.

By Eva Nanopoulos

March 7, 2017

Preparing for terrorism—and potential torture—under President Trump

Will Trump’s unequivocal position on torture affect how the US responds to future terrorist attacks?

By Courtenay R. Conrad & Justin Conrad & James A. Piazza & James Igoe Walsh

February 27, 2017

Modi and Trump - voting strongmen, voting hate

Donald Trump’s win in the US and Narendra Modi’s in India two years ago are both about the majority claiming greater victimhood.

By Zahir Janmohamed

February 27, 2017

Might Trump lead US activists to rediscover international human rights?

Recent social justice struggles in the US have largely eschewed the language of global human rights. But, Trump might lead US activists to seize human rights again.

By Mark Philip Bradley

Français

February 23, 2017

Opportunities for resistance: Trump’s authoritarianism and the law

Human rights values and rule of law are lost on authoritarians, but the need to clothe their action in forms of law is not.

By Stuart Wilson

February 16, 2017

The death knell of American Exceptionalism under Trump

If Trump pushes his agenda too far, Republicans concerned with liberal democracy and rule of law might start to push back.

By David Forsythe

February 3, 2017

The world is watching—corporate action on Trump travel ban

Many corporations have already taken a stand against Trump’s travel ban, and corporate leaders advising Trump must defend human rights.

By Salil Tripathi

January 11, 2017

Human rights as a grassroots, transformative response to Trump’s “America”

Human rights—as a movement that critiques systemic inequalities and affirms our common humanity—offers a transformative alternative to a politics of fear and exclusion.

By Chris Grove

Español العربية

December 29, 2016

Making the human rights movement great again—amidst rising nationalism

As angry rhetoric and illiberal nationalism soars globally, the human rights movement needs clear thinking rather than sudden shifts.

By James A. Goldston

December 19, 2016

Human rights groups are secretly US agents. True or false?

For rights activists, Trump’s victory is a dark cloud with one silver lining. For the next four years, human rights groups will be inoculated against accusations ...

By James Ron & David Crow

Español العربية

December 5, 2016

Why the American Electoral College matters for human rights everywhere

The history of the American Electoral College demonstrates the importance of combating violators of human rights and the institutions supporting them.

By Benjamin James Waddell

November 24, 2016

Trump, the other and human rights in society

The stigmatization and “othering” we’ve seen in Trump’s campaign will perpetuate systemic inequalities.

By Inga T. Winkler

November 21, 2016

A post-Brexit, post-Trump World could learn from Colombia

A shell-shocked America, a Brexit-divided United Kingdom and a crisis-stricken Europe: they should all note the conciliatory efforts made by Nobel Peace Prize winner ...

By Christian Medina-Ramirez

Español

November 16, 2016

Bringing back waterboarding? Torture policy in Trump’s America

As the US prepares for president Trump, anyone who cares about human rights should be alarmed that he has pledged to restore torture as one of his top five priorities.

By Lisa Hajjar

November 15, 2016

Trump’s election makes US human rights pariah

A Trump presidency poses a grave threat to human rights—not only in the US but also worldwide. For human rights advocates, it can’t be business as usual.

By David Petrasek

Español Français

November 14, 2016

Trump and the limits of human rights

No matter how good our ancestors were in creating the international human rights system, it cannot change that we might need different options now.

By Samuel Moyn

Español Français

November 11, 2016

International pressure on US human rights matters now more than ever

Domestic politics are important, but we need international human rights law in the United States now more than ever.

By Kathryn Sikkink

Español Français

November 9, 2016

Fascism rising

Global institutions and principles now face their sternest test. Trump’s victory suggests human rights activists should devote themselves to the morass of domestic ...

By Stephen Hopgood

Español Français