Introducing the first blog symposium to celebrate Professor Elina Pirjatanniemi
By Magdalena Kmak & Pamela Slotte Russo
In a world where diverse, often populist, voices call for big visions and offer easy solutions, the human rights project finds itself in an increasingly ambivalent position. On the one hand, as human rights are openly under attack and states are increasingly choosing to ground their policies and practices in national rather than international law, the need to stand their ground and defend their core values is more urgent than ever. Yet, the grand vision behind human rights and the law of humanity project has also, for many, turned into a cruel optimism as human rights remain implicated in the power politics of the international legal regime, its colonial legacies, and the operation of the humanitarian industrial complex. It is therefore important to reflect on the ambivalences of human rights and on their implications not only for human rights as normative pronouncements but also as tools for activism, and simply as a matter of hope.
In his seminal article, Spring Break, David Kennedy reflected on the ambiguities of being an international lawyer and human rights professional. The essay initiated a discussion on the role of human rights activism and contributed to the introduction of reflexivity, positionality, and a focus on power relations into human rights discourse. This symposium likewise brings into view an internal perspective on international law, the rule of law and the human rights project, its vision and promises, and how actors attached to it in a professional capacity reflect on their responsibilities and intentions, what they are doing, and what they see as the limits of the project.
On the one hand, the posts engage with the pronouncements of the crisis and the ambiguity of the human rights project as having always been challenged. Even though international law and human rights may have failed spectacularly at times, they have also prevailed, if in a different form or with a different focus (blog 2). One can also hope that their legacy will live on and will continue to offer insights and orient future generations (blog 1). It is important in particular to show how civil society and civic education (blog 4) and the minoritised or the local (blog 3), which may seem small, limited, or insufficient put against the ’big picture’, can serve as places for hope, mobilisation, and counternarratives against populism, democratic backsliding and the erosion of the rule of law. Significantly, it is vital to address the local, everyday concerns people have, related to healthcare, racism, unemployment, marginalisation, etc., to tackle challenges to human rights and the rule of law such as populism and authoritarianism. Rather than presenting human rights as yet another grand vision, human rights need to be reclaimed as everyday tools for social justice.
This symposium is the first in a series of three published in honour of Professor Elina Pirjatanniemi hosted by the Tålking Rights blog during autumn 2026. The symposium closely relates to Elina’s work and writings in the areas of public international law and the rule of law, not least many aspects of international human rights protection including also on a local level
Blog posts:
- Martin Scheinin: If International Human Rights Law was repealed, what could replace it?
- Allan Rosas: Public International Law: Not law? Not so international?
- Christina Binder: Human Rights Law in Turbulent Times: What Role for the Local Level? (published on 26th of August)
- Janne Salminen: Education as Part of the Rule of Law Checklist (published on 26th of August)
Magdalena Kmak is a professor of Public International Law, with a specialisation in Migration and Minority Research, at Åbo Akademi University. Magdalena received her PhD in 2009 from the Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences. She holds the title of Docent in law and globalisation (University of Helsinki). Her research interests encompass mobility, migration and exile studies, public international law, human rights and international and European refugee and migration law. Magdalena is a PI and Consortium Director in a project ‘Diversity, Trust and Two-Way Integration (Mobile Futures)’ funded by the Strategic Research Council established within the Research Council of Finland (2021–2027). She is also co-founder of the Nordic Network on Climate Related Displacement and Mobility.
Pamela Slotte Russo is Professor of Religion and Law at Åbo Akademi University and a McDonald Distinguished Senior Fellow of Law and Religion at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University School of Law. Her works include the co-edited volumes Revisiting the Origins of Human Rights (CUP, 2015), Christianity and International Law (CUP, 2021), and the co-authored Juridification of Religion? (Brill, 2017).
Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash