Human Rights Reloaded

Abstract

n June 2023, on the 30th anniversary of the International Doctorate “Human Rights: Evolution, Protection and Limits”, a Summer School entitled “Human Rights Reloaded” was held at the University of Palermo. The ‘Age of Rights’, as discussed by Norberto Bobbio, seems to have entered a crisis that compels us to not only expand our perspective and reconsider the foundations of human rights in a new light but also to constantly redefine their limits and reassess their implications, while resisting the temptations of empty rhetoric. From this perspective, the title of the Summer School wanted to inspire a critical rethinking not only of civil and political rights or social, economic, and cultural rights but also of the collective rights of society. Specifically, it addressed the role of societas iuris in adopting a globally responsible approach towards future generations. While the lines drawn by the speakers concentrated on issues to be tackled or possible directions to be followed in a much wider field, some PhD students of the Doctorate in “Human Rights” further elaborated these lines to deepen their reflections and open new perspectives. This volume collects their writings as younger academics who are called upon to plant the seeds of their research in this field.