Redefining the human rights narrative

Prestigious Fellowship Empowers Law Professor to Advance Global Human Rights Research.

Professor Surya P. Subedi, OBE, KC, of the School of Law at the University of Leeds has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, which supports established scholars to undertake a significant piece of original research.

This three-year fellowship will enable Professor Subedi to conduct research into the contribution of developing countries to the evolution of human rights, with a view to questioning orthodox narratives in international legal discourse.

His work aims to develop a cross-cultural account of human rights, informed by the values of both Western and non-Western civilisations, and will culminate in a major publication on the subject.

Surya, who has held his post at Leeds since 2004, said: “I feel hugely honoured to receive the Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust.

“Western civilisation’s contribution to human rights has been asserted in a wide range of literature. In contrast, few studies have been conducted on the contribution of non-Western civilisations to human rights, and Western scholars are markedly less familiar with the role countries of the Global South have played in their advancement.

I hope to address this intellectual gap and to significantly advance the scope of human rights research beyond existing dominant scholarly and political narratives.

Professor Subedi currently teaches Global Governance through Law, Public International Law, World Trade Organisation Law, and International Investment Law at the School of Law, University of Leeds.