Recognizing Reza Afshari: Historical Challenges/Contemporary Challenges

This HRQ encomium is in honor of the scholarly contributions of Reza Afshari and their relevance to the contemporary challenges facing human rights in an era of rising global xenophobia. Contributions are not intended to be commentaries on Afshari’s work as such; rather the idea is for each scholar to reflect on the relevance of issues that have particularly informed his work over the years to contemporary human rights challenges. Afshari has been a brave, innovative thinker with a willingness to challenge political and academic shibboleths of all sorts. Reflecting on themes that have informed his work brings up much of what is most essential and most challenging in human rights scholarship and its ability or inability to make an impact. This encomium, thus, is more than just a passing comment on Afshari’s work; it is meant to give participants a chance to engage on key recurring issues in human rights during these particularly dark times.