[THREAD] Human rights are tools we can use to make sure our governments do what’s best for us during the pandemic. This isn't how we tend to frame rights. But it should & can be. I wrote a guide for @LibertiesEU to explain how. #HumanRightsUnderCorona https://bit.ly/2wJcrL6  /1

We tend to focus on injustices towards 'others'. We speak in legalisms that don't touch our audience. We argue on the terms set by some politicians who want to pit human rights against public health. /2

Our opponents have mastered the language of fear, anxiety & loss. And we tend to react with the language of cold, naked rationality: the law and the facts. I have done this for most of my career. And I used to wonder why we continued to lose public opinion. /3

If we want people to hear what we're saying, we need to clothe rational arguments in #values. Because our attitudes on human rights are determined by values prioritised in our subconscious. We must master the language of hope for a brighter future, togetherness and empathy. /4

If we lived in a society where music (rather than rights) was being attacked, we'd be playing people music to convince them to save it. But the only genre we'd be playing them is classical. Because that's the pure art form we were trained in at the conservatory. /5

Some people would like it. Many might know snippets of the popular tunes, without realising their origins. But few people would be able to sing along to or dance to it. Few people would feel that this music forms part of the treasured soundtrack to their lives. /6

If we want people to appreciate and support #humanrights, we need to broaden our palette of melodies, lyrics and rhythms. We need to explain, in terms that connect to lived experiences, how human rights put our shared underlying values into practice. /7

A good place to start is to ask yourself: what is it that this thing does, that is so important to us, that we decided to make it into a right? If you can explain rights in these terms, you're starting to frame human rights in a way that connects to values. /8 END