Politics and Social Change Commons^™

Contemporary Rhetoric, Ethics, And Human Rights Advocacy (Abstract), Richard K. Ghere, Kathleen Brittamart Watters

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper will discuss how rhetorical analysis might interpret current ethics conversation related to governance and re-position some of its touchstone rationales. Specifically, efforts in this paper will apply the ideas of preeminent rhetorician Gerald Hauser (the current editor of Philosophy and Rhetoric) about human rights discourses and of a reticulate (variegated) public sphere to intersection of governance and human rights advocacy.

Specifically, our paper will examine the rhetoric of various “exemplars” who advocate for causes and actions pertaining to human rights in particular contexts. In particular, we will incorporate case studies reviewing the public actions of the Russian …

Disciplining Human Rights (Abstract), Sarita Cargas

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Hundreds of thousands of people work in human rights. They work for one of the international or local non-governmental organizations, international organizations, government ministries of human rights, and even corporate divisions of human rights.

Despite this, it is not being taught as an academic discipline in the US. It is treated like an interdisciplinary subject in the few universities with degree programs. While about a dozen universities offer a BA in the US, there is not a single course common to them all. It is not clear that a student graduating from an interdisciplinary human rights program is leaving with …

Girl Power Or Girl Child: Beyond Victory And Victimization In Advocacy For Girls Around The World (Abstract), Kelli Lyon Johnson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper analyzes advocacy campaigns and research reports to demonstrate the construction of “the girl child” as both empowered (or worthy of empowerment) and as exploited and excluded.

Since 1995, when the Beijing Platform for Action of the United Nations Conference on Women identified her as one of twelve critical areas for concern, “the girl child” has been frequently mobilized in human rights campaigns and research. Advocacy campaigns and human rights reports frequently deploy “the girl” or “the girl child” as a metric against which to judge nations for her protection and provision and as a tool to influence foreign …

This Painting Is Nice, But Is It Actually Fighting For Social Justice?' Exploring The Challenges And Dilemmas Of Participatory Art And Storytelling For Social Justice (Abstract), Katherine Fobear

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Recent writings on social justice and human rights have spoken about the power of participatory art in providing new platforms for marginalize communities to express themselves outside the confines of hegemonic and unequal power structures inherent in state and academic institutions.

Participatory art helps individuals to express themselves and articulate the sometimes inarticulable aspects of their lives. It allows individuals to also have a new way to engage with the public on an emotional and intimate level that might otherwise be smoothed over in policy or academic reports on social injustice and inequality. In this paper, I will explore the …

Taking On The Nypd By Centering The Impact And Building A Movement: A Successful Human Rights Campaign Case Study (Abstract), Nahal Zamani

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The United States was a leader in the creation of the modern human rights regime, however, in recent years, actual implementation of treaty provisions into domestic laws, policies and practice in order to protect against human rights violations has been halfhearted and modest at best. In New York, the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) policy of stop and frisk and other discriminatory policing practices have had a detrimental impact on peoples’ lives.

Starting in 2011, a highly successful and collaborative campaign took head on the issue of stop and frisk and other discriminatory policing practices by centering the impact …

Who Practices Rights-Based Development? A Progress Report On Work At The Nexus Of Human Rights And Development (Abstract), Paul Nelson, Ellen Dorsey

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In 2003 we wrote in World Development that a growing nexus between human rights and development practice could transform both fields and advance struggles against extreme poverty, inequalities and patterns of rights violations. The present paper examines the work of international development and human rights agencies to update our understanding of human rights-inspired development work at the nexus. Examining work in the two sectors now, we see more significant changes among human rights agencies than among agencies in development. Some development actors have embraced human rights language and a handful use human rights principles and strategies to define project and …

From Activism To Invested Scholarship: When Outsiders Are Insiders (Abstract), Kristi Heather Kenyon, Tal Nitsán

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Social science methodologies frequently assume that the researcher is ahistorical, bringing no background or investment to the topic they study. Yet, as activists and scholars of human rights activism we are drawn to the movements we study precisely because of our engagement with these groups, places and topics. How does our research and teaching change if we are viewed as participants rather than outside observers in the movements we study? How do we navigate interviews with people who know us as activists rather than scholars? How do we interpret materials in which our own words and images appear?

Coming to …

Fostering Empathy Through Visual Culture Art Intergration (Abstract), R. Darden Bradshaw

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Our lives are mediated through the visual (Mirzoeff, 1999; Freedman, 2002). This mediation informs, in multiple and conflicting ways, our views, our beliefs, attitudes and mores, our choices, and thereby our resulting actions. This barrage of the visual impacts the postmodern student encountered in K-12 education. Students readily gain access to information that was once the sole domain of adults (Kincheloe, 2004) yet the prevailing system of education has not adapted. Visual culture is seldom used as an engagement strategy in school despite its ubiquitous role as hidden curriculum and ever-present place in the world beyond the school. Learners are …

Practicing Human Rights: How Human Rights Practitioners Shape The Field (Abstract), Robin Redhead

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This working paper summarises my initial findings of a study into the politics of human rights practice looking specifically at how practitioners shape the human rights field. Through a series of interviews with lawyers, politicians, bureaucrats and activists I have mapped the ‘work’ that takes place within the field of human rights and analysed how this ‘work’ shapes what Nash (2009) refers to as the cultural politics of human rights. Within the national and international arenas, human rights practices are cultural capital that practitioners trade for political gains. In order to assure the future of the human rights movement we …

A Human Rights Lens On Full Employment And Decent Work In The Post-2015 Development Agenda (Abstract), Diane F. Frey, Gillian Macnaughton

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Since the turn of the Millennium the elimination of global poverty has been a top priority of the international community. In the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the leaders from 189 nations committed to work together for poverty eradication, human rights and global peace. Toward these ends, the Declaration was transformed into Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets that aimed to unify governments, international organizations, foundations and nongovernmental organizations to focus their expertise, efforts and funds on achieving specific targets in the areas of poverty reduction, education, gender equality, health and other areas of human development.

Yet, the MDGs failed to …

Global Human Rights Direct: Connecting Human Rights Voices From Around The Globe (Abstract), William Simmons

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Scholars and activists (e.g., Simmons 2011, Baxi 2007, Ife 2009) have increasingly argued for a larger role for on-the-ground stakeholders, especially marginalized populations, in defining and implementing human rights around the globe. This paper describes the Global Human Rights Direct (GHRD) initiative at the University of Arizona that seeks to connect and empower human rights stakeholders from across the globe through videoconferencing. GHRD is a searchable database of human rights stakeholders willing to participate in videoconferences with interested individuals and groups from around the globe. It will be used by university instructors, high school teachers, community groups, and government officials …

The Normative Implication Of The B Corp Movement In The Business And Human Rights Context (Abstract), Cindy Woods

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Over the past decades, issues of corporate accountability and social responsibility have risen to the forefront of international debate. The U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles), endorsed by the U.N. HRC in June 2011, lays out authoritatively the state duty to protect and the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. In an effort to operationalize the Guiding Principles, the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights has called on all states to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) regarding domestic implementation of the Guiding Principles. A key first-step in the creation of a NAP is …

Exploring Public Opinion On The Role Of Human Rights In Foreign Policy (Abstract), Michelle Allendoerfer

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Much of the literature on human rights foreign policy assumes - sometimes explicitly but usually implicitly - that constituents want foreign policy conditioned on human rights or that human rights policy is a political “good” for policymakers to pursue. Yet, little scholarly work has been done to support this assumption, either in terms of providing theoretical foundations for this assumption or assessing the empirical support for it. And this assumption matters not just for the academic literature but also for the practice of human rights advocacy. One tool to promote human rights norms globally and to improve conditions is through …

Cultural Differences In Support For Human Rights (Abstract), Sam Mcfarland, William Hornsby

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This article reviews cultural (and country) differences in support for human rights through multiple conceptual and theoretical lenses. This review will include (a) discussion of the difficulties that language translation imposes of measuring human rights support consistently across countries, (b) studies of whether persons in different cultures have a common understanding of the meaning of human rights, (c) the general level of support for human rights across the world, (d) the stability of cultural differences in support for human rights across the years, and (e) evidence related to whether events that happen within a country (e.g., a terrorist attack) alter …

Promoting Human Rights Through The Professions (Abstract), Debra Delaet, Emily Sadecki, Holly Atkinson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper examines the ways in which professionals in a range of fields—the health professions, education, journalism, and law to name just a few—have the capacity to engage in critical work in the promotion of human rights. Whereas the scholarly study of human rights focuses largely on formal law and governance processes, this paper explores how strategies for promoting human rights might be integrated into the everyday work lives of professionals. Our focus on this everyday lever for human rights promotion seeks to broaden the vision of what constitutes human rights and justice work by exploring the capacities of actors …

Campus Tour

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Shuttles will pick up attendees at selected hotels; tour begins at Fitz Hall, home of the University of Dayton Human Rights Center. Maps are available as well:

• One is included in your registration materials.
• Download one using download button above.
• Link to an interactive map here >>>.

2015 Conference Program, University Of Dayton Human Rights Center

Human Rights Program Documents

In late September 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which sets out a vision for transforming our world. Pope Francis, in addresses before Congress and the United Nations, reiterated the appeals in his apostolic letters The Joy of the Gospel and On Care for Our Common Home for the global community to think of one world with a common plan. This is our agenda for SPHR-’15.

SPHR reflects the University of Dayton Human Rights Center’s mission to advance the theory and practice of human rights advocacy, promote dialogue, forge collaborative partnerships, and focus on the …

A Phenomenological Study Of Conservative Academic Librarians, Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, Ione Damasco

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

Librarianship posits itself as a profession that strives for neutrality, particularly within customer service and information provision; however, factors such as political activity, conference programming, and disproportionate representations of specific viewpoints in the literature indicate that neutrality may be compromised. These factors may alienate librarians who do not subscribe to majority political opinions within librarianship.

A phenomenological study was conducted to understand the career experiences of academic librarians who identify as socially or politically conservative. Themes linking service provision, ethics, workplace relationships, and professional engagement emerged that demonstrate the professional impact politicized activity has on practicing librarians in all specialties.

Impact Report 2015: University Of Dayton Human Rights Center, University Of Dayton

Human Rights Program Documents

It is time for new thinking about human rights advocacy. This is the challenge for the global human rights research and advocacy community.

The University of Dayton Human Rights Center creates positive change through research, education and dialogue. As a leader in the global human rights community, we search for transformative solutions to systemic patterns of injustice that will bring about real change in the lives of poor people. We are committed to addressing the gap between theory and practice, between scholars and practitioners. Advocates need information to be able to develop evidence-based strategies that bring about real change. We …

2015 Conference Poster: Be A Part Of The Global Action, University Of Dayton Human Rights Center

Human Rights Program Documents

Join our conference to take stock of the human rights, environmental and development communities’ achievements over the past decade and plan advocacy strategies to advance the post-2015 UN sustainable development goals.

Register today.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected]

• OCTOBER 1-3, 2015
• UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON
• 1700 SOUTH PATTERSON BUILDING

2015 Conference Brochure: Be A Part Of The Global Action, University Of Dayton Human Rights Center

Human Rights Program Documents

This biennial conference provides a unique space for scholars, practitioners and advocates to engage in collaboration, dialogue and critical analysis of human rights advocacy — locally and globally. The 2015 conference features:

• Research panels
• Roundtables
• Keynote addresses
• Sustainable development goals-focused plenaries

We hope you will join us in this endeavor.

Human Rights Organizations As Agents Of Change: When Do They Succeed And When Do They Fail?, Kyla Mcentire, Matthew Krain, Michele Leiby

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

As a key actor within the human rights transnational advocacy network, NGOs, such as Amnesty International, strive to shape individuals’ values on such contentious issues as the use of torture and to mobilize them to act on their values. While much has been written describing this advocacy work, little systematic research has been done evaluating its efficacy. We conducted archival research to identify the three most common messaging techniques employed by AI: (1) informational frames, where the focus is to educate the reader by presenting them with core facts and statistics; (2) personal frames, where a personal narrative is told …

2013 Conference Report: The Social Practice Of Human Rights, Mark Ensalaco

Human Rights Program Documents

Universities have new importance in the global human rights movement.

This was the resounding message the University of Dayton heard at its global conference on human rights advocacy in October 2013. The human rights movement is experiencing dramatic changes. Dynamic new NGOs in the global South are resetting the human rights agenda. Popular movements inspired by human rights ideals are arising around the world to demand justice. New information technologies are creating the possibility of real global solidarity. The movement must adapt. Human rights organizations must imagine new strategies to address poverty and other root causes of human rights violations. …

2013 Conference Brochure: Be A Part Of The Human Rights Movement's New Frontier, University Of Dayton Human Rights Center

Human Rights Program Documents

Why must we explore the social practice of human rights?

In the 65 years since the U.N.’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the human rights community has become a standard-bearer of normative behavior, influencing development and humanitarian organizations, multinational corporations and philanthropists. Though the movement is viewed as honorable and admirable, the certainty of its mission can inhibit introspection; a natural tendency is to prioritize rather than challenge prevailing assumptions.

Are the good intentions of human rights advocates enough? No. Research and dialogue can help propel the human rights community forward by facilitating introspection to improve both advocacy and action: …

Social Issues, Authoritarianism, And Ideological Conceptualization: How Policy Dimensions And Psychological Factors Influence Ideological Labeling, Christopher J. Devine

Political Science Faculty Publications

Ideology's crucial theoretical and empirical role in explaining political behavior makes it imperative that scholars understand how individuals conceptualize and apply ideological labels. The existing literature on this topic is quite limited, however, because it relies almost exclusively upon data from the 1970s and 1980s, and it does not examine how psychological factors influence conceptualizations of ideological labels. This article uses data from two original laboratory experiments to test the relative impact of four major policy dimensions on participants' evaluations of candidate ideology and to test authoritarianism's role in shaping ideological conceptualization. These analyses indicate that individuals most often define …

Locating Royce's Reasoning On Race, Marilyn Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In the fall 2009 issue of The Pluralist, Tommy Curry and Dwayne Tunstall challenged the current, dominant view of Royce as an antiracist. In "Royce, Racism, and the Colonial Ideal," Curry presents Royce as a white supremacist, an admirer of British colonialism, and an advocate of black assimilation to Anglo-Saxon cultural practices (14-15). Tunstall, in "Josiah Royce's 'Enlightened' Antiblack Racism?," presents Royce as a non-essentialist regarding race, yet as a cultural antiblack racist, with a colonial attitude comparable to that held by John Stuart Mill (Tunstall 40). In the same issue of The Pluralist, Jacquelyn Kegley analyzes Royce's …

Cosmic Patriotism And Spiritual Internationalism: Addams’S Newer Ideals Of Peace, Marilyn Fischer

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In Newer Ideals of Peace (1907), Addams notes the coming of a “beneficent and progressive patriotism,” a “newer patriotism” that may grow large enough “to soak up the notion of nationalism.” She charts rising cooperation and fellowship within cosmopolitan cities and across national boundaries. Not knowing what to call this phenomenon, Addams writes, “We are driven to the rather absurd phrase of “cosmic patriotism.”

What is she talking about? The first several times I read Newer Ideals, a question tugged in the back of my head: what is this book about? I had too much respect for Addams as a …

A Positive Political Model Of Supreme Court Economic Decisions, Tony Caporale, Harold Winter

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We develop a positive political model of the U.S. Supreme Court. Looking at the Court's economic cases for the period 1953-1993, we find a significant larger fraction of conservative decisions under Republican presidents and more conservative leadership of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Conservative decisions are also found to be positively correlated with the fraction of the Court appointed by Republican presidents and the rate of price inflation. We argue that our findings cast serious doubt on the common view of the Supreme Court as a completely independent, apolitical institution.

The Diffusion Of Innovations: A Review And Explication Of Central Concepts, Thomas D. Skill

Communication Faculty Publications

The study of the diffusion of innovations attempts to understand how new things or ideas, after a period of time, become widely adopted throughout a group or society.

Everett Rogers (1983), one of the pioneers in this area of research, sees the diffusion process as essential to understanding social change. Diffusion, as Rogers sees it, is essentially a communication activity. Accordingly, social change consists of the introduction of something new - invention, followed by the process of diffusing the invention - this is done through all forms of communication, and finally the process ends with some type of "consequence," or …