In the face of economic difficulties, demographic change and uncertainties, some welcome authoritarian and populist leaders whose rhetoric suggests easy solutions to complex problems, blaming the most vulnerable (e.g. refugees, foreigners) for society’s ills. A politics of solidarity and hope is derided as those who have suffered the negative impact of globalisation, economic crisis and austerity policies are urged to put “our people” first. At the same time, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and inspired by the global Black Lives Matter, MeToo, and climate justice movements, many young people are proving themselves to be active citizens, ready to fight for human rights.

Prof. Osler will look afresh at what a pedagogy of hope might look like. And she will argue for a relational approach to human rights education, where teachers and students look critically at the past and explore the gap between human rights ideals and their own realities, and work together to develop new narratives, uncovering the knowledge that has been lost or made invisible in textbooks and state-led top-down curricula.