2.1 The Idea of Human Rights
Key concepts: Human Rights, Justice, Equality, Power, Sovereignty, Legitimacy
Theoretical Perspectives: Universalism, Liberalism, Marxism, Post-Colonialism
New terms: human rights, equality, equity, justice, de jure, de facto, covenant, convention, conditional sovereignty, responsibility to protect, codification, ratification, soft law, crime against humanity, war crime
In this unit, we are going to explore the idea of human rights, its origins key debates and dilemmas surrounding the concept. We are going to look at different perspectives regarding the following questions:
- What is a right?
- How did the idea of human rights arise?
- What are the different kinds of human rights we have, and how are they codified and enforced?
- How do human rights influence Global Politics across different levels of analysis?
- Are human rights universal, or are they just another imposition of "Western culture" on the rest of the world?
- Who is responsible for enforcing human rights, and what should happen if they are ignored or violated?
- How powerful are international institutions in upholding human rights?
- What are the responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses of the International Criminal Court?
Required Reading
Clapham, Andrew: Human Rights, A Very Short Introduction, p. 1-56
Gleek, Charles et. al.: Pearson Essentials: Global Politics, Human Rights chapter
United Nations: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Posner, Eric: "The case against Human Rights", The Guardian, (4 Dec. 2014), https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/dec/04/-sp-case-against-human-rights
ICC Web Quest
The Guardian: Former Congo leader Jean Pierre Bemba wins appeal (8 June 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/08/former-congo-leader-jean-pierre-bemba-wins-war-crimes-appeal-international-criminal-court
Recommended Reading
Heywood, Andrew: "Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention", Global Politics, ch. 13
Heywood, Andrew: "International Law", Global Politics, ch. 14
Required Viewing