PSCI 420(F) (Section 02) Senior Seminar in International Relations: Politics of Human Rights
If the state is matter, then the idea of human rights is antimatter. Legally and analytically, multiple sovereignty and universal human rights cannot coexist. Human rights, or indeed any universal, implies a standard over and above that of the state, from which one can judge state behavior-but the state cannot, by definition, be sovereign if a higher standard exists. Similarly, if states are truly sovereign, there can be no such thing as human rights, but merely "rights" that each government separately accords its subjects. These two ideas, human rights and sovereignty, should explode when they touch each other. But they don't. Instead, they not only coexist, but are jointly embedded in the UN Charter. In practice, states, individuals, groups and international organizations appeal to both ideas as a way to protect their interests. This course will cover the history of human rights as an ideal, then will focus on the way the idea is used in international and domestic politics: who benefits from the idea that there are human rights? What are the relationships between human rights and American hegemony, and human rights and global capitalism? Under what circumstances do human rights appeals affect state behavior? To what extent are human rights a discardable tool, to what extent a permanently embedded feature of the contemporary world? Format: seminar. Requirements: Students are required to submit a biweekly summary and critique of the readings, and have the choice in addition of either completing two seven-page papers on assigned, common topics or submitting a fifteen-page research paper on a unique topic. Each student will also co-lead the seminar twice during the term. Prerequisites: senior standing; political science major; two classes in international relations. Permission of the instructor is required for this course. Enrollment limit: 16 (expected: 16). Permission of the instructor is required for this course.