Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nuclear Chain Reaction: Why Economic Sanctions Are Not Worth The Public Costs, Nicholas C.W. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

International economic sanctions frequently violate human rights in targeted states and rarely achieve their objectives. However, many hail economic sanctions as an important nonviolent tool for coercing and persuading change. In November 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran negotiated a temporary agreement with major world powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The United States’ media and politicians have repeatedly and incorrectly attributed Iran’s willingness to negotiate to the effectiveness of economic sanctions.

Politicians primarily focus on immediate domestic effects and enact sanctions without a thorough understanding of the long-term effects on the United States economy and the public within a targeted …

Reconciling Liberalism And Judaism? Human Rights In Israel, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This essay argues that mixing religion in politics is problematic. It becomes destructive when the religion is unyielding and coercive. Whenever religious powers are on the rise, the foundations of liberal democracy are shaken and its protective mechanisms are regressing. Indeed, in Israel egalitarianism is still in the making. Orthodox Judaism and liberal democracy are in conflict. The rise of one comes at the expense of the other in a situation where religion does not encompass the concept of freedom from religion. This essay further argues that Palestinians and Israelis are entitled to the same rights and liberties. Accommodations and …

Dynamics Of Civil Resistance In Oceania, Thomas Dick, Jason Mcleod, Luke Johnston

Thomas Dick

The Dynamics of Civil Resistance (DOCR), is a not-for-profit popular education and cultural development programme in Oceania. We work in collaboration with churches, human rights organisations, traditional leaders, women leaders, youth and student groups and community organisations to establish a network of indigenous educators who can resource nonviolent social movements and democratic transitions.

DOCR has developed out of programs that originated in 2005, in response to requests from Papuan human rights activists (Rayfield and Morello 2012). The purpose of the Project is to build their capacity of activists and artists working nonviolently for a just and sustainable peace in the …

The Cultural Sociology Of Human Rights, Mark D. Jacobs, Lester R. Kurtz

Lester R. Kurtz

These cases of China, Occupy, and Gandhi suggest the value of the sociology of culture for understanding human rights. Since human rights is a cultural construct, human rights issues are in-flected by the same set of semantic tensions as the culture concept itself. The sociology of culture thus recommends a method for studying human rights: to explicate--indeed, to weave into an exegetical deep structure--those various tensions. This helps to see beneath the distortions that power and other forms of domination introduce into the discourse of human rights, and to recognize the full multiplicity of interests and voices.

Knowledge, Attitudes And Perceptions Of Immigrants From Third Countries In Cyprus, On Hiv/Aids And Sexual And Reproductive Health. The Implication Of Nursing Ethics To Healthcare, Christiana Kouta, Constantinos Phellas, Charis P. Kaite

Charis P. Kaite

Background: Cultural, social policy and legal factors contribute to HIV vulnerability amongst ethnic minorities. Insufficient knowledge on HIV transmission and prevention contributes in engaging in risky sexual behaviours that increase the risk of infection. Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions amongst immigrants, foreign students and foreign workers living in Cyprus on HIV/AIDS. Μethods and Material:. The sample consisted of 600 migrant from third countries from two cities in Cyprus (Nicosia, Limassol). Both men and women were included in the study sample. A closed-ended questionnaire referring to the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour …

Human Development And Human Rights, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

This lecture discusses the relationship between Human Development and Human Rights

Bureaucracy And The U.S. Response To Mass Atrocity, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

The U.S. response to mass atrocity has followed a predictable pattern of disbelief, rationalization, evasion, and retrospective expressions of regret. The pattern is consistent enough that we should be skeptical of chalking up the United States’ failures solely to a shifting array of isolated historical contingencies, from post-Vietnam fatigue in the case of the Khmer Rouge to the Clinton administration’s recoil against humanitarian interventions after Somalia. It is implausible to suggest that the United States would have acted to mitigate or end mass atrocities but for the specific historical contingencies that happen to accompany each outbreak of violence. This essay …

Emerging Law Addressing Climate Change And Water, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

The World Economic Forum recognizes that while restrictions on energy affect water systems and vice versa, energy and water policy are rarely coordinated. The International Panel on Climate Change predicts that wet places will become wetter and dry places will become dryer. Transboundary water, energy and climate coordination can occur through international consensus building.

El Regimen De Stroessner (1954-1989), Robert Andrew Nickson

Robert Andrew Nickson

Este capítulo describe las tres etapas principales del régimen de Stroessner: fase de consolidación (1954-1967); fase de expansión (1968-1981); y fase de descomposición (1982-1989), y las circunstancias de su caída. Posteriormente abarca los tres pilares del régimen: el Partido Colorado, las Fuerzas Armadas y el mismo Stroessner en su calidad de Jefe de Estado, Comandante en Jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas y Presidente Honorario del Partido Colorado. Se analiza cinco mecanismos cruciales que le permitieron mantenerse en el poder durante tanto tiempo: una fachada democrática, un sistema de represión eficaz, la corrupción institucionalizada, el uso de la ideología nacionalista, y …

What Does Kosovo Teach Us About Using Human Rights Law To Prosecute Corruption Offences?, Bryane Michael

Bryane Michael (bryane.michael@stcatz.ox.ac.uk)

If a patient must pay a bribe to obtain life-saving surgery, does the doctor’s solicitation of a bribe represent a violation of the victim’s human rights? This paper explores the ways in which anti-corruption practitioners can look to various provisions in human rights law in order to prevent or prosecute corruption-related offences. We use Kosovo as a case study because its constitution gives direct effect to the major international human rights conventions. We find -- using Kosovo as a case study -- that some types of corruption lead to separately prosecutable human rights offences. We also find that pre-existing violations …

“Aspectos Jurídicos Del Delito De Trata De Personas En Colombia: Aportes Desde El Derecho Internacional, Derecho Penal Y Las Organizaciones No Gubernamentales”, Andres Barreto, Beatriz Londoño, Antonio Varon, Andrea Mateus

Andres Barreto

La preocupación por el fenómeno de la trata de personas en el escenario internacional ha sido una constante para los Estados desde mediados del siglo XIX. En Colombia la legislación que condena el delito empezó su recorrido desde el Código Penal de 1980, en donde se castigaba con penas de prisión de 2 a 6 años a todo aquel que promoviere la entrada o salida del país de mujer o menor de edad para ejercer la prostitución. Sin embargo, la complejidad de las redes criminales de este crimen transnacional empezó a evidenciar que la trata no solo se cometía sobre …

The Local Is Global: Broker For Human Rights “Florence Kitchelt, Connecticut Peace Activist And Feminist,” 1920-1961, Danelle L. Moon

Danelle L. Moon

In this paper, I will explore the role of local peace activist and feminist, Florence Ledyard Kitchelt (1874-1961) in supporting social justice, equality, and world peace. In 1924 Kitchelt accepted a paid position with the Connecticut League of Nation’s Association (CLNA), and for nearly twenty years she served as secretary and director of the organization. Working through the CLNA she canvassed the state promoting peace education and to building support for the League of Nations and the World Court. In 1925 she traveled to Geneva to study the League of Nations and attended the Assembly. Between the wars she worked …

Public Health And The Rights Of States, András Miklós

Andras Miklos

When exercising their public health powers, states claim various rights against their subjects and aliens. The paper considers whether public health considerations can help justify some of these rights, and explores some constraints on the justificatory force of public health considerations. I outline two arguments about the moral grounds for states’ rights with regard to public health. The principle of fairness emphasizes that those who benefit from public health measures ought to contribute their fair share in upholding them. Alternatively, states’ rights might be justified by a natural duty of justice to uphold and not to obstruct institutions implementing public …

Transitional Justice And Post-Conflict Israel/Palestine: Assessing The Applicability Of The Truth Commission Paradigm, Ariel Meyerstein

Ariel Meyerstein, JD, PhD

This thought experiment examines whether transitional justice has a place in the Israeli-Palestinian post-conflict and, at the same time, what attempting to fit the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into the transitional paradigm can teach us about the limits and possibilities of the transitional justice paradigm. In particular, the Israeli-Palestinian context presents challenging issues regarding the large beneficiary and collaborator classes in both societies. The article concludes by observing that history has proven truth commissions not to be panaceas, but that they offer a limited, inherent “procedural value” to post-conflict societies by instantiating new political dynamics between former political enemies.

Constructing Indigenousness In The Late Modern World, Robert Cribb, Li Narangoa

Robert Cribb

Examines changing meanings of the term 'indigenous" in relation to other ideas that have been valued in various (mainly Western) philosophical system, such as priority, attachment to the land, and technical knowledge.

Intercountry Adoption And Poverty: A Human Rights Analysis, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This Article explores the question of whether intercountry adoption is an effective, appropriate, or ethical response to poverty in developing nations. As a matter of methodology, this fundamental question of adoption ethics is explored through the lens of international human rights law. This Article specifically argues that, where the birth parents live under or near the international poverty standard of $1 per day, family preservation assistance must be provided or offered as a condition precedent for accepting a relinquishment that would make the child eligible for intercountry adoption.

Protecting The Public Trust And Human Rights In The Great Lakes, Melissa K. Scanlan

Melissa K. Scanlan

No abstract provided.

Remembering, Forgetting And Historical Injustice, Robert Cribb, Kenneth Christie

Robert Cribb

No abstract provided.

The Birth Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Michael Cooper

Michael D. Cooper, Esq.

This short article, written for an audience of U.S. based social science teachers, reviews the historical circumstances surrounding the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted on December 10, 1948. The narrative focuses attention on the negotiating process and, in particular, Eleanor Roosevelt’s role as Chair of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which drafted the landmark document.

Rising Temperatures: Rising Tides, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Transboundary environmental problems do not distinguish between political boundaries. Global warming is expected to cause thermal expansion of water and melt glaciers. Both are predicted to lead to a rise in sea level. We must enlarge our paradigms to encompass a global reality and reliance upon global participation.