Winter School “Vulnerability”: foundations, patterns, critiques, Padova, 14-18 November 2023

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The WS is proposed in continuity with the series on “Normativity and reality in human rights” as a space for reflection and discussion for a large and expanding community of Ph.D. candidates interested in human rights studies, addressing and testing issues emerging in recent human rights theoretical and empirical research.

In the past 15 years, "vulnerability" has attracted remarkable academic attention as a term characterising ontologically the human condition and, more concretely, the predicament associated with groups or individuals faced with insurmountable challenges.

Vulnerability positions range from the situations of individuals facing threats to their life and personal integrity due to armed conflicts and disasters to the condition of regular or irregular migrants exposed to grave forms of exploitation to the challenges surrounding impoverished societies and populations hit by the consequences of climate change. All these situations deeply affect the sociopolitical, legal, and philosophical foundations of democratic institutions, solidarity and welfare policies, and the effectiveness of human rights.

The WS programme revolves around the multidimensional concept of ontological and situational "vulnerability" and its implications for the human rights discourse. The WS will critically elaborate this notion not only regarding individual and socio-political scenarios where people are affected by the consequences of destructive neoliberalist policies, but also with regard to nonhuman subjectivities and ecosystems impacted by human-induced phenomena of degradation.

The WS is expected to stimulate research and analyses on the links between human rights and vulnerability, in an action-oriented perspective, according to an interagency, interdisciplinary and transnational approach. With the help of practitioners, the academic team supporting the WS designs and implements workshops to identify, assess, and respond to vulnerability claims as they materialise in real-life scenarios.

WS participants are expected to acquire knowledge and skills to detect, analyse, and handle situations where “vulnerability” is at stake in crucial legal, sociocultural, sociopolitical and operational situations and to successfully face the connected challenges.

EXPECTED APPLICANTS

The WS targets current and prospective PhD candidates in the Doctorates on human rights studies and related issues, scholars, junior researchers, as well as senior master’s students, practitioners, officers and employees of public and private companies. The maximum number of participants is set to 20. Participants and speakers are encouraged to attend the WS in face-to-face mode. However, lectures and workshops will be offered as much as possible in dual mode.

ORGANISATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

The programme provides participants with lunch and coffee breaks. Detailed indications about accommodation opportunities in Padua during the week will be provided if requested. For participation (at least 80% of attendance) can be awarded 6 ECTS credits.

The WS is organised in cooperation with the following institutions:

• School of Advanced Studies, University of London;
• European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Graz University;
• Institute of International Studies, University of Wroclaw;
• Institut des droits de l'homme, Université catholique de Lyon;
• School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg

Programme

Module 1.  Framing "Vulnerability" from the perspective of human rights

Tuesday 14

14.30-15:00
Salutations. short introduction

15.00-17.00
Key-note speaker: Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, former UN SR

Module 2. "Vulnerable population" in armed conflicts and humanitarian crises

Wednesday 15

9.30-11.30
Key-note speakers: Jeremy Sarkin, Nova University, Lisbon; Oleksandr Osinskyy, UNOCHA

11.30-12.00
Break

12.00-13.00
Discussion

13.00-14.30
Lunch

14.30-16.30
Introduction of the participants and their ongoing research projects

Module 3. "Vulnerable population" in migrations

Thursday 16

9.30-11.30
Key-note speakers: Jane Freedman, Université Paris 8; Anna Brambilla, Lawyer, ASGI

11.30-12.00
Break

12.00-13.00
Discussion

13.00-14.30
Lunch

14.30-16.30
Visit to the Anti-Violence Centre, Padova 

Module 4. Ecosystems' vulnerability and human-caused disruptive changes

Friday 17

9.30-11.30
Key-note speakers: Jakob Grandin, University of Bergen; Massimo De Marchi, University of Padova

11.30-12.00
Break

12.00-13.00
Discussion

13.00-14.30
Lunch

14.30-16.30
Workshop: Visualising research. IDA Studio, Rovigo

Final Panel discussion: Does Vulnerability make a difference?

Saturday 18

10.00-12.30
Panel discussion based on participants' research projects

12.30-13.00
Closing of the Winter School and certificate awarding 

13:00-14:00
Lunch

14.30-17.00
Visit to the Padova Botanical Garden (XVI Century UNESCO World Heritage site) and the Biodiversity Garden (optional)