Governing Emerging Technologies: Challenges for Democracy and Human Rights

How are emerging technologies transforming the foundations of power, freedom, and democratic governance? From the Internet and artificial intelligence to the expanding frontiers of neurotechnology, technological innovation is not merely reshaping societies—it is redefining the boundaries of individual autonomy, institutional authority, and fundamental rights.

Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, this workshop critically examines the evolving relationship between technological innovation, governance, democracy, and human rights. Moving beyond conventional debates about regulation, it explores how technologies themselves shape social and political orders, redistribute power, challenge established legal and institutional frameworks, and create new opportunities and risks for democratic societies.

At stake is a fundamental question: how can governance evolve in response to technological transformation while preserving human dignity, individual freedom, democratic accountability, and the rule of law?