Book Launch: Labor in Hard Times

An event celebrating the publication of Filiz Kahraman’s book, Labor in Hard Times (Cambridge University Press 2026)

Speakers: Dr Filiz Kahraman (University of Toronto)

Chair: Prof Virginia Mantouvalou (UCL Laws)

About the Event

Join us for the launch of Filiz Kahraman’s book Labor in Hard Times (CUP 2026). Labor in Hard Times examines how organized labor in Turkey and the United Kingdom turned to international human rights law in response to domestic repression and neoliberal restructuring. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and a unique database of labor rights cases, the book traces how workers used litigation at the European Court of Human Rights not just to win legal victories, but to build political pressure, assert legitimacy, and reclaim space for collective action. Focusing on public sector unionists in Turkey and blacklisted construction workers in the UK, it offers a rare view of how grassroots activists and lawyers mobilized international law as a tactical resource: Workers engaged rights discourse strategically to pursue concrete goals, while remaining rooted in class-based solidarity. With vivid case studies, this book speaks to readers interested in international courts, human rights, and the evolving strategies of labor movements in an era of democratic backsliding and global inequality. 

About the Speaker

Filiz Kahraman is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Her research on law and politics has been supported by the National Science Foundation, awarded the ISA’s Best Dissertation in Human Rights prize, and received an article award from the Law and Society Association.

About the Chair

Virginia Mantouvalou is Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law. She is the author of Structural Injustice and Workers’ Rights (OUP 2023), runner up for the 2025 Inner Temple Book Prize, and co-author or editor of several major works on labour law and human rights, including Human Rights at Work (2024) and Structural Injustice and the Law (2024). Her research appears in leading journals and has been cited by courts including the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She has received multiple awards, including a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship and a UCL Provost Award for Public Engagement for her work with the NGO Kalayaan. Virginia is Articles Co-Editor of the Modern Law Review, sits on several editorial boards, and has held visiting positions at Georgetown, Melbourne, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She has also advised the UK Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the ILO, and currently serves as Chair of Kalayaan.

This event is organised by the Institute for Human Rights and the Labour Rights Institute.

Image by Zsófia Vera Mezei on Unsplash