Who Belongs? Minorities, Human Rights and the Future of Democratic Inclusion

Minority rights are at the heart of the human rights project and constitute a critical test of the democratic promise of equality, dignity, and political inclusion. Yet, in a period of democratic uncertainty, rights protections are increasingly contested. Across different political contexts, minorities face discrimination, exclusion, restrictions on political participation, and challenges to their claims for recognition and equality. At the same time, constitutional institutions, courts, international organizations, and civil society actors continue to develop new forms of protection and new understandings of minority rights.
This panel invites contributions that examine the changing relationship between human rights, minority protection, and democracy. It is particularly interested in how political and institutional transformations affect the capacity of minorities to claim, exercise, and defend their rights, as well as in the ways minority struggles may reshape broader understandings of human rights and democratic citizenship. Contributions may address ethnic, religious, linguistic, indigenous, migrant, or other minorities, and may adopt comparative, theoretical, or empirical perspectives.
The panel invites us to consider: What happens to the universality of human rights when minority rights become politically contested? Can democracy protect minorities when majoritarian politics challenges the very idea of minority rights? And, conversely, can minority struggles become a source of democratic renewal in increasingly uncertain political systems?