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As the German energy sector has close ties with the Columbian mining sector, human rights issues in Colombia's mining regions need to be seen in a transnational context. This translates into diverse options for action and shared responsibilities on both ends of the coal supply chain with respect to the human rights impacts. As the constellation of actors involved is complex, it is not always obvious who bears precisely what sort of responsibility for what. Moreover, this complex constellation is itself embedded in a transnational economic structure. This allows gaps in human rights protection to open. This analysis reveals that new opportunities to take action are necessary. Transnational cooperation can help closing gaps in protection and provide more transparency.

Human rights risk assessments help corporations to identify potential adverse effects of their business activities on human rights in order to avoid them, reduce them or compensate those affected. Corporations differ in their understanding of what constitutes a “risk”: a corporate risk assessment is about potentially adverse effects on returns on investments or operations. This analysis outlines the different concepts of risk in a human rights and in a business context and illustrates the potential impact this discrepancy can have in practice by using the example of a corporate risk assessment in the Colombian coal sector. From this analysis the Institute derives criteria for possible self-regulatory action on the part of state and business, which can make a human rights risk assessment a mandatory requirement for enterprises.

Nach einer langen Phase der Verdrängung ist Deutschland nun 'Weltmeister der Vergangenheitsbewältigung' und hat das 'dunkle Kapitel' seiner Geschichte erfolgreich in das Masternarrativ einer vereinigten bundesrepublikanischen Identität integriert. Mit der heutigen Erinnerungskultur ist zugleich ein Ort geschaffen, an dem über gegenwärtigen Antisemitismus und Rassismus diskutiert wird, als fänden sie in luftleeren Räumen statt. Wir leben in einer Gegenwart, in der das Gedenken an die Shoah zwar Staatsräson ist, selbstbestimmte Erinnerung aber erkämpft werden muss. In der Opfergruppen vergessen und diskriminiert werden. In der die Vergangenheit instrumentalisiert wird, um Migrant*innen auszugrenzen. Vor diesem Hintergrund sind Jüdinnen und Juden mit der Erwartung einer deutschen Dominanzgesellschaft konfrontiert, den sonderbaren deutschen Umgang mit der nationalsozialistischen Vergangenheit zu bestätigen. Jüdisch-deutsche sowie innerjüdische Widersprüche können nicht thematisiert werden, Kontinuitäten rechter und antisemitischer Gewalt bleiben unbenannt. Wie aber wirkt die Vergangenheit in die Gegenwart hinein? Wer erinnert sich (nicht) und wer wird (nicht) erinnert? Inwiefern kann von einem kollektiven Gedächtnis gesprochen werden, wenn es um die Entlastung der deutschen Täter*innengesellschaft geht, die sich jüdischer und migrantischer Positionen lediglich bedient, um die eigene Gutwerdung zu inszenieren? Auf welche Weise liegt in dem Konzept postmigrantischer Gesellschaft en die Chance für eine Intervention?

Mira Evans, a 35-year-old teacher, is stuck in a life she never planned. Burdened by years of regret and crushed dreams, she wakes up each day feeling more lost than the last. When she loses her job and becomes estranged from her closest family, she finds herself standing at a breaking point—unsure of where to turn, or if she even has the strength to begin again. The mysterious Eternal Library, which is supposed to only be visible to those who have reached the brink of despair, was found by Mira one stormy night. Within its historic walls, she finds books detailing the numerous lives she could have led if she had made other decisions. Entering these other realms is a thrilling and dangerous experience. Mira quickly discovers that although these lives have their happy moments, they are far from ideal when she investigates these other options—becoming a Michelin-starred chef, a world-traveling humanitarian, or even finding love again. The stakes rise as each new life blurs the boundaries between her imagination and reality. Will she completely lose herself in the pursuit of the ideal existence, or will she be able to resist the seductive charm of these other worlds? A mystery individual shows up just as Mira is starting to lose herself in these alternate lives, pushing her to face her regrets head-on and make a decision that will change her life. Will she decide to accept her actual life's blemishes and see the beauty in them? Or will she give up her true self in an attempt to live a flawless but ultimately meaningless life? Mira must make a tough decision with her future and heart at stake. The true question still stands, though: Will she always chase false aspirations in an attempt to find what may have been, or will she be able to regain her dreams and find contentment in the life that has been given to her?