The ‘right’ in human rights: Aristotelianism and Neo-Confucianism at the basis of the EU-China Dialogue

“The ‘right’ in human rights: Aristotelianism and Neo-Confucianism at the basis of the EU-China Dialogue” (RIGHT) is an interdisciplinary research project proposed for a Marie Curie Global Fellowship by Dr.

Anna Irene Baka (PhD, The University of Hong Kong), Senior Human Rights Officer at the Greek National Commission for Human Rights and Adjunct Lecturer in Jurisprudence, EU law and Human Rights at the University of London International LL.B. Programme in Greece.

This research aims to provide a ground-breaking definitional human rights framework on the basis of Aristotelianism and Neo-Confucianism, thus filling a major gap in human rights theory and practice and offering a basis for the sustainable continuation of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue.

The outgoing phase will be conducted at the East Asian Languages and Civilisations Department of Harvard under the supervision of Prof. Michael Puett.

The return phase will take place at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca' Foscari under the supervision of Prof. Marco Sgarbi.

The project will be assisted by an advisory board of philosophers and human rights experts, and will also involve a focus group consisting of European and Chinese academics and policymakers.

Results will be presented mainly through a website, a monograph, two journal articles, a module, a policy brief and a closing conference. RIGHT becomes particularly timely due to the revival of Confucianism by the Chinese Communist Party.

The project provides the opportunity to give the proponent tailored training-through-research and transferable-skills-training for the advancement of her academic career, to establish collaborations between institutions working on similar themes in the US, Europe and China, and to deploy two philosophical traditions of the European and Chinese cultural heritage in a way that would demonstrate their relevance today, as well as their potential to address scholarly gaps and contemporary societal challenges.