Research and human rights

This book proceeds from the premiss that respect for fundamental human rights - including the rights to freedom of expression, association and movement - is essential to the ability to conduct scholarly research without interference or manipulation, and to protect not only the integrity of the research but also the security of the researcher. In the world today, academic freedom is threatened in many countries. Issuing a warning against this development and identifying its negative consequences, several of the book's chapters highlight situations in which academic freedom is under increasing attack. Moreover, as scholarly research is linked to, and often has implications for, human rights, understanding the norms and principles that underpin human rights, and incorporating a human rights perspective into academic research, ensures that the results of this research are more accurate and comprehensive, and enables more responsible solutions to pressing societal challenges such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic to be reached. The chapters of the volume are revised and updated versions of papers given at an international conference in The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in September 2019.