Understanding Human Rights: Origins, Treaties, and Inequality
School
University of Toronto, Scarborough**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
POLITICAL POLC33
Subject
Political Science
Date
Dec 11, 2024
Pages
3
Uploaded by ProfTitaniumCrab30
Review:- What are human rights?- Human rights are supposed to be given to people despiteAttempts to trace origins of human rights- Plato- Socrates- American declaration of independence- Bill of rights- French revolution- Bill of rights- These attempt to trace the origins of rights but not necessarily international human rights- 8th century idea that came out of WW2- The idea of all humans regardless of race, sex, gender should have basic rightsInternational bill of human rights TIMELINE (first time countries pledged the human rights of their citizens to an international organization)- UDHR- Drafted, signed by most countries- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights- International Covenant on Economic, SocialCR- HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES- Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women- Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women- Convention against torture- Convention on the rights of the child- Convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance- Migrant workers conventionHuman rights is a 20th century construct— rights that every human being hasDo human rights institutions improve human welfare? Do they help create a more egalitarian society?- Global poverty has been declining (though not only because of HR)- Human rights is often silent on economic inequality- Not many articles on human rights about reducing the gap between richest and the poorest- World map of income inequality (image)- Mostly global south and countries with colonial history have a lot of income inequalityWhere does latin american inequality come from?- What is colonialism- Taking over the governance of other regions/countries- Plus settling there and exploiting resources; using slave labour- 1500-1800s: colonialism
- Violent conquest; spanish- Encomienda: Structures of mass exclusion based on race- Latifundios: land concentrated in few hands- Minifundios: indigenous people given small subsistence plots- Laws sanctioned slavery- Extractive economy:production for export only- 1800s-early 1900s: Decolonization & Economic liberalization- 1800s independence: condemnation of slavery & human rights emphasis- Authoritarian governments established–often by military leaders or with military backing- Late 1800s; early 1900s:- Open economics- neocolonial period- Let in foreign companies to buy national territory; monocrop production- Called “Banana republics”- Called “Golden age” because economies grew- But mostly benefited the international elites- 1900s: demands for reforms- Economic depression (the great depression): resistance against foreign companies & local elites- Responses to reformist pressures mid-late 1900s:- Limited reforms granted to defuse pressures; authoriatarion gov followed (Costa rica, mexico)- Violent repression of reformists—civil war and authoritarian period (colombia, el salvador)- Reformers elected to office but US intervened to provoke military coups—civil war, beginning of authoritarian period (guatemala, chile)- Oftentimes, violence followed authoritarian governmentsBirth of transnational human rights movement- Authoritarian regimes violently repressed - Organizations put pressure on authoritarian government to stop their violence- Event thought he int. Human rights institutions were created, there weren’t really any international human rights movements or implementing human rights into their policies up until the 1970s where people started demanding it (social constructivism))- Amnesty International- Human Rights Watch- Non-state organizations; therefore social constructivismMoyn’s criticism- Why human rights became prominent in the 1970s- Used google books to search all the books that had been published in the 20th century and found the data that it started in 1940s and had a spike in 1970’s- No one cared about the international organizations until the 1970s- People use human rights as a stigma; it doesn’t really work since it doesn’t alleviate poverty and things like that
- Human rights can be used to justify humanitarian intervention- US inferring with Iraq- Human rights became the dominant idiom for social justice demands- But human rights do not provide any tools to demand or imagine a more equal society- Associated with socialism; but people use government takes advantage of this- Main point: human rights are great, but they’re not enough to create an equal society-