Social theory and human rights

2010 ◽  
pp. 36-57
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Theory

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.

scholarly journals Psychiatric Survivors and Experiential Rights

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Cresswell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Psychiatric Survivor ◽  
Singular Form ◽  
Psychiatric Survivors

Human rights may be categorised as belonging to ‘three generations’: political, social and ‘solidarity’ rights. This paper considers this schema theoretically, deploying the example of the ‘psychiatric survivor’ movement in Britain in support of its central claims. Psychiatric survivors comprise groups of psychiatric patients who have campaigned both for political and social rights in addition to a singular form of ‘right’, which is referred to here as ‘experiential’. The paper clarifies the meaning of the ‘experiential right’ and, drawing upon aspects of social theory, considers how it is to be understood in the context of the ‘three generations’ schema.

»Human Rights Fundamentalism« The Late Luhmann on Human Rights

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Georg Moeller
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Functional Analyses

AbstractsThe essay starts by discussing the question if the debate between Luhmann and leftist social theory was primarily ideological in nature or not. It is stated that Luhmann’s own interest in the debate was not so much to pursue a political dialogue, but rather to expose the theoretical flaws of his opponents in order to provoke a paradigm shift in social theory. By referring to Luhmann’s treatment of the issue of human rights in his later works, I tiy to illustrate how he attempted to »deconstruct« the arguments of his intellectual adversaries. Luhmann makes use of semantic-historical and functional analyses of this politically successful concept so that its paradoxical aspects become obvious. This, in turn, »desubstantializes« the concept and shows how it is used as a rhetorical device that expresses a certain value-fundamentalism and is supposed to support the Utopia of all-inclusion.

scholarly journals COSMOPOLITANISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS: a call for the monitoring of economic, social and cultural rights in Brazil.

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulisses Terto Neto
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Advocacy Networks ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
The Relationship

This paper aims at advocating for the monitoring of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in Brazil in the light of cosmopolitan social theory (Held, 2010). It addresses the relationship among cosmopolitanism, democracy and social authoritarianism, emphasizing the importance of Brazil�s re-democratization for the establishment of a domestic human rights regime. The analysis is conducted considering the work of Held (2010), Levy (2010), Risse, Ropp, Sikkink (2013 and 1999), Dagnino (2007, 2001, 2000, 1994 and 1993), Risse and Sikkink (1999) and Keck and Sikkink (1998). Further, the paper introduces the reasons for the progressive implementation of ESCR as well as for its monitoring in Brazil. Some consideration is given to the work of Eide (1995) and Eide and Rosas (1995). Then, it sheds light on the role played by social movements and human rights networks in the monitoring of ESCR in Brazil. The analysis here is made considering the work of Brysk (1993) and Keck and Sikkink (1998). Finally, the paper argues that the monitoring of rights as a method of improving human rights protection might be an important tool by transnational and national advocacy networks in their activities for overcoming social authoritarianism and achieving human rights changes within Brazil.

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