Political Theory Commons^™

The Ethics Of ‘Responsibility While Protecting’: Brazil, The Responsibility To Protect, And Guidelines For Humanitarian Intervention, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the aftermath of the NATO intervention in Libya, the responsibility to protect (RtoP) doctrine has received considerable blowback. Various states, most notably some of the ‘BRICS’ states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), claimed that NATO exceeded its mandate given to it by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1973 (by allegedly focusing on regime change rather than on the protection of civilians), was inappropriate in its target selection, violated the arms embargo by transferring arms to rebels, and generally caused too much harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure.1 It was also suggested that the UK, US, and …

Myths About Syria, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In my contribution, I want to focus on five fallacious claims and arguments that have been presented about the conflict in Syria. (Please note that this piece was written in Dec 2012).

Corruption And Human Rights: Exploring The Relationships, Berihun Adugna Gebeye

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Corruption is a global phenomenon which every society faces though its degree of severity varies from country to country. Despite its long history, there is no single universally agreed upon definition of corruption. Moreover, its causes, forms and impacts are diverse and multi-faceted. Understanding corruption by itself is a complex undertaking. However, it is agreed that corruption is inimical to public administration, undermines democracy, degrades the moral fabrics of the society and violates human rights. The pain of corruption touches all the human family but it disproportionately affects the vulnerable sections of the society. It reinforces discrimination, exclusion and arbitrariness. …

Edzia Carvalho On Human Rights In The Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp., Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights in the Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp.

The Moral International Sphere As A New "Civic Virtue", Claudia Heiss

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Liberal political theory, the predominant paradigm at least since the 1970s, rules out as oppressive the imposition of any substantive notion of a "good way of life" and proposes instead a neutral conception where each individual should have the right to pursue his or her own preferred project of life. This opposition of an ancient "virtue" and a modern "freedom" seems challenged by current debates about morality and the responsibility to protect innocent civilians from massive crimes. The moral outrage of the international community may be interpreted as a signal of a perhaps minimal notion of civic virtue, which translates …

Tahira Khan On Wives, Widows, Concubines: The Conjugal Family Ideal In Colonial India By Mytheli Sreenivas. Bloomington, In: Indiana University Press, 2008. 169pp., Tahira Khan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Wives, Widows, Concubines: The Conjugal Family Ideal in Colonial India by Mytheli Sreenivas. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2008. 169pp.

Craig Berry On Global Ethics And Civil Society Edited By John Eade And Darren J. O’Byrne. Aldershot, Uk: Ashgate, 2005. 180pp., Craig Berry

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Global Ethics and Civil Society edited by John Eade and Darren J. O’Byrne. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2005. 180pp.

Emilian Kavalski On The Liberal Archipelago: A Theory Of Diversity And Freedom By Chandran Kukathas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. 292pp., Emilian Kavalski

Human Rights & Human Welfare

No abstract provided.

Hijacked Justice: Domestic Appropriation Of International Norms, Jelena Subotić

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This paper explores the domestic politics of international norm diffusion, using the global transmission of transitional justice norms as the empirical context of the research. Applying sociological institutionalism as the principal theoretical framework, I argue that the motivation of states to adopt international models of transitional justice has changed over time. The transitional justice norm - that posits that war crimes and massive human rights abuses must be dealt with in a proper legal setting and not through “victors’ justice” or impunity - was institutionalized in large part as the result of a strong domestic demand for transitional justice in …

International Humanitarianism In The Contemporary World: Forms And Issues, David P. Forsythe

Human Rights & Human Welfare

© 2004 David P. Forsythe. All rights reserved.

This paper was commissioned by the U.S. Social Science Research Council and the United Nations University, for a research project on multilateralism starting Fall 2004.

The paper may not be quoted or referred to in any reference without the written permission of the author. Suggested revisions are welcomed by the author via his email address. This paper may be freely circulated in electronic or hard copy provided it is not modified in any way, the rights of the author not infringed, and the paper is not quoted or cited without express permission …

State Sovereignty And Human Rights, Jack Donnelly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sovereignty and human rights typically are seen as fundamentally opposed: the rights of states pitted against the rights of individuals; 1648 (the Peace of Westphalia) versus 1948 (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

This paper may be freely circulated in electronic or hard copy provided it is not modified in any way, the rights of the author not infringed, and the paper is not quoted or cited without express permission of the author. The editors cannot guarantee a stable URL for any paper posted here, nor will they be responsible for notifying others if the URL is changed or the …

Negotiating Toleration: Engagement, Enforcement, And The Politics Of Recognition, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Toleration and Identity: Foundations in Early Modern Thought by Ingrid Creppell. New York: Routledge, 2003. 212pp.

and

How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West by Perez Zagorin. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. 371pp.

Eric Munoz On The Geopolitics Of Hunger 2000-2001: Hunger And Power Edited By Action Against Hunger. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 354pp., Eric Muñoz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Geopolitics of Hunger 2000-2001: Hunger and Power edited by Action Against Hunger. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000. 354pp.

Addressing Fundamentalism By Legal And Spiritual Means, Dan Wessner

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Religion and Humane Global Governance by Richard A. Falk. New York: Palgrave, 2001. 191 pp.

Gender and Human Rights in Islam and International Law: Equal before Allah, Unequal before Man? by Shaheen Sardar Ali. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2000. 358 pp.

Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women edited by Courtney W. Howland. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. 326 pp.

The Islamic Quest for Democracy, Pluralism, and Human Rights by Ahmad S. Moussalli. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001. 226 pp.

Questioning The Universality Of Human Rights, Paul J. Magnarella

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Universal Human Rights? edited by Robert G. Patman. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 244pp.

and

Dealing with Human Rights: Asian and Western Views on the Value of Human Rights edited by Martha Meijer. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, 2001. 183pp.

and

The Philosophy of Human Rights by Patrick Hayden. St. Paul: Paragon House, 2001. 686pp.

Politics, Pragmatism, And Human Rights, Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights Horizons: The Pursuit of Justice in a Globalizing World by Richard A. Falk. New York: Routledge, 2000. 288pp.

and

Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry by Michael Ignatieff (edited by Amy Guttman). Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. 187pp.

Horror Unmasked: Truth Or Fiction?, Lars Buur, Eric Harper

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission by Alex Boraine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 448pp.

Opening The Dichotomy Of Universalism And Relativism, Chih-Yu Shih

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Negotiating Culture and Human Rights edited by Linda S. Bell, Andrew J. Nathan and Ilan Peleg. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. 428 pp.

and

East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia by Daniel A. Bell. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. 369 pp.

Loosening The Bounds Of Human Rights: Global Justice And The Theory Of Justice, Christina Jones-Pauly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Bounds of Justice by Onora O’Neill. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 219pp.

Universality By Consensus: The Evolution Of Universality In The Drafting Of The Udhr, Amy Eckert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Drafting, Origins & Intent by Johannes Morsink. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights), 2000. 400pp.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has helped to define human rights standards and bring them to the forefront of global concern. Yet the UDHR continues to suffer from charges of cultural imperialism. While many scholars have answered these charges with philosophical justification for universal human rights, Johannes Morsink takes another approach to the question of cultural relativism in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting & Intent.

Democratization And Human Rights: Affinity Or Tension?, Sharon Healey

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of Democratization and the Protection of Human Rights: Challenges and Contradictions, edited by Patricia J. Campbell and Kathleen Mahoney- Norris. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998. 140pp.

Historically, studies on democracy and human rights have considered the two as unrelated issues, and where treated as related, many scholars have assumed a positive relationship between democracy, human rights and development. The contributors to Democratization and the Protection of Human Rights, Challenges and Contradictions examine and critique some of the popular conceptions about the relationship between democracy and human rights.