Human Rights Tracks

In this episode, we investigate the possibilities and challenges of building human rights capacity and conducting risk assessments within companies. Our guest is Leonel Lisboa, consultant, Head of the Löning Academy, and PhD researcher in International Law at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Together, we explore when human rights capacity-building in corporations becomes meaningful — and when it risks being merely formal, empty, or even alienating. Leonel Lisboa's work focuses on human rights training, impact assessment, and risk management in corporations and in multinational contexts. He also hosts a podcast on international law, which is available here: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ULp4JhjnbzUhiN4aGb43I

 

Sources:

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/HR.PUB.12.2_En.pdf

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000383329https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/2023-03-29-1

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdfhttps://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/2023-03-29-1

https://fsi-ebcao.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf1411/files/media/freire.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/14/london-judge-rules-bhp-group-liable-for-brazil-2015-samarco-dam-collapse

https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/53/24

In this episode, we explore the transformative potential of social rights with Dr. Octávio Ferraz, Professor at King's College London and Co-Director of the Transnational Law Institute. We discuss the importance of social rights and the challenges that arise when their judicialization is disconnected from egalitarian principles. In other words: how can social rights fulfill their transformative promises, and when might certain forms of judicialization actually entrench social inequalities? Dr. Ferraz’s research focuses on human rights and development, particularly the role of law and courts in advancing social justice, equality, and redress for poverty. His recent work has also dived into democracy and environmental protection, with a focus on the Amazon. His book Judging Social Rights, published by Cambridge University Press, is available here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/judging-social-rights/judging-social-rights/DC11AD44DD919925F0271D278C438822

 

Sources:

https://repository.essex.ac.uk/9789/1/human-rights-council-statement-maternal-mortality-panel-june-2008.pdf

https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/2._ohchr_thematic_paper_on_escrs_and_sdgs.pdfhttps://www.constituteproject.org/topics

https://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/publications/not-enough-human-rights-unequal-worldhttps://www.hhrjournal.org/2013/08/29/the-right-to-health-in-the-courts-of-brazil-worsening-health-inequities/

https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/the-right-to-health-in-the-courts-of-brazil-still-worsening-healt

Am 5. Mai 2025 unterschrieben die Parteivorsitzenden CDU/CSU und SPD den Koalitionsvertrag. Wenig später berichteten Medien, dass man im Kanzleramt einen nationalen Notstand für den Bereich Migration erwäge - der Kanzler dementierte. Dennoch: Die Bundesregierung informiert dieser Tage die Botschafter:innen der Nachbarstaaten über die Grenzverschärfung, die der neue Innenminister Dobrindt angekündigt hatte. 

Mit der Migrationswissenschaftlerin Prof. Dr. Petra Bendel (FAU) nehmen wir in dieser Folge den Koalitionsvertrag unter die Lupe und sprechen über die migrations- und integrationspolitischen Vorhaben der neuen Bundesregierung.

 

Prof. Dr. Petra Bendel ist Professorin für Politische Wissenschaft am Institut für Politische Wissenschaft der FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg. Dort leitet sie den Forschungsbereich Migration, Flucht und Integration (MFI). Sie ist Gründungsmitglied des Center for Human Rights (CHREN) Erlangen-Nürnberg, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutschland, wo sie eine Vielzahl von Forschungsprojekten, aber auch praxisorientierten Pilotprojekten zu migrationsrelevanten Themen leitet.

 

Quellen:

Friedrich Merz ruft „nationale Notlage“ bei Migration aus - WELT

Bundesregierung dementiert Welt-Bericht: „Wir rufen keinen nationalen Notstand aus“

Verantwortung für Deutschland – Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU, CSU und SPD

Bundestagswahl-Analyse: Warum Deutschland so gewählt hat - ZDFheute

https://www.svr-migration.de/publikation/fakten-zur-asylpolitik/

Migration: Wissenschaftler warnen vor Politik der Härte - Meinung - DER SPIEGEL

In this episode, CHREN postdoctoral researcher Dr Caroline Lichuma guides us through the potential effects - and fall-out - of the "EU Omnibus Simplification Initiative" recently proposed by the European Commission. While the names of the EU directives concerned might sound deterring, do not fear: Carol manages to explain the what’s what in a very comprehensible, even entertaining manner. This way, we get to learn a lot about the progress and regress in the EU's struggle for better corporate sustainability.

 

Carol's research critically analyses regulatory developments in Business and Human Rights, with a particular focus on how mandatory human rights due diligence laws such as the German Lieferkettengesetz (LkSG) and the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) impact Global South stakeholders.

 

Sources:

 

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_629

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_614

https://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/PDF/Sonstiges/Letter_of_European_NHRIs_on_the_omnibus_proposal.pdf

ennhri-statement-on-the-omnibus-proposal-i.pdf

https://www.ethicaltrade.org/insights/blog/eti-responds-to-eu-commissions-omnibus-proposal

In this episode, we are diving a little into legal theory while also discussing the very real, very visible implications and effects of poverty. CHREN postdoctoral researcher Dr Tainá Garcia Maia is sharing insights from her interdisciplinary work at the intersection of (in)equality and poverty with a focus on the practice of Latin American apex courts. Tainá's research interests, furthermore, include democracy and autocratisation, inequality and social stratification, and human rights and technology. 

Tainá's book "Inequality and Poverty in Brazil: A Judicial Response to a Socio-Political Challenge" is going to be coming out this year. Stay tuned!

 

Sources:

https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1176/index.do

https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/732765/files/A_HRC_21_39-EN.pdf?ln=en

https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/659980/files/E_C.12_GC_20-EN.pdf?ln=en

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/ban-povertyism-same-way-racism-and-sexism-un-expert

Fact Sheet: An Adjustment to Global Poverty Lines

Poverty - Our World in Data

Population below the international poverty line

Understanding global poverty: What does being poor mean?

Multidimensional Poverty Measure