- Department: Politics
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Susan Forde
- Credit value: 30 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2019-20
- See module specification for other years: 2018-19
This module explores the legal and political understandings of human rights attainment and advocacy, through theoretical and empirical research based in a variety of global contexts.
Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
---|---|
A | Autumn Term 2019-20 to Summer Term 2019-20 |
The overarching question this module seeks to answer is: what is the role of human rights in making the world a safer, fairer and more equitable place? The module provides an introduction to the international, and relevant regional and domestic, human rights systems. The global human rights movement is introduced alongside the core legal architectures, and the module presents how human rights are defined in different ways under different regimes and in different contexts. The module spans contemporary debates around migration, refugee rights, women’s rights, sexual orientation and gender identity rights, humanitarian intervention, indigenous rights, environmental rights, child rights, security, development, and justice. These interconnected topics reveal some of the main tensions within and between human rights, and within and between national, regional and international political interests. Through this, the module also considers the role that human rights can play in some of the core global issues such as structural oppression, racial discrimination, gender equality, climate change, sustainable development, democratisation, and post-war justice. Three broad analytical themes run throughout the module: (1) the debate over power versus norms, and politics versus law; (2) the question of the international versus the regional versus the national; and, (3) the issue of law versus practice, and the relationships between implementation and enforcement in a variety of political settings. Throughout the module, case studies from the Global North and South are interrogated and discussed, including but not limited to research drawn from: South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UK, India, Mozambique, Egypt, Rwanda, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, China, the EU, and the US.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay - 2000 words |
N/A | 40 |
Online Exam Human Rights & Wrongs in a Globalized World |
N/A | 60 |
None
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay - 2000 words |
N/A | 40 |
Online Exam Human Rights & Wrongs in a Globalized World |
N/A | 60 |
Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.
Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 20 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.
Audre, Lorde (1983) There is no hierarchy of oppressions. Bulletin: Homophobia and Education, 14(3/4): 9
Clapham, Andrew, (2007), Human Rights: A very short introduction. Oxford: OUP.
Goodhart, Michael (ed.) (2016), Human Rights: Politics and Practice. Oxford: OUP.
Keck, Margaret and Kathryn Sikkink (1998), Activists beyond border: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Cornell University Press.
Smith, Rhona K. M. (2016). Textbook on International Human Rights. Oxford: OUP/p>
Coronavirus (COVID-19): changes to courses
The 2020/21 academic year will start in September. We aim to deliver as much face-to-face teaching as we can, supported by high quality online alternatives where we must.
Find details of the measures we're planning to protect our community.