This course critically reviews and analyzes the meaning, definitions, history and development of human rights in world politics. It approaches the subject matter both from a political-science and law perspective, which see human rights as ascribed rights that come from birth, and from a sociological perspective, which takes into account the power relationships that are built into the understandings and differential usage of the concept of human rights. While the legal and political theory has a lot of explanatory power in terms of tracing the evolutionary trajectory of international human rights laws after World War II, sociology accounts for the cultural, societal and historical context in which the discussion of human rights arises. In this framework, the course looks at alternative views regarding the definitions, history and development of human rights in the Western and non-Western contexts.
Advanced Core Curriculum Designation: BB
Grade Basis: Letter Grade
Credits: 4.0
