E36: "Power and Politics Lead, Rights Follow": Advancing Rights in the 21st Century with Columbia University’s Prof. Jack Snyder Artwork

Rights Talk

With authoritarianism, nationalism, and xenophobia on the rise, gaping global wealth disparities, and the accelerating climate emergency, human rights appear increasingly fragile. Rights Talk is devoted to engaging contemporary challenges around the world across the human rights spectrum of civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and solidarity rights, including to a safe and healthy environment. The podcast invites critical perspectives and questions the future of rights in the twenty-first century. __________________________________________________ Music Carefree by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3476-carefreeLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Rights Talk

E36: "Power and Politics Lead, Rights Follow": Advancing Rights in the 21st Century with Columbia University’s Prof. Jack Snyder

December 05, 2023 • CCNY Downtown

This episode features Columbia University’s Professor Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science and the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. The discussion centers on his new book: Human Rights for Pragmatists: Social Power in Modern Times (Princeton University Press, 2022). Professor Snyder examines the historical development of rights-based societies and contemporary challenges facing rights advocates. He tells us, “Politics and Power Lead, Rights Follow,” asserting that the realization of rights has been grounded in the interest of the dominant political coalition empowered by modernization. Activist approaches grounded in legalism, moralism, and universalism, as opposed to power, self-interest, and bargaining, he contends, hinder the effective defense of human rights and potential advance. The conversation covers a range of topics spanning the relationship between rights and economic development; China’s illiberal model and the middle-income trap; free speech, social media, and democracy in the United States; and populism, neoliberalism, and socioeconomic inequality.