Human Rights Law Commons^™

United States Foreign Policy: Liberty And Security?, Jessi Schimmel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Prior to September 11, 2001, the United States had the reputation of being a leader in the field of human rights. As information of torture and abuse in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay, and secret CIA detention centers has surfaced, however, the image of America has changed from human rights champion to that of violator. In large part, the international community of scholars and activists has come to deride the foreign policy of the United States as misguided and out of balance with the threats the country faces. However, there are also plenty of outspoken defenders who believe that the tactics …

Information Work And The Proletarian Condition Today: The Perception Of Brazilian Call Center Operators, Braga

Societies Without Borders

The increase in company outsourcing over the last two decades has led to the development of a new type of worker on the margins of the productive system: the Call Center operator. Responsible for a wide range of information services, the rapid expansion in call centers has stirred the interest of a number of researchers in different areas of knowledge. Analyzing the work of the call center operator, the article looks to deepen our comprehension of the sea-change currently affecting today's working class. In contrast to what many forecasted some 15 years ago, the information revolution has failed to dissolve …

"If That Is Heaven, We Would Rather Go To Hell": Contextualizing Us-Cuba Relations, Rumbaut, Rubén G. Rumbaut

Societies Without Borders

The history of Cuba is one of conquest and rebellion. Since the arrival of Columbus, it has had two colonial masters: Spain and the United States. Spain, after the collapse of its empire, ceased to be a threat to the peoples of America. Now, the Spanish are among the principal investors in Cuba, and make up a high percentage of tourists to the island. The United States, engaged in empire-building as sole superpower and continuing to pursue a half-century-old policy of regime change in Cuba, is still seen by the Cubans as the greatest threat to their independence and sovereignty. …

The Us-Un Relationship And The Promotion Of Democratic Nation-Building, Pubantz

Societies Without Borders

Since 1990, both the United Nations and the United States have promoted democratic nation-building in conflict areas. However, despite the common goal of creating stable democracies, the two entities have often worked at cross purposes. Following the 1993 debacle in Somalia, the United States largely deserted UN nation-building efforts and moved toward unilateral democracy promotion. Over the next decade US efforts were directed at establishing Lockean procedural democracies, defined largely in terms of civil and political institutions. In UN parlance, however, democracy has taken on a holistic meaning that provides for the inclusion of social, economic, and cultural factors. This …

Balkan Societies Of "Social Men": Transcending Gender Boundaries, Tarifa

Societies Without Borders

As transgender identities worldwide have begun to receive attention from students of gender and sexuality, a curious Balkan (but more specifically Albanian) tradition of female-to-male transgender ("sworn virgins") surviving to the present day - an obscure and ambiguous theme until recently - is worthy of sociological attention. The "sworn virgin" phenomenon is studied in a larger, ethno-cultural context, zipping through such complicated - and sociologically contentious - notions as patriarchy, blood-feud, destructive entitlement, etc. It is argued that the "sworn virgins" of the Balkans were forced to become "social men," assuming masculine social and family roles, due to specific economic …

Sociology As Documenting Dystopia: Imagining A Sociology Without Borders - A Critical Dialogue, Brunsma, Dave Overfelt

Societies Without Borders

This is a dialogue between a teacher-student and a student-teacher in the discipline of sociology. Critical questions about the state of sociology are pursued in the context of a hegemonic American sociological enterprise. American sociology has become content with continuing to document dystopia, with exploiting those who struggle under societies' structural weight, leading to a discipline whose work reproduces the very structures of domination we study. Through this Freirean dialogue, we ponder epistemologies and pedagogies of justice, liberation, and humanity. We hope this critical dialogue will help spark more conversation towards imagining a sociology without borders - away from the …

The Bumpy Road From Accra To Addis Ababa: Recollections Of An Observer/Participant, Selassie

Societies Without Borders

This article tells the story of the creation of the first pan-African organization - the Organization of African Unity (OAU) - and of some of the most crucial political events of postcolonial African a airs that preceded its establishment, notably the All-African Peoples Conference (AAPC) convened by Ghana's first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Taking the form of an account of an observer-cum-participant of some momentous events in modern African history (such as the AAPC and OAU), it gives a sense of the passionate commitment to African freedom and dignity as well as the desire, on the part of some African …

Beyond The Theory Of Imperialism: Global Capitalism And The Transnational State, Robinson

Societies Without Borders

Theories of a "new imperialism" assume that world capitalism in the 21st century is still made up of "domestic capitals" and that distinct national economies and world political dynamics are driven by US e orts to o set the decline in hegemony amidst heightened inter-imperialist rivalry. These theories ignore empirical evidence on the transnationalization of capital and the increasingly salient role of transnational state apparatuses in imposing capitalist domination beyond the logic of the inter-state system. I argue here that US interventionism is not a departure from capitalist globalization but a response to its crisis. The class relations of global …

Extraordinary Rendition, The Canadian Edition: National Security And Challenges To The Global Ban On Torture, Neve

Societies Without Borders

Since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, concerns that counter-terrorism laws and practices are directly and indirectly causing human rights violations have mounted. Much of the international focus has been on the United States. This paper highlights, however, that it is a debate with a truly global dimension. The author examines particular concerns that Canadian law enforcement and security agencies may have been complicit in the imprisonment and torture abroad of Canadian citizens who were of interest in the context of national security investigations. The cases are situated in the wider debate about torture that has emerged …

A Note From The Editors, Blau, Alberto Moncada

Societies Without Borders

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one on the pedagogical and epistemological borders that dominate in the U.S. academy and another on the realm of worldwide political order/disorder.

Knowledge As A Global Public Good: The Role And Importance Of Open Access, Verschraegen, Michael Schiltz

Societies Without Borders

This paper argues that knowledge should be considered as a global public good first and as a private right second. The argument is underpinned by the claim that the growing movements for source-, data-, and knowledge-sharing (Open Access, Open Source, Open Courseware, etc.) have enhanced our ability to facilitate the global production and dissemination of 'knowledge', so that more people in the world can enjoy its benefits. In contrast with the existing intellectual property regime - which does not succeed in balancing the public and private gains of knowledge - these movements and their corollary technologies have improved peoples' access …

Viewing The Wreckage: Eco-Disaster Tourism In The Wake Of Katrina, Gould, Tammy L. Lewis

Societies Without Borders

Before hurricane Katrina, "cultural tourism" was Louisiana's second largest industry. Tourism agencies are now imploring potential tourists to visit New Orleans for "An eyewitness account of the events surrounding the worst natural disaster on American soil!" Economic need is driving tour agencies to construct 'eco-disaster tourism,' and the construction includes explicit causes of blame. Who is defining the new tourism? How is the controversy surrounding causation being negotiated in eco-disaster tour narratives? e main finding is that the big players in the tourism industry, namely Gray Line Tours, have maneuvered into a powerful position to rewrite the tourism narrative by …

Globalization And Politics Of Transformation In Africa: Nepad And Pitfalls Of Transnational Elite Developmental Projects, Sahle

Societies Without Borders

This article examines the New Partnership for Africa's Development initiative launched in 2001. The article discusses the political and economic conjuncture that resulted in the adoption of this initiative. In the main, the analysis demonstrates the ways in which the initiative dovetails well with the global neo-liberal project and, consequently, contests the claims by African ruling elites and their counter-parts in the global North that it represents a transformative framework for economic and political change for national social formations in Africa.

Who Is Afraid Of T. H. Marshall? Or, What Are The Limits Of The Liberal Vision Of Rights?, Murray

Societies Without Borders

The liberal construction of the citizen is a man (sic) empowered with reciprocal rights to the nation state, which will maintain his dignity by providing work and welfare if he can prove need. The challenge for the new century is to find out whether we still can live in a finely balanced world of citizen/civil society state and capital from which these rights will flow. We need to understand why many of the rights died and subsequently to be able to redefine what it means to be a citizen; by taking into account the unequally weighted power relations that favor …

"Buying Sex Is Not A Sport" - A Campaign Against Trafficking In Women, Danna

Societies Without Borders

In this article I present the use of the broad concept of trafficking in the "Buying Sex Is Not a Sport" campaign, launched by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) against German regulation of prostitution configuring prostitution as sex work. I trace the development of this 2006 campaign in which conservative and social-democratic parties, churches and anti-globalization organizations joined together at the international level. Finally, I trace the ideological and political reasons for the convergence of left-wing and right-wing forces, along with the analysis of some leftist theoretical texts on prostitution.

Principles For Organic Public Sociology: Reflections On Publicly Engaged Research In The San Francisco Homeless Policy Field, Noy

Societies Without Borders

Interest in "public sociology" in the United States is a positive sign for researchers who seek to span the borders between academia and social change. However, it is important not to assume that just because sociological research is publicly oriented it will automatically advance human rights, justice, and ecological sustainability. Sociologists must critically consider principles for conducting public sociology if their work is to have a libratory outcome. This is particularly crucial when academic researchers attempt to directly work with marginalized social groups. In this article, I draw upon my experiences conducting a project of public sociology on local homeless …

If We Build It They Will Come: Human Rights Violations And The Prison Industrial Complex, Smith, Angela Hattery

Societies Without Borders

This paper utilizes the concept of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) in order to examine the complex configuration comprised of the US prison system, multi-national corporations, small private businesses and the inmate population in the social and political economy of the 21st century US. Utilizing data on the PIC we pose the question: What is the purpose of prison, the rehabilitation of the inmates or the exploitation of prison labor? Specifically we argue, using Wright's neo-Marxist theory, that the current system of incarceration in the US mimics the exploitation characteristic of the slave plantation economy of the southern US, ripe …

Without Borders: Just One Border For Human Rights, Tayefi

Societies Without Borders

The author talks about the role of sociologists in defending human rights and promoting social security around the world. He said that those transnational forces such as lawyers, artists, librarians and writers are reflective movements to crash or break the monopolistic invasion of the masters of globalization. He claims that sociologists are hand in hand with other social activists to defend academic freedom and freedom of all people.

Book Review Of Vulnerability And Human Rights, Gran

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the book "Vulnerability and Human Rights," by Bryan S. Turner.

Book Review Of Public Sociologies Reader, Klayman

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the book "Public Sociologies Reader," edited by Judith R. Blau and Keri E. Iyall Smith.

Book Review Of Challenging Authority, Klayman

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the book "Challenging Authority," by Frances Fox Piven.

Exploring Universal Rights: A Symposium, Jamie Mayerfeld, Brooke Ackerly, Henry Shue, Jack Donnelly, Kok-Chor Tan, Charles Beitz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Which Rights Should Be Universal? by William J. Talbott. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. 232pp.

The Universality Of Human Rights: A Response, William J. Talbott

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A response to:

Mayerfeld, J., Ackerly, B., Shue, H., Donnelly, J., Tan, K., & Beitz, C. (2007). Exploring universal rights: A symposium. Human Rights, Human Welfare, 7. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/hrhw/vol7/iss1/24/

Human Rights And The War On Terror: Complete 2005 - 2007 Topical Research Digest, Jack Donnelly, Simon Amajuru, Susannah Compton, Robin Davey, Syd Dillard, Amanda Donahoe, Charles Hess, Sydney Fisher, Kelley Laird, Victoria Lowdon, Chris Maggard, Alexandra Nichols, Travis Ning, Toni Panetta, Greg Sanders, James Smithwick, Angela Woolliams, Chris Saeger, Sarah Bania-Dobyns, Eric Dibbern, David Gillespie, Latife Bulur, Katie Friesen, Arika Long, Arianna Nowakowski, Joel R. Pruce

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“9/11 changed everything.” Not really. In fact, there has been far more continuity than change over the past six years in both international and domestic politics. Nonetheless, human rights often have been harmed—although not by terrorism but by “the war on terror.”

Matthew S. Weinert On Truth Commissions And Procedural Fairness By Mark Freeman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 400pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness by Mark Freeman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 400pp.

Not Just Doctrine: The True Motivation For Federal Incorporation And International Human Rights Litigation, Daniel Abebe

Faculty Scholarship

The legal status of international human rights litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) has been the subject of much debate, culminating in the Supreme Court's decision in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004). The debate has been almost exclusively doctrinal and has focused on the Judiciary Act of 1789, the historical treatment of the law of nations as general or federal common law, the evolution of the Supreme Court's international law jurisprudence, and the integration of customary international law (CIL) into the domestic legal system.

This Article argues that the focus on doctrine masks underlying international relations …

Assessing Baxi’S Thesis On The Emergence Of A Trade-Related Market-Friendly Human Rights Paradigm: Recent Evidence From Nigerian Labour-Led Struggles, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

The objective of the article is to assess some of the sub-claims that emerge from Baxi’s thesis on an emergent trade-related market-friendly human rights paradigm in the light of the available evidence regarding the intense contestations and confrontations that have occurred between Nigeria’s politically and economically transitional Obasanjo regime and a local labour-led coalition. The piece sets out to ascertain the contextual and localised validity of these ‘Baxian’ sub-claims, within the wider context of the government vs. labour confrontations in Nigeria during the neo-liberal socio-economic reforms undertaken in that country between 1999 and 2005.

Using Human Rights Treaties To Resolve Ambiguity: The Advent Of A Rights-Conscious Charming Betsy Canon, Melissa A. Waters

Scholarship@WashULaw

This article considers the role of international human rights law in the domestic context, and examines in particular the use of what the author calls a "rights­-conscious Charming Betsy canon", whereby judges in New Zealand, Canada, the United States and Australia have interpreted statutory provisions (focusing on the case study of immigration law) so as to be consistent with international human rights norms. The author also considers the more radical use of the canon, proposed in particular by the High Court of Australia's Justice Kirby, which proposes that even constitutional texts may be interpreted to be consistent with international law, …

Regional Advocacy Networks And The Protocol On The Rights Of Women In Africa, Melinda Adams, Alice J. Kang

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

While there has been a significant amount of research on transnational feminist activism at the global level, many feminist transnational advocacy networks are mobilizing within world regions. The lack of attention to the regional level has created a considerable imbalance in research on transnational activism. This article's first objective is to define regional advocacy networks (RANs) as a collection of individuals and organizations from the same world region working together toward a common goal. The article's second objective is to explore the conditions under which RANs are influential. We investigate conditions for RAN success through a case study of an …

Culture Change, Lan Cao

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.