Studying Human Rights (PO42013)
Module Convenor: Dr Edzia Carvalho
Credit Rating: 30 SCQF credits
Level: Level 4 optional module
Module Content
This course is designed to introduce students to the political science of human rights. The ten weeks on the course will encourage students to grapple with the concepts, theories, and methods that have been used to study human rights. The first five weeks will address the main debates related to the study of human rights, and introduce students to key human rights concepts and institutions. The next section examines the approaches, methods and measures that have been adopted in political science to conduct research in this area. The last two weeks will apply these concepts and measures to explain “the gap” between standards and practice. A key issue on the extent to which democracies protect human rights will be examined.
Topics include:
- What are Human Rights?
- ‘Of witches and unicorns’. The quest for foundations
- Universalism versus Relativism, Categories and Generations
- International Human Rights Law
- International Human Rights Institutions
- The political science of human rights
- Measuring human rights: Concepts and controversies
- Measuring human rights: De jure protection
- Measuring human rights: De facto protection
- Key case study: Do democracies protect human rights better?
- Issues in studying human rights
Module Aims
- To introduce students to how human rights have been studied in political science
- To encourage students to grapple with the concepts, theories, and methods that have been used to study human rights
- To challenge students to analyze complex human rights problems and make informed arguments on these issues
- To give students the opportunity to evaluate human rights reports and lead an informed discussion on these reports
- To facilitate the development of oral presentation and essay writing skills
Intended Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module, students should have:
- Knowledge of the basic literature and normative debates in human rights
- Knowledge of the analytical skills necessary for research in human rights
- Basic skills necessary to evaluate the methods and evidence used in academic, policy, and advocacy research
- Improved oral skills and essay writing skills
Students will be able to analyse and present on the key normative debates in human rights and the methodological issues concerning human rights measurement.
Teaching
The module will be delivered through one weekly lecture over eleven weeks and one weekly seminar.
Assessment
- Coursework (50%) consisting of:
- One 10 minute presentation (accompanied by a 1,000 word note) (25%)
- One 3,000 word essay (25%)
- Examination (50%) – one final unseen examination (2 hours)
Indicative Reading
- Michael Haas, International Human Rights: A Comprehensive Introduction, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008)
- Todd Landman and Edzia Carvalho, Measuring Human Rights (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010).
- Todd Landman, Protecting Human Rights: A Comparative Study, (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2005)
- Todd Landman, Studying Human Rights (Abingdon: Routledge, 2006)
- Todd Landman, Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction, 3rd edition, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008)
- Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (Cornell University Press, 2003)
- T. Jabine and R. Claude, Human Rights and Statistics: Getting the Record Straight (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992)
- Michael Goodhart, Human Rights: Politics and Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press,2009)
- Sabine C. Carey, Mark Gibney and Steven C. Poe, The Politics of Human Rights: The Quest for Dignity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)
- Michael Freeman, Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Polity Press, 2005)
- James Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights: Philosophical Reflections on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (University of California Press, 2007)
- Andrew Fagan, Human Rights: Confronting Myths and Misunderstandings (Edward Elgar, 2009)
- Andrew Fagan, The Atlas of Human Rights: Mapping Violations of Freedom Around the Globe (University of California Press, 2010)
- Beth Simmons, Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2010)
- James Nickel, "Human Rights", in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 Edition), ed. by Edward N. Zalta [available at http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2010/entries/rights-human/]
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