International Symposium: Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

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International Symposium: Ethno-Cultural Diversity and Human Rights: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead, University of Liverpool Foresight Centre, 3rd May, 2016

The symposium featured a significant number of national and international experts who work in the field of human rights and group diversity. Each session was skilfully chaired by a Liverpool member of staff, including various post-doctoral fellows and one external researcher. Feedback was provided on a rolling basis via Twitter.

The symposium attracted over 90 registrations and largely exceeded expectations in terms of actual attendance throughout the day. The event featured several international delegates from a broad range of countries, including Canada, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and Turkey. In addition to senior academics and experts, LLM and doctoral students from various nationalities were also in attendance (e.g. Nigeria, China, Ukraine). A range of universities from across the country were represented – Essex, Birmingham, London, Belfast, Newcastle, Lancaster, Aberystwyth, and Manchester. The audience included representatives from a number of local charities and organisations as well.

The event gratefully received the support from major international and national law societies, including the European Society of International Law, the British Branch of the International Law Association, and the Society of Legal Scholars.

The proceedings of the symposium will be part of an edited collection on ethno-cultural diversity and human rights to be published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers in 2018. The edited volume, the first of its kind, will address a variety of theoretical and practical questions from across the spectrum of ethno-cultural group diversity. Featuring up to 10 chapters written by renowned and emerging scholars and practitioners, the book will seek to provide a framework for assessing the nature and reach of group claims, justifications, and policies relating to the group protection/human rights nexus, as well as its multiple conceptual and legal ramifications.

International Symposium - report July 2016