{"id":2523,"date":"2025-03-06T15:11:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T20:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/?p=2523"},"modified":"2025-03-29T17:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T21:25:38","slug":"hhrj-book-review-human-rights-on-the-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/2025\/03\/hhrj-book-review-human-rights-on-the-move\/","title":{"rendered":"HHRJ Book Review – Human Rights on the Move"},"content":{"rendered":"

HHRJ Book Review – Human Rights on the Move<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eli Cooper*<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHuman rights is a field of play with a set of failures designed in it.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he fact that . . . we had to come together as a human society to say, these are the rules, was another way of acknowledging that we failed.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

These quotes from the authors, chosen because of their personal impact, highlight the themes of evolution and insufficiency that stand out in Human Rights on the Move,<\/em> an anthology of nine chapters and five interludes that present distinct perspectives on how the modern understanding of human rights is \u201con the move.\u201d The anthology does not posture as if it has the<\/em> correct answer or perspective on what\u2019s shaping the human rights field and the direction it should be moving. Instead, it paints human rights as a \u201cliving practice\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a> made up of \u201cmutable constellations of practices rather than static ideals.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a> This idea is presented figuratively and literally through the authors\u2019 discussion of the movement of people, ideas, animals, and art. These pieces are woven together through threads of interdependence, relationality, perspective, and responsibility, each with implications for many of these topics. Although many of the pieces discuss international and domestic policies, the editors call upon the reader to recognize that \u201cpolicies alone \u2026 are insufficient to respond to human rights violations.\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

With nineteen contributors, each with a unique perspective of what it means for human rights to be \u201con the move,\u201d this anthology has something for everyone, from human rights practitioners to more casual human rights watchers. The variety of styles, emphasis on art, diversity of contributors, and interdisciplinary approaches create a tapestry of human rights perspectives that every reader can appreciate, even if they don\u2019t necessarily subscribe to every argument made throughout the anthology.<\/p>\n

Interdependence is a common thread through many of the pieces in Human Rights on the Move<\/em> as authors tackle human rights issues that are intrinsically interrelated and codependent on one another.[6]<\/sup><\/a> One underlying idea shared, at least implicitly, by many contributors is that human rights are only conferred to actors considered \u201chuman,\u201d a definition of which is contested historically and contemporarily.[7]<\/sup><\/a> For example, in the incredibly poignant interlude with nora chipaumire, the choreographer grapples with her role in the human rights field, concluding, \u201cI\u2019m in no position to talk about human rights, because I have none.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> Protection of human rights, even when legally recognized, is further complicated when political and legal systems produce conditions that promote harm and vulnerability for specific communities.[9]<\/sup><\/a> Many authors illustrate this complication in the context of migrant journeys where danger is not inherent and is fostered by border policies that shift the risk and responsibility away from officials and to the migrants.[10]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most impactful chapters that illustrates the central theme of interdependence is \u201cDisposable, Exploitable, and<\/em> Essential\u201d by Shui-Yin Sharon Yam. In this chapter, the author discusses the intersection of racist public health policies with government-sanctioned labor exploitation of migrant women.[11]<\/sup><\/a> Illustrating the terrible circumstances thrust upon these migrant workers as the pandemic began, she argues that the transnational aspect of this situation, namely the complicity of \u201csending governments\u201d and the government of Hong Kong, warrants heightened attention and recognition as a human rights violation.[12]<\/sup><\/a> Additionally, she points to a widening divide \u201cbetween the \u2018human\u2019 and the \u2018less than human\u2019\u201d in moments of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes it significantly more challenging to have the rights of the most vulnerable recognized and protected.[13]<\/sup><\/a> This chapter is emblematic of the quality and attention to detail throughout the book. Most chapters masterfully implicate the general themes of the book by introducing the reader to a specific situation or artist that they are unlikely to be intimately familiar with. Thus, the book keeps the reader engaged while continuously building upon its themes.<\/p>\n

Analysis of perspective is another common thread in Human Rights on the Move<\/em>. Whose perspective has value and how those perspectives are accurately shared or twisted through institutions are common questions. Many authors point to how testimony created for institutions, from asylum processes to international NGOs, often does not adequately represent the experiences of the people providing the testimony because it is sanitized or narrowed to fit the purpose it\u2019s made for.[14]<\/sup><\/a> The international human rights community has an undue focus on what it considers \u201c\u2019exceptional\u2019 violence,[15]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0causing it to miss or downplay the \u201cstructural violence\u201d that is endemic to many of our institutions and should also be considered exceptional.[16]<\/sup><\/a> The authors\u2019 answers to these common questions show how \u201c[m]emory\u2026is a political act\u201d and choosing whom to credit as trustworthy narrators shapes the stories that human rights defenders can tell.[17]<\/sup><\/a> They also show how perspective can shift blame from perpetrator to victims.[18]<\/sup><\/a> The focus on perspectives also provides a path to integrate the immense involvement of art within the anthology.<\/p>\n

The use of art and the centering of artists throughout the book creates a unique interplay that creates an engaging anthology. This interplay between the structured, scholarly understanding of human rights and the expressive, artistic understanding highlights how the two work together and is central to the anthology. Although witnessing the work of these artists in person would be ideal, the book still provides representations of their work that build upon the foundations and themes of the anthology. Art provides a method for migrants and other vulnerable communities \u201cto communicate their own experiences\u201d in a way that is valuable to them.[19]<\/sup><\/a> Some use art to \u201cescape momentarily,\u201d \u201crespond to the negative stereotypes that dehumanize them,\u201d or to build community while on their journeys.[20]<\/sup><\/a> Others use art to heal, build bridges between tradition and audience,[21]<\/sup><\/a> reclaim places of violence,[22]<\/sup><\/a> reclaim history,[23]<\/sup><\/a> or push back on negative external perceptions.[24]<\/sup><\/a> In using this anthology to teach the reader about the uses and history of art, the artists also illustrate how when art becomes more mainstream, it can lose a lot of its positive impacts.[25]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cContemporary Art Practices and the Human Right to Global Mobility\u201d by V\u00edctor Espinosa and Cristian Pineda was a chapter that was especially emblematic of the successful use of art to illustrate the anthology’s themes. In this chapter, the authors focus on art\u2019s ability to foster \u201csocial change,\u201d how \u201cparticipatory art projects [can] engage undocumented migrants\u2026in the production of\u201d art, and the ability for \u201cmigrants to communicate their own experiences and claim their right to global mobility\u201d through art.[26]<\/sup><\/a> Detailing two of Pineda\u2019s art projects, the chapter illustrates the impact of participatory art projects and shows how different approaches to artistic expression can have similar impacts. The first project, Caminates de papel<\/em>, built upon Pineda\u2019s previous work, El caminante<\/em>, which \u201cforce[d] the viewer to reflect on the violation of the human right to mobility and the violation of the right to a life in peace.\u201d[27]<\/sup><\/a> The second project, C\u00edrculos de vida<\/em>, saw Pineda create concentric rings of \u201cwaste or objects abandoned by migrants, found in caves located in the highlands of the Arizona desert.\u201d[28]<\/sup><\/a> These displays were used to \u201crepresent the spread of violence\u201d and \u201cthe growing social propagation of violence.\u201d[29]<\/sup><\/a> Both projects did not focus on the typical, elite audience of most art; instead, they chose to center on \u201cother migrants, smugglers, vigilantes, the border police, or human rights activists.\u201d[30]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0This shift in audience allowed the art to take on a valuable meaning to the community that was creating it, showing the power of participatory art projects. The unique approach to these projects also illustrated Pineda\u2019s and many other artists\u2019 real goals when developing art. They are \u201cnot concerned so much with changing legal regimes of human rights\u201d but focus efforts on developing new perspectives that \u201cchallenge [practices] that dehumanize and criminalize migrants.\u201d[31]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

This chapter\u2019s approach to discussing the purpose and impact of art is emblematic of the use of art in Human Rights on the Move<\/em>. Artists are concerned with reflecting a true \u201cnotion of being human\u201d that is \u201cevolving all the time\u201d instead of the institutional or legal understandings of human rights.[32]<\/sup><\/a> Many recognize the limitation of the formal human rights regime, choosing instead to highlight \u201chuman rights as the very essence that makes us who we are.\u201d[33]<\/sup><\/a> A particularly strong example of this distinction can be found in \u201cBlack Womxn and Girls, Corona, and the Pandemix\u201d by Elaine Richardson (\u201cDr. E\u201d).[34]<\/sup><\/a> This interlude is one of the most powerful portions of the book as it details Dr. E\u2019s one-woman show by the same name. In the book, art is used to illustrate the deficiencies of our contemporary, formalized understanding of human rights while highlighting how the two conceptions can come together to promote change.<\/p>\n

Human Rights on the Move<\/em> is genuinely an anthology with something for everyone interested in human rights. Although this review only covers two chapters in detail, every contribution to the book is worthy of being highlighted. Whereas not necessarily intended for a legal audience, the book could provide any human rights practitioner with an enjoyable read and new perspectives to consider.[35]<\/sup><\/a> As the first installment in the \u201cOn Possibility: Social Change and the Arts + Humanities\u201d series, the book shows potential for the series moving forward.<\/p>\n

*Eli Cooper is a first year law student at Harvard Law School.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Wendy S. Hesford & Amy Shuman, Reckoning with Human Rights Incommensurability<\/em>, in<\/em> Human Rights on the Move 1, 8 (Wendy S. Hesford, Momar K. Ndiaye & Amy Shuman eds., 2024) (quoting Tiffany Lethabo King, Humans Involved: Lurking in the Lines of Posthumanist Flight<\/em>, 3 Critical Ethnic Stud. 162 (2017)).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Faustin Linyekula & Momar Ndiaye, Human Rights and the Fragility of Staying Alive<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 74, 75.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Hesford & Shuman, supra<\/em> note 1, at 6 (quoting Upendra Baxi, The Future of Human Rights 21 (2006)).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Human Rights on the Move, supra <\/em>note 1, at xi; accord<\/em> Momar Ndiaye, Eleanor Paynter & Amy Shuman, Choreographing Mobility and Human Rights<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 45, 50.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hesford & Shuman, supra<\/em> note 1, at 13<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> See generally <\/em>Craig Scott, Interdependence and Permeability of Human Rights Norms: Towards a Partial Fusion of the International Covenants on Human Rights<\/em>, 27 Osgoode Hall L.J. 769, 779 (1989) (presenting an overview of the concept of interdependence in the context of international human rights).<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> See<\/em> nora chipaumire & Momar Ndiaye, Decentering Human Rights toward an African Ideology<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 93, 94 (\u201c[F]rom the get-go of the fourteenth century, when Europe meets Africa, it decides immediately that the African is not human.\u201d); Rachel Lewis, Street Cats Human-Animal Interdependencies in Times of Ecological Crisis<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 163, 164\u201365 (\u201clegal notion of personhood . . . is not an animal-friendly legal category,\u201d but \u201cIndigenous epistemologies reject the false separation of human, animal, and environmental life that characterizes colonial power relations\u201d); see also<\/em> Tiyi M. Morris & Mary E. Thomas, Countering Carceral Logics with Black Feminist Pedagogies<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 126, 133 (contextualizing Black feminist focus on education as tool for liberation within lack of recognition of human dignity in U.S. carceral system).<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> chipaumire & Ndiaye, supra<\/em> note 7, at 97.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> See<\/em> Eleanor Paynter, Migration Imaginaries: Wreckage, Ruination, and Recovery<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 27, 29 (\u201cnecropolitical bordering practices [which are] policies and actions that govern migration not by supporting rescue and arrival but by ensuring migrants must risk their lives to reach Europe\u201d) (emphasis removed); V\u00edctor M. Espinosa & Cristian Pineda, Contemporary Art Practices and the Human Right to Global Mobility,<\/em> in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 56, 70 (\u201cregimes of (in)visibility and surveillance that dehumanize and criminalize migrants\u201d); Shui-Yin Sharon Yam, Disposable, Exploitable, and Essential<\/em> : Transnational Domestic Labor in Hong Kong,<\/em> in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 98, 101 (\u201cSince the worker\u2019s immigration status in Hong Kong is tied to their employment, migrant women do not usually find recourse to the abuse and exploitation they experience.\u201d); Morris & Thomas, supra <\/em>note 7, at 136 (\u201c[I]gnorance is not a personal deficiency but a reflection of an educational system that is premised on racist and imperialist legacies of knowledge production.\u201d); Paloma Martinez-Cruz, Mar\u00eda Sabina as Vanishing Indian: Writing Cultural Mazatec Culture out of Mushroom Medicine,<\/em> in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 177, 189 (\u201cPatterns of settler hegemony are asserted by renaming lands, places, and resources to naturalize dominance, and this was particularly egregious in the Mazatec context.\u201d).<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> See<\/em> Ndiaye, Paynter & Shuman, supra <\/em>note 4, at 48\u201349; see also<\/em> Paynter, supra <\/em>note 9, at 40 (\u201cSorry we didn\u2019t drown\u201d is a political message from surviving migrants that shows that \u201cItalian leaders \u2026 would prefer migrants died at sea.\u201d).<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Yam, supra <\/em>note 9, at 98\u201399.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Id.<\/em> at 102.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 103.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> See<\/em> Wendy S. Hesford, On the Move: Human Rights and Humanitarian Violence<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 15, 16\u201317 (detailing impact of testimony by a mother in U.S. Congress); Bridget M. Hass, Transforming Subjectivity through Testimony<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 149, 150 (\u201c[T]estimony within the human rights context is often curated by international experts, potentially leading to the alienation of the witness from the very meaning of their testimony.\u201d).<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Quotations added around exceptional as the authors call into question what violence is considered \u201cexceptional,\u201d arguing that all violence, including structural violence, should be considered exceptional.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Hesford, supra <\/em>note 14, at 18.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Paynter, supra <\/em>note 9, at 27 (quoting Irene Caselli, This Museum Documents the Tragic Past and Present of Migration<\/em>, Info Migrants, 26 Aug. 2019, https:\/\/www.infomigrants.net\/en\/post\/18781\/this-museum-documents-the-tragic-past-and-present-of-migration<\/a>); see also<\/em> Martinez-Cruz, supra <\/em>note 8, at 178 (discussing how \u201cIndigenous intellectual property\u201d is coopted and primarily trusted by the West when presented as scientific research by elite institutions).<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> See Hesford, supra <\/em>note 14, at 17 (narratives change victims from migrant children to U.S. citizens); Ndiaye, Paynter & Shuman, supra <\/em>note 4, at 48 (discussing how migrants are blamed for attempting the dangerous journey).<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Espinosa & Pineda, supra <\/em>note 9, at 57.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 65\u201366.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Ndiaye, Paynter & Shuman, supra <\/em>note 4, at 53.<\/p>\n

[22]<\/a> See<\/em> Espinosa & Pineda, supra <\/em>note 9, at 67.<\/p>\n

[23]<\/a> Linyekula & Ndiaye, supra <\/em>note 2, at 79.<\/p>\n

[24]<\/a>Guisela Latorre, Border Embodiments and Ethical Arts Practices<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 81, 86 (\u201cBy equating border crossers with fallen heroes, Agui\u00f1iga is elevating their social status while also actively disrupting the criminalizing discourses imposed on them that can strip them of their human rights.\u201d).<\/p>\n

[25]<\/a> See<\/em> Paynter, supra <\/em>note 8, at 36 (discussing how a \u201cmemorial problematically erases the violence and politics of the actual incident\u201d it sought to reflect); Latorre, supra <\/em>note 23, at 81 (discussing how border art lost many of its proponents and participants when it \u201cbecame embroiled in a controversy about the problems of marketing a community-engaged and site-specific arts practice that was openly critical US immigration policy and abusive practices\u201d).<\/p>\n

[26]<\/a> Espinosa & Pineda, supra <\/em>note 9, at 57.<\/p>\n

[27]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 62.<\/p>\n

[28]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 67.<\/p>\n

[29]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 67-68.<\/p>\n

[30]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 69.<\/p>\n

[31]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 70.<\/p>\n

[32]<\/a> Ndiaye, Paynter & Shuman, supra <\/em>note 4, at 48, 50.<\/p>\n

[33]<\/a> Linyekula & Ndiaye, supra <\/em>note 2, at 76.<\/p>\n

[34]<\/a> See<\/em> Elaine Richardson, Black Womxn and Girls, Corona, and the Pandemix<\/em>, in <\/em>Human Rights on the Move, supra<\/em> note 1, at 111, 111\u2013125.<\/p>\n

[35]<\/a> Especially Transforming Subjectivity through Testimony<\/em> by Bridget M. Haas, supra<\/em> note 14, which details new approaches to testimony that could be implemented in practice, and Disposable, Exploitable, and Essential<\/em> by Shui-Yin Sharon Yam, supra<\/em> note 9, which details labor policy interactions in the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HHRJ Book Review – Human Rights on the Move By Eli Cooper* \u201cHuman rights is a field of play with a set of failures designed in it.\u201d[1] \u201c[T]he fact that . . . we had to come together as a human society to say, these are the rules, was another way of acknowledging that we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-online-journal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/hrj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}