scholarly journals The Party’s Turn to Public Repression: An Analysis of the ‘709’ Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Pils
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Rational Argument ◽  
Political Emotions ◽  
Legal Advocacy ◽  
Human Rights Advocacy ◽  
Party State

The intensified and more public repression of civil society in China is part of a global shift toward deepened and technologically smarter dictatorship. This article uses the example of the ‘709’ government campaign against Chinese human rights lawyers to discuss this shift. It argues that the Party-State adopted more public and sophisticated forms of repression in reaction to smarter forms and techniques of human rights advocacy. In contrast to liberal legal advocacy, however, the Party-State’s authoritarian (or neo-totalitarian) propaganda is not bounded by rational argument. It can more fully exploit the potential of the political emotions it creates. Along with other forms of public repression, the crackdown indicates a rise of anti-liberal and anti-rationalist conceptions of law and governance and a return to the romanticisation of power.

Civil Society in the OSCE: From Human Rights Advocacy to Peacebuilding

2016 ◽  
pp. 359-374
Author(s):  
Natascha Cerny Ehtesham ◽  
Laurent Goetschel
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Human Rights Advocacy

scholarly journals “Soft” Power of China: Efficiency and Response to the Current Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Lesia Dorosh ◽  
◽  
Myroslava Yablonska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Political System ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Hard Power

The features of the “soft” power of the PRC, which are significantly based on its indicators of "hard" power – economic and military power, – have been studied. It is noted that there is a difference in the assessment of the state of “soft” power of China by Western countries and, accordingly, by China itself. Emphasis was placed on the prospects for the embodiment of China’s cultural “soft” power and its obstacles. Vulnerabilities in China’s “soft” power have been explored, including the political system and civil society. The importance of the tools of "mask" and "vaccine" diplomacy in the arsenal of "soft" power of China used to minimize the negative effects of the pandemic on China’s image and elevate its status as a leader in global health, have been analyzed. The effectiveness of the Chinese “soft” power has been analyzed through the studies conducted by the “Pew Research Centre” and “Portland Communication” agency. The importance of economic “soft” power in China’s conquest of new allies, including Asia and Africa, has been noted. It is emphasized that the most successful “soft” power is among countries where China is not burdened with accusations of human rights violations. It is noted that one of the main problems in China’s implementation of “soft” power policy is the dissonance between the image that China seeks to project and the country’s actions.

Human Rights Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kayum Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Human Rights Education ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
Legal Advocacy ◽  
And Training

Human rights education (HRE) can be described as a tool for popularizing and giving effect to the universal human rights regime. The United Nations (UN) defines HRE as (a) acquiring knowledge about human rights and the skills to exercise these rights, (b) developing values, attitudes, and beliefs that support and reinforce human rights; and (c) defending and advancing human rights through behavior and action. HRE is therefore an ideological instrument deployed as a tactic to inspire agency and activism, primarily as a counterbalance to state power. HRE as tactics is used to denote the education and training of individuals and groups working toward claiming certain protections for themselves or on behalf of those on the margins of society. This typology encompasses the range of legal, advocacy, and policy tools available within human rights frameworks to uphold and protect the rights of individuals and communities. But it is also important to recognize that human rights discourses can been appropriated by certain states to strengthen their sovereign power. HRE as sovereignty acknowledges that states, as well as corporations and far-right civil society groups, can appropriate human rights language in order to reinforce power and legitimacy. States who engage in HRE as sovereignty deliberately employ human rights language with the aim of constructing a self-serving narrative that entrenches power or legitimizes their behavior and actions. HRE as sovereignty characterizes the appropriation of HRE to entrench power through the creation of an official, immutable narrative embedded in human rights language.

Populism and environmental (in)justice in Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
Marcelo Lopes de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the relationship between populism and environmental justice in Latin America. It was not only within the framework of overtly dictatorial regimes during the 20th century that the struggles for social justice and human rights in Latin America faced severe obstacles and suffered setbacks. They have also been badly hampered by populism — both right-wing neo-populism with its component of intolerance and conservatism, and left-wing populism, which, by means of co-opting civil society, helps demobilise it and slow down or limit processes of awareness and radicalisation of democracy. The struggles for environmental justice are a crucial example of this. The chapter then addresses the main aspects of how left-wing neo-populism has undermined environmental justice in Latin America, and particularly in Brazil. It focuses more closely on the political and ideological consequences of left-wing populism's contradictions and failure in terms of a deepening of social tensions and struggles. The chapter argues that left-wing neo-populism has been ultimately part of the problem rather than of the solution.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document