441. Human Rights in an Age of Precarity

1948, Paris in winter. The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, against the backdrop of two bloody wars. The first time nations across the world agreed, in writing, on the fundamental rights owed to every human being.

Eighty years later, we have forgotten why the declaration was made in the first place. The rights enshrined in that document are no longer treated as fundamental. In a world shaped by profit-driven economies, human value is increasingly measured by productivity and utility alone. The violation of human rights has become unremarkable, treated as a practical feature of modern existence.

This panel brings together advocates across law, academia and activism to examine the historical, economic, and psychological conditions that determine whether people experience human rights as inalienable and foundational. The conversation is as much diagnostic as it is restorative: an attempt to re-anchor rights in human dignity.

After the discussion, there will be an open Q&A.

In collaboration with:

In this episode of BIC Talks, Matthias Mahlmann, Aditya Sondhi, Arvind Narrain and Maitreyi Krishnan will be in conversation with Mrudula Vanangamudi . This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in May 2026.

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