Vol. VIII of the collection of critical literature reviews “What’s new in human rights doctoral research” is officially out . This book (open access) collects nine state-of-the-art analyses prepared by Ph.D. students addressing human rights-related topics in their respective doctoral programmes. 

Through an interdisciplinary lens, these contributions interrogate the frontiers of digital vulnerability, the “self-exploitation” and ethnicized hierarchization of migrant labor, and the legal hurdles of ecocide. By deconstructing the “physics” of energy transitions and confronting the postcolonial “participation-power gap” in the UN’s performative reviews, the research demands a decolonization of the knowledge-power nexus. From “anticipatory design” as a survival mechanism in the Anthropocene to the threats of “techno-feudalism,” this volume offers a comprehensive roadmap for reconstructing a just, dialogic, and sustainable global horizon.

The series "What's new in human rights doctoral research" seeks to provide fresh insights into the topics, methods and perspectives that early doctoral researchers deem relevant in the increasingly wide and transdisciplinary field of human rights scholarship.Each volume collects a set of critical literature reviews prepared at the end of their first year by human rights doctoral students. 

Vol. VIII includes the following research articles:

Sofia Riva, An Interdisciplinary Review of Digital Vulnerability for Migrant   and Diasporic Groups 

Chenda Wu, The Labour Exploitation of Chinese Migrant Workers in Italy: ‘Self-Exploitation’ and Labour Law Compliance

Anna Romanovych, Human Relationships with Nature: Climate Change and the Crime of Ecocide

Marta Vischi, The Energy Transition Available for Use: A Review of How It is Used in Research

Mehmet Çağlar Akyiğit, Towards a Pluralistic and Psychologically Grounded Framework of Social Justice  for the Eco-socio-political Development of the Younger Generations

Barbara Rinaldi, The Role of Future Thinking in Supporting Adolescents in Planning Their Future  Career Paths

Joseph Tendai Ruzvidzo, Beyond Theatre: Structural Barriers & Practical Pathways to Postcolonial Reform  in UN Human Rights Mechanisms

Tancredi Marini, Political Culture, International Democracy, and Human Rights.   A Literature Review

Clelia Vettori, On the Importance of Addressing Western Propaganda: A Literature Review