Author Archives: Hilary Charlesworth

About Hilary Charlesworth

Hilary Charlesworth is a Melbourne Laureate Professor at Melbourne Law School and Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University. She held an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship from 2010 to 2015 on "Rights, Regulation, and Ritualism,'' which supported the conference on which the essays in this dossier are based.

Introduction to Dossier on Human Rights Rituals

Abstract: In this special issue, four essays draw on distinct traditions in law, literary studies, history, and anthropology to explore international human rights law through a lens rarely used in this domain—that of ritual. This introductory essay explains the significance of collective rituals as socially structuring events that embody power relations. It considers the role of ritual in instigating or strengthening community, and as a mode of governance that may circumvent the emergence of more violent regimes. It discusses how law generally is authorized and Continue reading → Continue reading →