In April 2018, Dejusticia (Center for Law, Justice, and Society), an action-research human rights organization based in Bogotá Colombia, in partnership with the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, launched an edited volume: Rising to the Populist Challenge: A New Playbook for Human Rights Actors. The book, co-edited by César Rodríguez-Garavito and Krizna Gomez, coalesces a repertoire of innovative responses by human rights organizations to confront the growing crackdown on civil society and the erosion of democracy worldwide. As Rodríguez-Garavito notes, “populist leaders seem to have been learning from each other in terms of the tactics that they use in delegitimizing and attacking human rights actors.” The challenge, therefore, and consequently what this collection seeks to provide, is a collection of fresh, innovative, and high-impact strategies to contribute to a new playbook for those resisting these politically challenging contexts. Articles curated here are based on the contributions from this volume.
