27 Nov 13.15-15.00 room 420

The focus of this session is on the inherently political nature of human rights. By this we do not mean party politics. The political nature of human rights instead refers to the radical and emancipatory nature of human rights; challenges power, tradition and authority; and the uses to which human rights are put. It relates also to some basic questions of political philosophy or, put simply, how we should govern ourselves.

We will begin by briefly summarising some the main themes of the readings for today. We will then break into small groups to discuss a current case example to see where we can identify those main themes and in this way help us to understand the human rights dimension of that case study from a more political perspective.

SLIDES

Reading

Goodhart pp. 24 & 25 and chapter 3 (excerpts)

See also:

Sikkink Ch 3 on the question of the political legitimacy of human rights (Sikkink challenges the critique that human rights are a western imposition on others)

Freeman Ch 7 which adopts a very different focus than Goodhart Ch 3 despite the same chapter title!

Goodhart Ch 5 on imperialism and human rights (we don't focus on this during the session, but it's a great chapter and well worth digging into, including alongside Sikkink)

Case study: Desecration of the Qur'an in Sweden

Our case study is the recent Qur'an desecration in Sweden (see video and short readings below, along with discussion questions). This is a controversial topic. All human rights issues are, to some extent, so as usual we ask that we all approach this case with mutual respect. The main thing is that we are not discussing this to pick sides or to find a 'correct' view. We are using the case example to help us understand the ideas presented in the literature and to think even more carefully about the politics of contemporary human rights concerns. Please feel free during our discussions to raise other examples that are of interest to you and that speak to the themes of the literature.

Al Jazeera: Anger in the Middle East over Qur'an Burning in Sweden

BBC: Sweden's Quran burnings put freedom of expression law to test https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66310285

Time: Why Quran Burning Is Making Sweden and Denmark So Anxious https://time.com/6303348/quran-burning-sweden-denmark/

(These are both in English. Feel free to read Swedish articles or those published in Arabic, Farsi or other languages if you speak them)

Discussion questions:

Goodhart states (in Ch 3) that human rights are always controversial. Why? What are the main controversies in this case? Try to list them
Who are the main actors involved in this case? What human rights arguments are made, and what are the interests of those making them?
How does the idea of human rights as social constructs affect how we view this case?
Human rights are a challenge to power and the status quo, therefore 'emancipatory'. What forms of 'domination', if any, are being challenged here?