Justice in the Balance: Can the Law Save Democracy?

In this episode, we explore the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) — often hailed as the “conscience of Europe” and one of the most successful human rights institutions in the world. But in an era of democratic backsliding, populist politics, and eroding faith in institutions, what does “justice” look like today?

Drawing on eight years of fieldwork with advocates, lawyers, and judges at the ECHR, Professor Jessica Greenberg’s Justice in the Balance examines how the Court functions both as a bureaucratic machine and as a moral ideal. Through her ethnographic lens, she reveals the tensions between law’s promise and its practice — between the aspiration of human rights and the limits of the institutions meant to protect them.

This conversation probes the contradictions at the heart of the European project: Can legal institutions still serve as engines of democracy and hope, or have they become hollow symbols of a fading order?

About the Guest:

Jessica Greenberg is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to UIUC, Greenberg was an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, and an Assistant Professor in Communication Studies at Northwestern University. She recently earned a Master of Studies in Law at the College of Law, University of Illinois. She is also currently the Co-Editor of the Political and Legal Anthropology Review (PoLAR).

• Website: https://anthro.illinois.edu/directory/profile/jrgreenb
• Email: jrgreenb@illinois.edu

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Episode Credits

• Host: Ed Parker
• Producer: Ed Parker and Sarah Awan
• Executive Producer: Sarah Awan
• Show Notes: Yusan Ghebremeskel
• Publisher and Communications Manager: Evie Nicholson
• Editor: Max Parnell