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Future of Human Rights Activism
Since the establishment of Amnesty International in 1961, Human Rights and solidarity have been the two main subjects for Amnesty International. In the past 50 years, several geopolitical shifts have taken place. Simultaneously, modern means of communication and new media have made the world smaller. Human rights activism changes along with these developments. In two show&talk evenings, we search for the meaning of this changing world and Amnesty's role within it. With our honoured guests, video fragments, interactive presentations and the audience we focus on two crucial aspects for Amnesty: images and empowerment.
Images of Human Rights Activism
During its existence images played an important role in the work of Amnesty; as proof of abuses of human rights, in its lobby towards governments and as a means to influence public opinion. Since 1961 the amount of images in the public domain has exploded and the source of the images has changed dramatically. With the coming of the Internet and related social media, professionals no longer have the monopoly on the production of images. Pictures and videos are being uploaded to YouTube, Facebook and Twiter; the Internet has become an inexhaustible source where everything is almost real time available for everyone. And to make it more complex, as a consumer you can comment and forward the images to become a new source. What does this revolution in the media landscape mean for professionals and the public? Has the role of the professionals changed from "gate keepers" to "navigators" of images?
Images and interpretation are the themes for this first evening. What is the influence of the media on how we see the world? Who are the trustable partners and which role can be ascribed to Amnesty? How does the media landscape change due to the influence of technological innovation and globalisation and which chances for Amnesty does this transformation entail? Our goal is to identify the new media age and to look at the shifts that occur with regard to producer, medium and consumer. What can Amnesty do in the future to accomplish its goals?
With among others Nick Fraser (series editor Storyville BBC), Adriaan Monshouwer (founder of Nederlands Foto Instituut), Lars van Troost (head Political Affairs Amnesty Netherlands), Caspar Sonnen (curator IDFA DocLab), Arjan Postma (research director FreedomLab Future Studies), Lex Runderkamp (correspondent NOS), Thomas Bruning (secretary general NVJ) and Claudia Hinterseer (managing director and founding member NOOR).
Moderator Lennart Booij (presenter VARA and co-founder of BKB)
You can register for this event at http://amnesty.online-inschrijven.nl/
Information about the second part of Future of Human Rights Activism on May 27: www.dezwijger.nl/EmpowermentOfHumanRightsActivism