Doug Specht speaks at event on Conceptualising Vulnerability in a Time of Human Rights Regression

Doug Specht spoke this week at the University of Padova, Italy as part of an event on Conceptualising Vulnerability in a Time of Human Rights Regression. The Conference, organized by the Human Rights Centre “Antonio Papisca”, and the UNESCO Chair “Human Rights, Democracy and Peace”, in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies of the University of Padova, also serves to kickstart the Human Rights Winter School programme at the University.

Specht joined a panel of scholar to discuss vulnerability and the ecosystem, where he explored idea of personhood and self-representation on a dying planet. He was joined by Chair Damien Short, University of London, along with presenters Sarah Capes, University of London; Emma Pearce, University of London; Malayna Raftopoulos, Aalborg University; and Kate Mackintosh, UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe. Specht’s talk drew upon his previous writings on the Self(ie) in the Anthropocene and concluded that “as the relationship between humans and the earth becomes more distant, threatening our very existence, the selfie has become a place for reflection and a social act. An important tool in the process of saying ‘I exist’ and ‘I don’t want to die’”.

Picture: Damien Short, with kind permission.