Workshop on: "Democracy among the rubble: socio-legal strategies against contemporary violence"

Contemporary manifestations of violence and human rights violations are increasingly evident not only within contexts of armed conflict or authoritarian regimes but also within what are designated as "established democracies." Current trends of state-sponsored violence, acts of genocide, police brutality, pervasive surveillance, assaults on fundamental human rights, and corporate crimes illustrate a troubling landscape in which conventional terms such as “democracy,” “human rights,” “war,” and “democratic backsliding” fail to adequately capture the complexities at hand. This raises critical questions regarding our capacity to comprehend these phenomena in light of the deficiencies in both vocabulary and analytical frameworks.

Across both the Global North and the Global South, various strategies are being developed and implemented to challenge state violence, seek justice, archive collective memories, and foster resilience in the face of destruction. The present workshop inquiry aims first to map these practices and their interactions with legal frameworks, and to establish a toolkit of strategies for those engaged in resistance.

This workshop proposal, linked to the Oñati strategic research line “Human Rights, State Violence and Transitional Justice: Democracy among the rubble: socio-legal strategies against contemporary violence,” seeks to explore several questions: How do contemporary acts of genocide and state violence redefine our understanding of "war," "peace," "conflict," and "human rights"? In what ways does the alarming rise of far-right governments and rhetoric alter our conception of "democratic backsliding" and "authoritarianism"? Furthermore, if existing legal frameworks, particularly international law, have proven inadequate in preventing and addressing mass atrocities, in what ways is the law being utilized as a tool by various social actors confronting these challenges? How do strategies of resistance and prevention operate at different levels of society, including grassroots initiatives, and what factors shape their effectiveness? In what ways do strategies of resistance and prevention at the grassroots level interact with those at institutional and societal levels?

Therefore, the following sections illustrate the paths of discussion that interest us.

1. Contemporary Forms of Institutional Violence and Destruction
2. Transitional Justice Processes and Mechanisms in Ongoing Conflicts and ‘Established Democracies’
3. Socio-Legal Practices of action among the rubble and the Use and Refusal of the Law at Domestic and International Levels
4. Archives of Memory and Resistances