THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INS 411 FALL 2012

Transcription

1 1 THE EVOLUTION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INS 411 FALL 2012 Dr. Ruth Reitan Class: Tu & Thurs 12:30-1:45 pm University of Miami INS Dept. in Merrick 306 Office: Antonio Ferré Buildng 327 Office Hours: T, & Th 3-5 pm in my office, or on the Ferré patio; Office phone: or for appointment Course Overview: This course probes the following questions and debates: What are fundamental, universal human rights, and how and to what extent are the full spectrum of these civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights acknowledged, respected, exercised, ignored, eroded, challenged or violated in your own daily life and in the lives of others across the world? To what degree is the dignity of the human being, the integrity of their communities, and the sustainability of their natural environments protected and promoted under existing notions of international human rights? How have these rights changed over time (usually in response to catastrophic wars and atrocities), and how are these rights unevenly distributed over geographic and social space? Specifically, what is the historical, present and future relevance of international law to the vast majority of the earth's people, nations, and states, located in the Global South (formerly the Third World), and what is the interplay between international law and world order/global governance/power? Close reading and (re)viewing, reflection, open and thoughtful debate, and writing with clarity and conviction are all highly valued in this course! Students should come to class having thoroughly read the assignment and watched the video clip (on the web) listed under that date, and have prepared some questions to be raised with the group or points of interest or controversy that they wish to discuss. While the professor will guide, clarify, raise issues, summarize, and facilitate the discussion, its quality and direction relies on active engagement and well-prepared presentations on the part of students. Students will be evaluated on their daily participation, a presentation, and two mid-term, take home essay exams. Required Materials Available at the UM bookstore (and on course reserve, library use only): 1) The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen, Paul Gordon Lauren, (University of Pennsylvania Press (2003; or 2011 preferred) library call no. JC571.L ) International Law and the Third World Reshaping Justice, Richard Falk, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Jacqueline Stevens, eds. (Routledge-Cavendish, 2010) library call no. KZ1237.F ) + weekly video clips (approx min. each) on-line. 4) 'The War & Peace Report with Amy Goodman', daily (m-f) international news hour; access online at democracynow.org or on worldlinktv. Recommended Newspapers:

2 2 A daily subscription to the International Herald Tribune or Financial Times. The IHT is more accessible to undergraduates and treats themes relevant to this class especially, whereas the FT is the highest quality English-language paper, and aids in understanding how politics is shaped by economics (& assumes MBA-level training). Requirements & Criteria for Assessing Student Performance: 1) Preparedness for class, attendance & participation: = 10% of grade For each class period students are expected to thoroughly read approx. 30 pages, watch a video 15 minutes, and participate in classroom discussions, critique, and application of ideas. 2) Oral presentation: = 10% of grade Each student will be responsible during one period, either alone or in pairs, for preparing and delivering a presentation and helping to generate discussion. Presentations can be either Powerpoint or old-school--& feel free to include video clips--and should aim to: I. Summarize/outline the main points and arguments (no more than 3 pages, 12 pt., single sp., if doing notes, power point slides + discussion time) II. Weave in multiple discussion questions, debating items, & controversies: NOTE these questions should not be simply yes/ no but substantive and open-ended, & should be raised throughout, not saved for the end; the best way to know if you have a good question is to try to answer it yourself, & then adjust it to elicit greater thought & responses. Students presentations will be partly graded on their ability to generate discussion and debate. III. Within a day after the presentation, students must upload their notes or slides--including any editing or clarifications to those notes that came out in the class discussion--to student discussion board on Blackboard. These notes will help in exam prep. 3) Two Mid-term, Take-Home Essay Exams: = 80% of grade Two exams, consisting of detailed essay questions (approx. 10 pp.) in addition to some multiple choice & short answer questions, will be given, covering the required readings, student summary notes, discussions, assigned videos, and topical news stories related to human rights issues, worth 40% of total grade each. Students should thus do all the readings for each class, and go back and review their own notes and the presentation notes posted on Blackboard in order to prepare. Late essays will result in an automatic 1/2 grade reduction for each day late (i.e. from an A- to a B+ if it's not brought to class but turned in within 24 hours of that class; reduced to a B if it's turned in within the next 24 hours, and so on. Hard copies only, please, & double-sided preferred). Make sure essay has an original title, reflecting the theme of your answer to the question. In referring to course materials, cite properly, following the citation style in one of your books.

3 3 Weekly Schedule: Th 8/23: Introduction/ Overview of the Course Choose which week/s students present Tu 8/28: Introduction: Visions, Visionaries, & the Birth of Human Rights Lauren book: Acknowledgments Introduction: Visions and Visionaries Begin Ch. 1. My Brother's and Sister's Keeper: Visions and the Birth of Human Rights: Religious Visions Philosophical Visions in-class video clip: ' History Of Human Rights' by Youth for Human Rights, 2009 (9:50 min.). you tube: History Channel 'Secrets of World War 1' Part 1 Th 8/30: Visions, Visionaries, & the Birth of Human Rights, Cont. Finish Lauren Ch 1: Traditional Practices and Ideas of a Very Different Sort Visions and Reality you tube: History Channel 'Secrets of World War 1' part 2 Tu 9/04: Early International Law Efforts Start Lauren, Ch. 2. To Protect Humanity and Defend Justice: Early International Efforts To Free the Enslaved To Assist the Exploited you tube: History Channel 'Secrets of World War 1' Part 3 Th 9/06: Cont. Finish Lauren, Ch. 2 To Care for the Wounded To Protect the Persecuted you tube: History Channel 'Secrets of World War 1' Part 4 Tu 9/11: WWI-era Rights Discourse Lauren, Ch. 3 (whole ch). Entering the Twentieth Century: World Visions, War, and Revolutions: Ferment and the Anticipation of Rights

4 4 World War, Revolutions, and Rights Peacemaking and Human Rights The Covenant: Rights Proclaimed and Rights Rejected you tube: History Channel 'Secrets of World War 1' Part 5 9/13: NO CLASS Tu 9/18: Inter-war Years: Between Hope & Fear Start Lauren, Ch. 4. Opportunities and Challenges: Visions and Rights Between the Wars A Flourishing of Visions Opportunities for New Departures you tube video: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century 1 (parts 1 & 2 of 10, each approx. 10 min.; a recent lecture at the London School of Economics) Th 9/ 20: Cont. Finish Lauren, Ch. 4 Challenges of Old Problems The Gathering Storm you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 3 Tu 9/25: WWII & the Decimation of Rights Start Lauren, Ch. 5. A "People's War": The Crusade of World War II War, Genocide, and Self-Reflections Crusaders, Visions, and Proposals you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 4 Th 9/27: Cont. Finish Lauren, Ch. 5 Human Rights and National Sovereignty in Postwar Planning Opposition from the Great Powers you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 5 Tu 10/02: Post-WWII & the Founding of the UN Start Lauren, Ch. 6. A "People's Peace": Peace and a Charter with Human Rights Insisting on a Peace with Rights Politics and Diplomacy at the San Francisco Conference

5 5 you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 6 you tube: Two Speeches By Eleanor Roosevelt (United Nations & Carnegie Hall) Th 10/04: Cont. Finish Lauren, Ch. 6. The Charter of the United Nations Differing Reactions and Assessments you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 7 Tu 10/09: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Lauren, 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (at the back of book) Lauren, Ch. 7. (whole ch.) Proclaiming a Vision: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Revolution Begins Challenging Questions of Philosophy Difficult Problems of Politics The Universal Declaration of Human Rights you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 8 you tube: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights you tube: 30 words - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Th 10/11: The Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols Distribute MID-TERM I & TAKE-HOME ESSAY (Essay due following Thursday) **Read treaties & additional protocols & commentary by the International Committee of the Red Cross, at: 10/16 NO CLASS: Continue working on essay Th 10/18: First 50 Years of International Human Rights Protections ** Hand in essay; Late essays will result in 1/2 grade reduction per day late. Start Lauren, Ch. 8. Transforming Visions Into Reality: The First Fifty Years of the Universal

6 6 Declaration Extending Rights and Setting Standards Protecting Rights Through Implementation you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 9 you tube: The Conenants: Tu 10/23: Cont. Finish Lauren, Ch. 8. Promoting Rights Enhancing Rights and Expanding Activities you tube: Noam Chomsky: Human Rights in the 21st Century Part 10 Th 10/25: Continuing Evolution (International Criminal Law, Globalization, NGOs, Terrorism, Torture, Technology) Lauren, Ch. 9. (whole ch.) The Continuing Evolution International Law, R2P and the Challenges to Sovereignty Globalization, Development, Terrorism & Torture Human Rights NGOs Technology and Political Will you tube: Stop the death penalty: Worldwide abolition now you tube: Death Penalty in Tu 10/30: International Law and the Third World/ Global South/ Post-Colonial Era Falk et al, 1. Reshaping Justice: International Law and the Third World: An Introduction Richard Falk, Balakrishnan Rajagopal and Jacqueline Stevens Falk et al, 2. What May the 'Third World' Expect from International Law? Upendra Baxi on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 1. Laying the Groundwork Th 11/01: Colonial & Post-Colonial State on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 2. The Afghanistan War Prisoners Falk et al, 4. The Evolution of International Law: Colonial and Postcolonial Realities Antony Anghie

7 7 Falk et al, 5. Recreating the State Jacqueline Stevens Tu 11/06: Islam, Jihad, Asylum & Torture Falk et al, 7. Why should Muslims Abandon Jihad?: Human Rights and the Future of International Law Abdullahi Ahmed An-na'im Falk et al, 12. Political Asylum and Torture: A Comparative Analysis Wadie E. Said on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 3. Gitmo's Camp X-Ray Th 11/08: Between Civilization & Barbarism: Creole Law Falk et al, 9. Between Civilisation and Barbarism: Creole Interventions in International Law Liliana Obregon Falk et al, 10. 'I Heard it All Before' Egyptian Tales of Law and Development Amr Shalakany on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 4. A New Commander & New Tactics Tu 11/13: Human Security, 'Liminal' Legality & Palestine Falk et al, 11. The Civilised Self and the Barbaric Other: Imperial Delusions of Order and the Challenges of Human Security Ikechi Mgbeoji Falk et al, 15. Exiled to a Liminal Legal Zone: Are we all Palestinians now? Laurie King-Irani on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 5. Taking the Gloves Off Th 11/15: Resistance to Empire & Occupation Falk et al, 14. Resistance in the Age of Empire: Occupied Discourse Pending Investigation Vasuki Nesiah on-line video: PBS Frontline: The Torture Question part 6. Abu Graib -- and Beyond Tu 11/20: Women, Peace, & Environmental Law Falk et al, 16. Building Women into Peace: The International Legal Framework Christine Chinkin and Hilary Charlesworth Falk et al, 13. International Environmental Law, Water and the Future Hilal Elver The Journey of Women's Rights: The Girl Effect (Nike Foundation campaign):

8 8 NO CLASS THURSDAY 11/22 THANKSGIVING Tu 11/27: Economic Rights: Poverty, Development, and International Global Governance Falk et al, 8. Poverty, Agency and Resistance in the Future of International Law: An African Perspective Obiora Chinedu Okafor Falk et al, 6. Counter-hegemonic International Law: Rethinking Human Rights and Development as a Third World Strategy Balakrishnan Rajagopal Falk et al, 17. Third World Approaches to International Economic Governance James Thuo Gathii you tube: Millennium Development Goals for Th 12/29: Envisioning the Future of Rights Distribute MID-TERM II TAKE-HOME ESSAY EXAM Lauren, Ch. 10. Toward the Future The Nature and Power of Visions People of Vision and Action Forces & Events of Consequence Process, Politics, and Perspective Falk et al, 3. International Law and the Future Richard Falk Essay Exam due Thurs. 12/6 by noon: Please print out and leave in Prof. Reitan s box in the faculty room, 1 st floor of Ferre Building. Late essays will result in 1/2 grade reduction per day late.