The Discussion Group on Human Rights is organized by Marie Lohrum, member of the Max Planck Research Group MAGGI with the support of Janne Mende.

The Discussion Group on Human Rights is intended for research fellows and visiting scholars of the Max Planck Institute, who are concerned with the national, regional and international protection of human rights, as well as institutional aspects of human rights protection within the framework of a research project or dissertation. The discussion group provides an opportunity for mutual exchange on selected topics and current developments in the field of human rights. Both universal and regional human rights protection with a special focus on European and other multi- level systems constitute the group`s main interest. In addition to regularly scheduled meetings, the Discussion Group endeavors to maintain contact with other research institutions and organizes lectures on selected topics concerning international human rights protection.

For previous sessions, please check the archive.

 

How are the risks of global trade in illegal and deforestation related timber and agricultural commodities defined, assessed, and regulated at the EU level as well as across the consumer and producer countries? What are the causes and consequences of differences and similarities in regulatory governance of these risks? This paper answers these questions and tests explanations for causes found in regulatory theories such as the Advocacy Coalition Framework, Cultural Theory and Baptist-Bootleggers Theory. Drawing on interviews and content analysis related to the design and implementation of the EU Timber Regulation and EU Deforestation Regulation, and their interplay with private regulation like certification schemes (FSC/PEFC, Soy Moratorium etc.), I will present results on the worldviews, beliefs, values, regulatory behavior, and coalitions of state and non-state actors at the EU level as well as in EU consumer countries (e.g., Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), and producer countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Ghana/Cameroon). Through policy change analysis, I will first present the stability and change in pro-regulation and contra-regulation coalitions in the EU and the producer countries, and analyse the coalitional politics with explanations in social psychology (ACF) and political economy (B&B). In addition, through cross-comparisons of the policy process in these different socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts, we find that country variations in regulatory governance of forest commodity risks can be grouped into four clusters: ‘business self-regulation’; ‘self-regulation in the shadow of hierarchy’, ‘symbolic hierarchical regulation’, and ‘dragged regulation in the business shadow’. In line with theories, these clusters can be explained by the dominance of different cultural types of actors (individualists, egalitarians, hierarchists, fatalists) and their coalitions. We find that policy actors from each of these cultural types in all countries are most concerned about risks in global timber and forest agricultural commodity trade that are most threatening to their beliefs, values, and interests (market self-regulation, environmental common welfare, state authority, mission impossible). We also find evidence of mixed regulatory behavior that can be explained by shifts in coalitional politics, and cross-cultural cooperation between policy actors based on strategic learning.

For further information including the link to the zoom meeting please contact Marie Lohrum

Date:

16 November 2023, 15:00 – 16:30 (CET)

Speakers:

Lena Karamanidou, Independent Scholar

Minos Mouzourakis, Refugee Support Aegean

Alberto-Horst Neidhardt, European Policy Centre

Tineke Strik, Member of the European Parliament for the Greens/EFA Group

Catharina Ziebritzki, Equal Rights Beyond Borders & University of Frankfurt

Registration:

https://mpil.zoom-x.de/webinar/register/WN_3JGGqbCoTuWxOtGEcIXsWA

Any inquiries, please send to: auethavornpipat@mpil.de

Since October 7th the world has been watching the current tragedy unfolding in Israel-Palestine. Most discussions to date have overlooked research-based explanations of the conditions that provide a fertile ground for this horrific outbreak of violence. Even more overlooked is a research-based analysis of a sustainable way out from the current political violence and the possible role of international law in such transformation.

Building on multi-disciplinary research the book’s presentation will focus on the role that international and regional human rights laws play in places ridden by violent ethno-national conflicts. Based on an analysis of the limitations of human rights laws, it will be argued that adding the novel concept of “Collective Equality” to the human rights paradigm, provides a more suitable roadmap for promoting peace and equality in places torn along ethno-national lines. Please register for the event here: https://bitly.ws/YmKs

About Limor Yehuda: Limor Yehuda is a researcher of international human rights law and comparative constitutional law in places of ethno-national conflicts and within transition to peace. She is a post-doctoral fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law Under Extreme Conditions at the University of Haifa and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University. In her current research, Limor develops a theory of transition from conflict to partnership-based Israeli/Palestinian peace. Her book, "Collective Equality: Democracy and Human Rights in Ethno-National Conflicts," (2023) was recently published by Cambridge University Press. Previously, Limor served as a legal assistant at Israel's Supreme Court and later as the director of the department for human rights in the Occupied Territories at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). In addition to her academic work, Limor is a founding member of A Land for All ("Two States, One Homeland").

On March 1, 2023, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Development Minister Svenja Schulze presented new guidelines for a feminist foreign policy. In response, a broad social discussion about feminism and politics flared up. In this event, entitled "Feminist Foreign Policy - Empowering women in foreign policy matters", the Gender Working Group and the Human Rights Discussion Group will discuss feminist foreign policy with two experts. Eva Rieger from the University of Passau will give us an overview of feminist foreign policy and its implications. Afterwards, Tonka Kostadinova will discuss the question of women’s empowerment in the foreign policy sector, in particular the question whether and how women’s enhanced presence in the Foreign Office impacts the content of foreign policy.

We look forward to a lively participation and a colorful discussion.