Human Rights / Ngā Tika o Te Tangata

Description

This course is interested in the international human rights regime and its impact on a variety of human rights outcomes such as torture, arbitrary detention, child labour, and racial/gender discrimination. Through the use of basic quantitative data and in-depth case studies, students will learn how to evaluate the design, implementation and effectiveness of human rights policy. Topics include: what experiments teach us and about why people sometimes abuse rights; UN human rights treaties and institutions; the role of domestic institutions and non-state actors; and tensions between cultural relativism and universalism. This course may also be able to be taken towards a major in POLS. See major requirements for details. This course will be delivered primarily on campus, with online accessibility. Most students will attend on campus; however, the course can be completed online if needed. Arrangements will be made to ensure that all students are able to access course content. Week 1. Introduction, Historical Content and IR Context Week 2. Treaties and Related Institutions Week 3. Abuses: Where, When, and Why? Week 4. Mechanisms of Influence 1: States Week 5. Mechanisms of Influence 2: NGOs and International Organisations Week 6. When Rights Conflict: Universalism vs. Relativism Week 7. Group Rights: Indigenous and Minority Rights Week 8. Human Rights and International Migration Week 9. Human Rights and Conflict Week 10. Preventing/Curtailing Atrocities: Humanitarian Intervention Week 11. Bringing Violators to Justice? Week 12. ‘Hot’ Topics in International Human Rights