Feminist reconstructions of universalism and the discourse of human rights

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
The Public ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Universal Principles ◽  
The Public Sphere

In recent years, universal principles and, in turn, the universalistic discourse of human rights, have fallen under critical review by feminist scholars. This is part of a more general suspicion of a search for universalism and abstraction in law: feminist legal scholars have highlighted and critiqued the gendered dimension of such an approach.1Particular concepts fundamental to political, legal and social theory such as justice,2equality,3freedom4and rights5have been under the spotlight to see if their structure leads to detrimental consequences for women. Criticisms of rights have taken a variety of forms with rights being seen as too individualistic, reinforcing existing power imbalances, failing to account for women’s experiences and focusing too much on the public sphere.

Citizenship as Interpellation: Refugee Women and the State

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Bassel
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Somali Refugee ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThis article examines the ideological function of ‘models’ of citizenship in shaping the contours of public debate and the ability of refugee women to make claims in the public sphere. Key elements of Louis Althusser's concept of interpellation are explored: ideology works by interpellating (‘hailing’) individuals, providing them with a social and juridical identity that constitutes them as subjects. The article argues that ‘models’ of citizenship serve as vehicles for processes of interpellation that restrict claim-making, through the imposition of a dominant hierarchy of identities and needs. These processes become visible through analysis of Somali refugee women's experiences in republican France.

scholarly journals SIGNIFIKANSI DAKWAH INKLUSIF NURCHOLISH MADJID BAGI MASYARAKAT INDONESIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
Zaprulkhan Zaprulkhan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Ethics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Religious Truth ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Religious Disagreement ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Islamic Values

Articulation of religion in the public sphere of Indonesia is still much to be exclusive and puritan, unilateral in monopolizing the truth claims of religious truth, and intolerance towards various religious disagreement. Whereas in the context of a pluralistic Indonesian nation, whether of race, ethnicity, culture, class, and religion, religious messages should be delivered by inclusive proselytizing. Anyone who would articulate religious discourses in the public sphere of Indonesia, should ideally be through inclusive proselytizing. In the context of inclusive proselytizing, Islamic values such as justice (al-'adl), human rights, freedom (Hurriyah), democracy (Shura), universal benevolence (Khoir), egalitarian (Musawah), tolerance (tasamuh), balance ( tawazun), social ethics (morals), universal humanity (an-nas), as well as peace and safety contained in the doctrine of principle Islam but those are inclusive. Inclusive priciples could embrace all people regardless of race, culture, race, class, and even religion. This article is going to discuss the significance of Nurcholish Madjid‟s inclusive proselytizing for pluralistic Indonesian society.

The Freedom to Exclude: The Case of Israeli Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Tamir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Israeli Society ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

The phenomenon of social exclusion in Israel is a vivid demonstration of the Basic Laws' failure to fulfil their integrative role. Despite the ‘constitutional revolution’ and the Supreme Court's ongoing endeavour over the last two decades to instil a bill of rights through its jurisprudence, Israeli society has failed to fully internalise values of equality. In terms of legal jargon, individuals continue to claim and exercise ‘sole and despotic dominion’ over their private property in order to avoid contact with individuals belonging to certain minority groups. In many cases, such behaviour in the private sphere results in exclusion from the public sphere.This phenomenon is especially astonishing considering the fact that many laws in Israel apply the right of equality to the private sphere. Furthermore, the Israeli Supreme Court has developed comprehensive human rights jurisprudence applicable to the private sphere. The gap between the law in the books and the law in action illustrates that effective implementation of human rights in the private sphere cannot be achieved solely by specific legislation or by jurisprudence that is sensitive to human rights. This argument is backed by several recent bills which preserve and enforce the exclusion of minorities, particularly of Arabs, from the public sphere. These bills illustrate that exclusion is indeed a growing phenomenon in Israeli society that cannot be overlooked. Moreover, they underscore the urgent need to entrench a direct obligation to apply human rights to the private sphere at the constitutional level. This will be achieved only when Israel adopts a full constitution.

Public Space and the Public Sphere: Political Theory and the Historical Geography of Modernity

1993 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Howell
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Historical Geography ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Normative Political Theory

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion of the historical geography of modernity. It is argued that the exclusive focus on social theory has detrimental effects on the appreciation of normative political concerns and that it ignores the resurgence of normative political theory. Habermas's concept of the public sphere, and its place within his theoretical and empirical studies, is, by contrast, commendably concerned with linking the social and historical work with normative political theorising, and its usefulness for geographical investigation is applauded. However, the criticisms directed from, in particular, communitarian political theorists and contextualist social researchers would seem to make his attempt to bring a ‘strong’ theory of public political life back within the remit of a reconstructed social theory less plausible. One set of responses to this criticism comes in the form of the attempt to build geography into this normative political theory, turning public spheres into public spaces; Arcndt's political theory, in conclusion, is thus held to be a significant contribution to the historical geography of modernity.

scholarly journals Evangelicals at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 360-364
Author(s):  
Rene Urueña
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere

Christian Evangelicals are a growing political force in Latin America. Most recently, they have engaged the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to challenge basic LGBTI achievements, such as same-sex marriage and other demands for equal rights. Several commentators thus speak of an imminent showdown between human rights protections and Christian Evangelism in the region, which would mirror similar conflicts elsewhere in the world. This essay challenges this narrative and warns against a top-down “secular fundamentalism,” which may alienate a significant part of the region's population and create deep resentment against the Court. As it turns forty, the Court faces a “spiritual” crisis: conservative religious movements have become one of its key interlocutors, with demands and expectations that compete with (but could also complement) those of other regional social movements. Difficult as it may be, the Court needs to be bold in creating argumentative spaces that allow for the Evangelical experience to exist in the public sphere in Latin America, in a context of respect for human rights in general, and for LGBTI rights in particular.

scholarly journals Dakwah Mengenai Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM) Di Indonesia Dalam Konsep Maslahah Mursalah

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Rojabi Azhargany
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Basic Rights ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Basic Ideas ◽  
Islamic Values

Da'wah regarding Islamic values needs to be done in the community. Including, preaching about the Islamic values contained in the views that are being discussed in the public sphere, including about Human Rights (HAM). Democratic governance requires the existence of good governance, human rights and democracy. Obtaining the standards of democratic governance is needed  by  Indonesia to be internationally  accepted.  Nonetheless, Indonesia's record on human rights  leads to the understanding  that  this country has to pay highly attention  on human rights. Five basic rights in maqashid sharia (kulliyatul khoms) as important basic ideas to be elaborated into values ​​that are included in the effort to realize good governance. Keywords:  Da’wah, good  governance, human  rights, kulliyatul khoms

The Dewey-Lippmann Debate Today: Communication Distortions, Reflective Agency, and Participatory Democracy

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Whipple
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Advanced Capitalism ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Public Sphere

In this article, I introduce the Dewey-Lippmann democracy debate of the 1920s as a vehicle for considering how social theory can enhance the empirical viability of participatory democratic theory within the current context of advanced capitalism. I situate within this broad theoretical framework the theories of Habermas and Dewey. In the process, I argue (a) that while Dewey largely failed to reconcile his democratic ideal with the empirical constraint of large-scale organizations, Habermas, in particular his work on the public sphere, provides an important starting point for considering the state of public participation within the communication distortions of advanced capitalism; (b) that to fully understand the relation between communication distortions and public participation, social theorists must look beyond Habermas and return to Dewey to mobilize his bi-level view of habitual and reflective human agency; and, finally, (c) that the perspective of a Deweyan political theory of reflective agency best furthers our understanding of potential communication distortions and public participation, particularly in the empirical spaces of media centralization and intellectual property rights.

The Madres Appear on the Public Plaza de Mayo in Argentina: Towards Human Rights as a Key for a Public eology that Carries on the Liberation Heritage

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-187
Author(s):  
Heike Walz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Agenda ◽  
State Terrorism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThe Madres y Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo are internationally recognized for human rights work in their ongoing campaign for justice for those who disappeared during the most recent dictatorship in Argentina. ey have become the contemporary Argentine symbol for the implementation of human rights in the society. The article examines how they implicitly carry on the liberation theological heritage and have reclaimed the public sphere through: shedding light on the clandestine actions of state terrorism, turning private motherhood political and reconstructing public discourse. Despite such efforts to put memory, truth and justice on the public agenda, a history of impunity made reconciliation difficult in Argentina. The engagement of the Mothers and Grandmothers off ers clues for the continuation of liberation theology as a type of public theology, with human rights as its focus.

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