Why Human Rights Still Matter in Contemporary Global Affairs

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Affairs

Transnational Human Rights Networks: Significance and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Peter Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Transnational Activism ◽  
Transnational Advocacy ◽  
Advocacy Networks ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Transnational Advocacy Networks ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
New Type ◽  
Global Affairs

Transnational human rights networks refer to a form of cross-border collective action that seeks to promote compliance with universally accepted norms. Principled transnational activism began to draw sustained scholarly attention after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the creation of a new type of information-driven and impartial transnational activism, embodied in organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Scholarship on transnational human rights networks emerged during the 1990s within the subfield of International Relations and as a challenge to the state-centric and materialist bias of the field. In their 1998 book Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink describe the key role that transnational human rights groups play in global affairs. Focusing on rights-based activism, Keck and Sikkink show how transnational advocacy networks (TANs) can influence domestic politics. The concept of TANs is dominated by the purposeful activism of nongovernmental organizations and driven by shared principles, not professional standards. A number of studies have challenged the core assumptions about the effectiveness of principled human rights activism, arguing that international support plays no significant role compared to the autonomous efforts of domestic activists. One way to overcome these challenges and criticisms is for the transnational activist sector, as well as other types of non-state actors, to move beyond the principles/interests dichotomy and take a closer look at the internal dynamics of participant NGOs.

Editors' Note

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. v-vi
Author(s):  
Harlan Koff ◽  
Carmen Maganda
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Content Structure ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Affairs

Since 2015, Regions & Cohesion, like many other observers of global affairs, has focused significantly on sustainable development. The passage of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) called attention to this issue. Its “transformative” or “universal” or “interconnected” perspective on development signified a paradigm shift in how we view development strategies in terms of focus, content, structure, agency, and responsibilities. Human rights were subsumed in these discussions on many ways.

scholarly journals Artificial Intelligence Policy Innovations at the Canadian Federal Government

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fenwick Robert McKelvey ◽  
Maggie Macdonald
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Data Transformation ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Intelligence Artificielle ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Fonction Publique

This article summarizes two initiatives for artificial intelligence (AI) underway in the Canadian public service: public consultation and collaboration in compiling an algorithmic impact assessment, and a symposium on AI and human rights held by Global Affairs Canada. The findings contextualize the national consultations on digital and data transformation and future steps for more inclusive AI governance in Canada.Cet article offre une synthèse de deux initiatives sur l’intelligence artificielle (IA) en cours dans la fonction publique canadienne : la consultation et collaboration du public dans la compilation d’une évaluation d’impact algorithmique et un symposium sur l’IA et les droits de la personne organisée par Affaires mondiales Canada. Les conclusions permettent de donner un contexte aux consultations nationales sur la transformation du numérique et des données et les mesures à prendre pour une gouvernance en intelligence artificielle plus inclusive au Canada.

scholarly journals The International Human Rights System and the Subject of Lawfare

2018 ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Ivonne Liliana Tellez ◽  
Sebastián Yerovi Proaño
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Transnational Actors ◽  
International Human ◽  
Global Affairs

The legalization of global affairs has been considered positive, in contrast to the conditions preceding the Second World War. No longer could individual interests be imposed against the common interest, no longer was there coercion and repression, no longer was decision making dominated by power politics. It would be expected that the recognition of a Human Rights legal system would serve as a guarantee for the fulfillment of the rights within States. The main objective of this legal system in its generality, which is to improve the well-being of the population, has not been reached in its entirety, nor has it reached all countries and all people as it is posed. Hence, this article examines two factors that could confirm this assertion. The first is the system's possible ambiguity through the weakness of the instruments and their institutions. The second is the concept of legitimacy associated with lawfare, which would allow the use of International Human Rights Law as a power strategy. In this order of ideas, this article is organized as follows: first, we carry out a categorical division that begins with a general review of the international human rights system and the relationships of transnational actors, and we then present various examples of the primary instruments and their associated institutions. The second category discusses the concept of legitimacy associated with the idea of lawfare, in light of International Law and the main theories of International Cooperation. Based on these theoretical ideas, we conducted an analysis of the cases of torture in the United States since the year 2000. Finally, we present various conclusions and recommendations regarding the system's structure and application in the international context.

9. Global justice

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Brock
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Equal Distribution ◽  
Law Of Peoples ◽  
Thomas Pogge ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Global Affairs

This chapter examines different models of global justice, which might consist of diverse components, such as the universal promotion of human rights, global equality of opportunity, a more equal distribution of resources globally, or promoting the autonomy of peoples who stand in relations of equality to one another. There is also debate about how best to realize the desired elements, what principles should govern our interactions at the global level, and how to improve the management of our global affairs. The chapter first considers John Rawls' Law of Peoples and its eight principles, along with some critical responses to this law. It then explores some grounds for scepticism about global justice, focusing on authority in the global domain and global governance. A case study on funding to address global poverty is presented, along with Key Thinkers boxes featuring Rawls and Thomas Pogge.

A New Enlightenment and Education Towards a Bioeconomic Society

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-401
Author(s):  
Jose Angel ◽  
López Herrerias
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The World ◽  
Pedagogic Tool ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Cultural Reality ◽  
New Millennium

The change of century with a new millennium means the conscious beginning of a crucial ”axial time”. The characteristics of this axial time are: (a) the collective conscience born from the global interplanetary knowledge that the world suffers from lack of ethics together with situations characterised by exclusion, violence, exploitation and the need for human rights. (b) at the same time there is an increasing awareness of the need to demand respect and application of other values and attitudes between people and groups co-participating in the global affairs. From the pedagogical point of view this is a problem relating to the cultural reality and the psychological dominance and their relationship from the cultural to the psychic and vice versa. A typology of these realities makes us aware of four models: modernity, post-modernity, ultra-modernity and meta-modernity. Here the meta-modernity is defined as the psycho-cultural pedagogic alternative based on other values and in the new systems of rules generating identities, which make possible responses capable of overcoming the conflicts of the new and complex ”axial time”. Bioeconomics as a science and as a pedagogic tool is well placed in this model.

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