The course introduces students to the primary debates about human rights and the role of power in politics. It examines the successes and failures of the human rights agenda and how power relates to human rights successes and failures. The course asks many important questions about the relationship between human rights and politics and the role of civil societies in democracies and authoritarian rule: How do human rights work in domestic and international politics? What are effective strategies for realising rights? What is the role of non-state actors in the realisation of human rights? Finally, by focusing on the methodological and ethical challenges of researching and measuring human rights, the module provides space for students to equip themselves for their own future research projects.
Lecturer and head of the Political Programmes Committee at EHU, lecturer and junior researcher at KTU, head of the Human Rights Department at the Seimas Ombudsman's Office, PhD candidate in Political Science at Kaunas University of Technology and Cum Laude MA in Political Science at Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science as well as MA in Communication Studies (Journalism) at Vytautas Magnus University He has been working in the field of human rights protection for more than 20 years, He has been a board member of several non-governmental organisations and has contributed to the establishment of the Human Rights Coalition (since 2014 a coalition of human rights organisations) in Lithuania. Research interests include international relations, Eastern Europe, human rights, public policy, agenda setting and political communication.