Human Rights Law Commons^™

Global Movement Coalitions: The Global South And The World Trade Organization In Cancun, Esparza

Societies Without Borders

A group of developing countries within the World Trade Organization, called the G22, formed in 2003 to bring attention to important economic concerns of the Global South. This coalition building at the global level is instructive to the literature on social movement coalition building and strategies in a transnational context. This article examines coalition building among nation-states within the context of the WTO. Drawing upon existing trading blocs, the G22 are able to leverage attention away from the WTO consensus. The declining significance of the global institution is a result of the breaking of this consensus.

In Your Hands - The Realization Of A Dream, Koenig

Societies Without Borders

The author talks about Human Rights Cities, an initiative wherein communities learn about human rights as a way of life. The author discusses the achievements of the People's Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHRE) as an international service organization. She states that Human Rights Cities enables all citizens to participate as equals in the decision-making processes which affect their lives. She cites the impact of the Human Rights Cities on the lives of the Toba indigenous community in Rosario, Argentina.

World Social Forum 2009: Time To Bring The Wsf To The Usa, Ponniah

Societies Without Borders

I had the opportunity to both attend the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States and to participate in the World Social Forum hosted in Belém, Brazil. The Inaugural was attended by 1.8 million citizens, which included a notably large percentage of African-Americans, from all over the country. The World Social Forum had over 133,000 participants from around the world with a substantial number of Pan-Amazonic social movements. In both cases I witnessed a mobilized, dynamic civil sphere aspiring to a new, better society. The key to achieving another world is to bring these spheres together.

Review Of Bringing Human Rights Home, Neubeck

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the three volumes of the book "Bringing Human Rights Home," edited by Cynthia Soohoo, Catherine Albisa and Martha F. Davis, including "A History of Human Rights in the United States," volume 1, by Elizabeth Borgwardt, "From Civil Rights to Human Rights," volume 2, by Dorothy Thomas, and "Portraits of the Movement," volume 3, by Greg Asbed.

Review Of Globalization And America: Race, Human Rights And Inequality & When Welfare Disappears: The Case For Economic Human Rights, Ramsaran

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews two books on human rights, including "Globalization and America: Race, Human Rights and Inequality," edited by Angela J. Hattery, David G. Embrick and Earl Smith, "When Welfare Disappears; The Case for Economic Human Rights," by Kenneth J. Neubeck.

W.E.B. Du Bois, Race, And Human Rights, Elias

Societies Without Borders

Du Bois' sociological thought reveals an overlooked tension in the pursuit of human rights, a tension between universal human rights for all people, in general, and a race-specific human rights agenda for blacks, in particular. Du Bois recognizes both universal human rights for all individuals, groups, nations, and international bodies (regardless of race, gender, class, and other human divisions) and case-specific human rights for particular individuals, groups, nations, and international bodies (with regard to race, gender, class, and other human divisions). I aim to demonstrate why Du Bois' acknowledgment of universal and case-specific human rights, and dynamics of their interrelationship, …

Invoking Human Rights And Transnational Activism In Racial Justice Struggles At Home: Us Antiracist Activists And The Un Committee To Eliminate Racial Discrimination, Falcón

Societies Without Borders

In February 2008, over 120 members of US civil society representing a range of domestic non-governmental organizations attended a United Nations hearing regarding the US government's compliance with the International Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In this article, I analyze a distinct form of transnational activism that requires US racial justice activists to identify human rights standards and principles upon which to build their assertions of racial injustice, necessitating a fluency in the language of human rights and the ability to negotiate and lobby with members of a UN committee.

Jihad, Race And Western Media, Post-September 11, Tagg

Societies Without Borders

The article examines jihad within what is loosely referred to as “the Western imagination.” Through the analysis of both popular stereotypes and the broader historical context of religious antagonism and (neo)colonialism, the paper discusses both contemporary political rhetoric and a pair of liberal post September-11 political cartoons. While European and North American political leaders have often stereotyped Muslims in order to justify various “axis of evil” bandwagons and further political and economic interests throughout the Islamic Crescent, I argue here that the liberal media's critiques also often rely on fallacious embodied stereotypes. The pervasiveness of such representations has important implications …

Si Me Permiten Hablar: Limitations Of The Human Rights Tradition To Address Racial Inequality, Bonilla-Silva, Sarah Mayorga

Societies Without Borders

In this paper we address some of the major limitations of the human rights tradition (HRT) in addressing issues of racial inequality. We contend that the universalist and individual-based framework of HRT fails to appreciate the significance of society's racial structure. More importantly, HRT ignores how race fractured the world system creating differently valued human bodies. In addition to addressing some of the shortcomings of HRT, we present challenges for those in the tradition and advance several alternatives for academics who want to work towards the elimination of race-based inequality in the world.

Human Rights Across National Borders, Dores

Societies Without Borders

In Pakistan are visible thousands of children living alone in the streets, used by different kind of people for underground proposes. Then one finds them older entering Greece borders, bringing with them the underground exploitative activities as well as the solidarity support of local population living where migrant pass. Looking to the youngsters migrant flow from Afghanistan to Europe, is it possible to understand it when sociologist look at it as a problem of national stock and flow? Or does sociology need to adopt without borders methodologies?

Contestatory Performative Acts In Transnational Political Meetings, Lane

Societies Without Borders

Young people are often more eager to use creative and artistic potential when acting politically. The article focuses on moments where contestatory performative acts take place in three different transnational political meetings. With these three examples it is shown how these moments of disruption and disorder - when something unexpected captures the core of the political gathering - are crucial elements for deep democracy. In such moments where the political speeches and the practices of the meeting do not match, young political actors are in a crucial role to initiate contestatory performative, and often carnivalesque, acts to execute the issue. …

What Will States Really Do For Us? The Human Rights Enterprise And Pressure From Below, Armaline, Davita Glasberg

Societies Without Borders

International human rights standards and treaties have been plagued with disputes over the relevance and power of international law with regard to state sovereignty. These disputes commonly result in states' failure to realize the rights and standards outlined by such human rights instruments. What if states cannot or will not provide fundamental dignities to their people? Moreover, how does global restructuring affect states' ability to implement human rights? We explore these questions through what we call the “human rights enterprise,” which includes conflicts between rulers and the ruled over the realization of human rights practice. As such, human rights are …

Book Review Of The Origins Of African-American Interests In International Law & Eyes Off The Prize: The United Nations And The African American Struggle For Human Rights, 1944-1955, Embrick

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the books "The Origin of African-American Interests in International Law," by Henry J. Richardson III and "Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955," by Carol Anderson.

The Shifting Border Of Immigration Regulation, Ayelet Shachar

Michigan Journal of International Law

While American immigration law is still largely informed by the doctrine of plenary power, which holds that "[a]dmission to the United States is a privilege granted by the sovereign" (as the Supreme Court asserted in Knauff more than fifty years ago), what has dramatically changed in recent years is the location of "our gates," which no longer stand at the country's territorial edges. Instead, the border itself has become a moving barrier, a legal construct that is not tightly fixed to territorial benchmarks. This shifting border of immigration regulation, as we might call it, is selectively utilized by national …

Prosecuting Torturers, Protecting "Child Molesters": Toward A Power Balance Model Of Criminal Process For International Human Rights Law, Mykola Sorochinsky

Michigan Journal of International Law

In the age of terrorism, human rights law globally suffers substantial setbacks. However, at the regional level, human rights law is now more relevant than ever. More cases are decided each year by regional human rights tribunals, particularly in Europe. More importantly, human rights law affects more areas of domestic legal systems than ever before-from trademark law to limits on corporal punishment of children. This growing complexity presents two challenges: first, the challenge of comprehension (or the increasing need to make sense of the ever-expanding case law in many substantive areas) and second, the challenge of responsibility (or the fact …

Law, Economics, And Torture, James Boyd White

Book Chapters

This paper addresses three sets of questions, among which it wishes to draw connections: (1) Why has there been so little resistance to the recent massive transfer of national wealth to the rich and super-rich? It is the majority who are injured, and they presumably hold the power in a democracy: why have they not exercised it? (2) Why are law schools so dominated by questions of policy, with rather little interest in the intellectual and linguistic activities of the practicing lawyer and judge? Why indeed do judicial opinions themselves seem so often to be written in a dead and …

Kimberly Lanegran On Justice And Reconciliation In Post-Apartheid South Africa Edited By François Du Bois And Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp., Kimberly Lanegran

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa edited by François Du Bois and Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp.

Human Trafficking In The People’S Republic Of China, Annie Dullum

Human Rights & Human Welfare

As China rises to become a superpower and is placed in the national spotlight as the host for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics, China is struggling to represent its ability to be powerful and stable within its own borders resulting from a staggering human rights record. Among the policies contributing to human rights violation, population controls are in place that create barriers to residence and immigration, which means that desperate individuals cannot legally move to other countries. As well, Chinese citizens are vulnerable to the practices of traffickers who move individuals illegally around the world.

Revisiting Human Rights In Latin America: Introduction, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This Topical Research Digest on revisiting human rights in Latin America covers a wide range of subjects, both country specific and thematic, but has as its underlying theme the necessary protection of the human rights of vulnerable groups, whether they are women, children, lesbians, gay men, indigenous peoples, landless peasants, etc. This survey of literature on revisiting human rights in Latin America includes a rich selection of documents from international organizations, international human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a plethora of American and foreign journals.

Child Labor In Latin America: Poverty As Cause And Effect, Michaelle Tauson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Throughout much of the developing world, children make up an alarming portion of the workforce. These children are robbed of their childhood in order to provide economic supplementation to their families. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 5.7 million children in Latin America participate in the regional workforce (2006). It is a common misconception that children, who do not participate in the formal workforce, are not child laborers. However, the ILO defines child labor as any work that is detrimental to a child’s well-being or interferes with a child’s education. Due to the many categories and classifications of child …

The Development Of Sex Trafficking In Central America, Kate Zdrojewski

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Human trafficking in Central America has taken center stage since the late 1990s. This increase in public attention has been driven by U.S. initiatives, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as well as the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, commonly known as the Trafficking Protocol. The United States has the reputation of being the leader in the fight against trafficking in Central America, using the TVPA and the Trafficking Protocol as primary mechanisms for anti-trafficking efforts.

International Law And Human Trafficking, Lindsey King

Human Rights & Human Welfare

International law is a powerful conduit for combating human trafficking. The most reputable and recent instruments of international law that have set the course for how to define, prevent, and prosecute human trafficking are the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its two related protocols: the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air, which entered into force in 2003-2004. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) created these conventions, which have supported international …

Uighurs In Xinjiang: A General Assessment Of The Roots Of Unrest, Vladislav Shchukin

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Chinese governmental repression in Xinjiang against the Uighur minzu, or ethnic group, constitutes a significant infringement on human rights. The atmosphere of repression in Xinjiang is perhaps unmatched even by that of Tibet, and it is virtually the only region in China where execution of political prisoners is still common. Uighurs are subject to severe censorship, arbitrary arrest and the denial of due process, torture and inhumane treatment, and punishment disproportionate to their crimes.

Violated: Women’S Human Rights In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kathryn Birdwell Wester

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In contemporary sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), women are facing human rights abuses unparalleled elsewhere in the world. Despite the region’s diversity, its female inhabitants largely share experiences of sexual discrimination and abuse, intimate violence, political marginalization, and economic deprivation.

Food Insecurity In Sub-Saharan Africa, Amy Rademacher

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For almost half a century, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been struggling, in one form or another, with food insecurity. This ongoing condition has been caused by a number of factors including distribution obstacles, global climate change, a lack of successful local agriculture, and an inability or disinterest to act by local officials. The situation has been further complicated by an inefficient and disorganized international response to the crisis. Although most would agree that each of these factors carries at least some validity, there is far less international consensus on the best remedy to the crisis.

Confronting The Past: Democratic Rhetoric Or Socially Necessary?, Rachel Oster

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the current globalized international system, politics, economics, and societal issues are the concern of not only the state but of the world as a whole. It is increasingly apparent that participation in the global community requires states to implement, at minimum, conventional democracy within which individual rights are recognized and protected. Yet for much of the developing world, democratic regimes are partially contested given that many states were historically controlled by non-democratic, often militant regimes that offered security to citizens during times of economic crises.

The International Criminal Court And The Prevention Of Atrocities: Predicting The Court's Impact, James F. Alexander

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Can Human Rights Survive Secularization, Nicholas Wolterstorff

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Ignorance Is Not Necessarily Bliss: The Third Circuit Expands The Requirements For A Knowing And Voluntary Plea In Jamison V. Klem, Kristen M. Hall

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Return To Sender, Intent Unknown: The Effects Of The Third Circuit's Interpretation Of The Convention Against Torture's Intent Requirement On Haitian Criminal Deportees, Taylor Healy

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.