UNSW Scientia Scholarship on ‘The Crisis of Human Rights’

by Ben Golder | 4 Jun 2019

Rirkrit Tiravanija
Untitled (One Dollar Do We Dream Under the Same Sky), 2015

UNSW is continuing its generous Scientia Scholarship scheme, which features a full fee waiver, a $41,209 (AUD) annual stipend, and an annual professional development fund. The UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarship Scheme is part of UNSW’s dedication to harnessing our cutting-edge research to solve complex problems and improve the lives of people in local and global communities. Scientia candidates will have a strong commitment to making a difference in the world with demonstrated potential for contributing to the social engagement and/or global impact pillars of the UNSW 2025 Strategy.

Applicants are required to express their interest in a specific research area with an identified supervisory team. There are over 190 research projects to choose from.

Readers of Critical Legal Thinking are particularly encouraged to consider applying for the following project:

https://www.scientia.unsw.edu.au/scientia-phd-scholarships/crisis-human-rights

This project critically interrogates the claim that there is a contemporary ‘crisis’ of human rights. Under threat both from right-wing authoritarians and xenophobic populists and from left-wing critics of their neoliberal politics and apologetics for militarised humanitarian intervention, proponents of HR face a reckoning with our troubled political times. What is the fate of human rights in the era of populist insurgencies, neoliberal austerity and endless global war? Using the tools of critical theory, the project will examine scholarly and public critiques of human rights, asking whether existing HR movements, organisations and norms are sufficiently robust to respond to them.