Deliberalization of Democracies? Understanding Regression of Rights and the Criminalization of Struggles for Rights in the Global South and North

Our proposed workshop is based on a dialogue between a wide array of empirical studies that shed light on the deliberalization of democracies by focusing on a comparative analysis of both regression of rights and criminalization of struggles for rights dimensions in the Global South and North. This approach will allow us to assess two important aspects of State practices that may contribute to deliberalization: First, we seek to understand to which extent liberal democratic States not only fail to give basic protection to HRDs, but also often directly promote legislation and measures that resemble the repression of civil dissent in authoritarianism. Importance will be given to the legitimization of these measures and legislation by discourses that target rights defenses and protest, especially in areas such as environmental and gender rights defense. The discursive aspect of the analysis constitutes a less-studied dimension of deliberalization and will help us understand whether, and to what extent the criminalization and regression of rights stems or is favoured by populist anti-rights discourses. In this regard, the roles and interactions between State and non-State actors, media, political parties, and civil society will be thoroughly examined. The second main dimension of State practices this workshop aims to uncover is to analyse how judicial powers are often under political pressure to apply laws and dispositions that consider rights defenders as dangers to democratic stability. In addition, we aim to assess the impact of high level of impunity for human rights violations, threats, and persecutions against HRDs in liberal democracies, especially in Latin America; but also against Indigenous rights defenders, environmental activists, and gender-based social movements in the Global North. All these combined dimensions of our comparative stance will allow us to assess possible chain reactions in criminalization tactics, law reform and legal decisions that point to a decline of rights worldwide.

Finally, given the diversity of presenters and jurisdictions covered, we anticipate three main kinds of contributions: First, we hope to enrich the understanding of the seemingly fast decline of liberal democracies. Second, we aim to assess the dimensions of criminalization and regression of rights, pointing out specific areas of concerns and forms of resistance to prevent further decline of rights. Lastly, our Worskshop will contribute to the socio-legal scholarship in these areas. The literature on this area is currently sparse and fragmented, and the organization of a book will be a key and timely contribution.