Post by Simon Reid-Henry

Last week’s heatwave in Paris was bad news for tennis players (except the youngest ones). But it was good news for those of us escaping soggy Oslo to attend a workshop at Sciences Po on the historical evolution of Duties and Rights. "From Duties to Rights: Global Historical Perspectives" was organised by Nicolas Delalande and Charles Walton at the Centre d'Histoire, and was everything a workshop needs to be: intellectually suggestive, constructively deconstructive, and full of fun and interesting people. The programme asked: “What methodological tools should a history of duties employ? And how might a history of duties be useful for understanding current struggles over justice and responsibility, both within societies and between human and non-human beings?” My own answer, given as the workshop’s closing plenary lecture, reviewed the work we have been doing at PRIO in the Co-Duties project. Building on this work, I explored three meta-historical questions – What is duty good for? What is duty when it isn’t an obligation? And what is the space of duty? – to frame 8 “evolutions” that are needed in how we think about duties.   1.        From histories of duties to futures of duties. 2.        From correlativity to interdependence. 3.        From contractualism to contextualism. 4.        From duties to duty (or, cognatism). 5.        From (social) actors to (non-human) agents. 6.        From impositions to freedoms. 7.        From justice to reconciliation. 8.        From duty as constituted condition to duty as unbounded disposition. Good to also find time to catch up with Tidhar Wald from the International Fund for Public Interest Media, to brainstorm policy briefs with Francesco Saraceno, catch up on inequality research with Christian Olaf Christiansen, and stop by the Norwegian embassy with Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert to discuss potential future convenings between academics in Norway and France with Johannes Peckholt Fordal, outgoing Secretary on economy and policy. Lots more in the works here! Kristoffer Lidén Sarah Wolff Anna-Louise Milne Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée Kristin Bergtora Sandvik Audrey Kathleen Geissinger