GS 101: Human Rights

Rights in Historical Context

- Pre-WWII, 'rights-bearers' were primarily elites (widespread exclusion of the powerless; from Athens to Thomas Jefferson)

The Holocaust and UDHR

- as turning point in rights debate: broadening/deepening rights part of 'never again' movement - human rights 'revolution' about empowering the powerless/marginalized- women, children, minorities, refugees, LGBTQ, etc. - Universal Declaration as aspirational, not binding

What are human rights

- human rights as 'social constructs' - rights as 'claims' (on others, and on the state) - security (freedom from fear) vs. subsistence (freedom from want) - collective vs. individual rights

Rights as 'claims' (on others, ad on the state)

- negative (proscriptive) vs. positive (prescriptive) rights - rights vs. responsibilities

First Generation: Civil/Political Rights

- rights to life, to freedom, to hold property, to political participation, and to equal treatment and 'due process' before the law - emphasis on individual rights and limitations on government action (proscriptive rights) : - 'liberal' rights: maximizing individual freedom, agency, autonomy - 'democratic' rights: voting assembling, speaking out - links with 'liberal democracy'?

Third Generation Rights

- solidarity rights: to development, to democracy, to a healthy environment, to cultural protection, to equality - shift towards the rights of groups and collectivities rather than individual rights: gender issues from female infanticide to equal pay; protection of minority groups (indigenous peoples, LGBTQ); rights of the disabled - shift towards 'higher-order' rights: right to democracy, to clear air/water, to development. cost, controversy, and contestedness - who/what bears responsibility/costs?: UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Canada and concerns over land claims/entitlements); disability rights and accessibility - rights in conflict: right to a clean environment vs. right to development vs. cultural rights- Fractured Land; affirmative action- levelling the playing field for historically disadvantaged groups (equality of opportunity vs. equality of income)

Human Rights institutions

- states: pear primary burden of upholding human rights, both problem and solution - regional human rights institutions: European Conventions/Court; InterAmerican Convention on Human Rights - global level bodies: high commission(er) on human rights, human rights council. - human rights NGO's: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (naming and shaming)

Second Generation: Social/Economic Rights

- welfare rights: to social security, to education, to health, to adequate standard of living, etc. - prescriptive rights: require pro-active intervention of governments to be fulfilled (implies big, activist, socialist (?) governments) - north/south divide on rights categories: right to vote vs. the right to eat; US rejects universality of social/economic rights

Human rights as 'social constructs'

generating consensus on universal standards of 'dignified life'