From Disconnection to Resonance: Rethinking Human Rights Education for Affective Digital Publics

In today’s rapidly evolving digital environment, Human Rights Education faces increasing challenges in communicating effectively with young people and wider publics. While digital narratives across political and social domains increasingly employ affective strategies to mobilise audiences, human rights campaigns often remain anchored in rational and normative frameworks, limiting their resonance with digitally native publics. This gap presents a pressing challenge for educators and advocates seeking to promote democratic values and rights-based learning within affectively charged and algorithmically mediated spaces. Drawing on affect theory and critical HRE studies, this research investigates how emotional engagement influences the success of online human rights campaigns. The central hypothesis is that affective, participatory and platform-sensitive campaigns are more effective in fostering engagement, critical awareness and civic action. To explore this theory, the study conducts a qualitative and quantitative comparative analysis of two digital HRE campaigns, examining narrative and participatory strategies, and indicators of audience interaction across major social media platforms. The analysis seeks to determine whether emotionally resonant storytelling and participatory formats enhances visibility and educational impact, while also assessing how algorithmic dynamics and institutional hierarchies shape the limits of such engagement. Ultimately, the research aims to offer practical recommendations on how HRE campaigns can strengthen their digital strategies by integrating ethical and affective approaches to online visibility.