The End of History and the Last Man

This volume argues that international human rights law has made a positive contribution to the realization of human rights in much of the world. Although governments sometimes ratify human rights treaties, gambling that they will experience little pressure to comply with them, this is not typically the case. Focusing on rights stakeholders rather than the United Nations or state pressure, Beth Simmons demonstrates through a combination of statistical analyses and case studies that the ratification of treaties leads to better rights practices on average. Simmons argues that international human rights law should get more practical and rhetorical support from the international community as a supplement to broader efforts to address conflict, development, and democratization.

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Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics

What Is Critique

The paper reviews the ways that human security has been defined, provides a working definition and shows how this can form the basis of operational responses by many different institutions. New threats to human wellbeing, associated with globalisation, climate change and conflict, have drawn attention to the need to protect human security, while it has come to be seen increasingly as a fundamental objective of foreign policy. Hence it is important to identify a working definition. A review of definitions in the literature point to freedom from need and vulnerability as being fundamental characteristics. The working definition suggested in the paper is based on safeguarding, or protecting, human beings against economic, political, health and natural hazards that are beyond their immediate control. It is argued that there is a vital core of elements that should be included in the working definition, in general encompassing freedom from fear and from want—the exact constituents of this vital core may be defined differently by different societies. It is argued that human security is a necessary part of human development and fulfilment, but it is not sufficient. Requirements for human development and wellbeing go beyond those of human security.

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A Conceptual Framework for Human Security.

Children’s rights have become a significant field of study during the past decades, largely due to the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989. Today, s...

A Review of Children’s Rights Literature Since the Adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

It is often noted that the modern human rights discourse is predominately a discourse of international law. Interest groups, nongovernmental organizations, major international organizations, and states all accept that the global human rights regime is a legal construct. Scholarly work on human rights also adopts a predominately legal approach, as shown by several surveys of the literature and the human rights curriculum at the university level. This article places international human rights law within the context of critique in an effort to explain the hegemony of law within the human rights discourse. It begins with a discussion of the nature of human rights discourse as it is practiced in the current world order. It then moves to introduce the idea of discipline in world order, in particular "market discipline," which provides the dominant set of values upon which international action is undertaken. An additional section looks at the tensions between international human rights law and the norms that describe "market discipline." Finally, the conclusion is that international human rights law offers a discourse of both freedom and domination.

International Human Rights Law as Power/Knowledge

In the past, violations of human rights were commonly portrayed as atrocities perpetrated by tyrannical dictatorships Today, the images of torture at Abu Ghraib gaol, and the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, put the lie to this assumption State violations of human rights have a global reach This new edition of Tony Evan's introduction to the politics of human rights examines the impact globalization is having on human rights worldwide He argues that the states role in protecting and promoting rights has been severely weakened under globalization and that the emerging global order may be a cause of many human rights violations As the value of the market grows, the value of individual human rights decreases Tony Evans departs from traditional interpretations of human rights by focusing on the political economy of human rights, rather than on the philosophical or legal aspects He analyses how issues related to globalization, such as the environment, population movement patterns and free trade impact on individual human rights Rejecting liberal assumptions about globalization, Evans argues that human rights continue to be determined by hierarchies of knowledge and power

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The Politics of Human Rights: A Global Perspective

This reply questions the methodology Whelan and Donnelly have applied to the question of economic and social rights in the post-war era. We argue that by taking the global human rights regime at face value and neglecting the role of politics, power, and interests, Whelan and Donnelly have presented a distorted and partial view of the inclusion of economic and social rights, which inaccurately portrays such rights as “universal.” We put forward an alternative perspective that places human rights in the context of the global political economy. This allows us to understand the post-war discrepancy between the formal human rights regime, which posits the universality of all rights, and actual human rights practice, which has been founded upon the distinction between universal civil and political “rights” and uneven economic and social “entitlement.”

The myth of western opposition to economic, social, and cultural rights? A reply to Whelan and Donnelly

Evans covers a range of contentious debates as he considers critiques of the prevailing conceptions of human rights. He then explores the changing global context of human rights issues, the nature and status of human rights within that context, and recent institutional responses. With its emphasis on policy and process, his book offers a rich analysis of the politics of today’s human rights regime.

Human Rights in the Global Political Economy: Critical Processes

Following recent acts of terrorism in many parts of the world, Islam has become an object of fear. While the threat of violence is undoubtedly an element that inspires this fear, Islam's counter-hegemonic threat is not limited to violence alone. Given its 1.2 billion following, Islam also offers a challenge to the central values that describe the dominant neo-liberal world order, particularly those values that legitimate the global political economy. Although tolerance is an important value in liberal thought, tolerance cannot be exercised where counter-hegemonic threats include challenges to the central tenets of liberalism. This article argues that the current fear of Islam is motivated by just such a challenge. By looking at four central concepts where liberal and Islamic thought diverge – reason and revelation, private property, rights and duties, and government and state – this article seeks to gain a more nuanced insight into current attitudes towards Islam and the fear of counter-hegemony.

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Tony Evans

Papers

International Human Rights Law as Power/Knowledge

The Politics of Human Rights: A Global Perspective

The myth of western opposition to economic, social, and cultural rights? A reply to Whelan and Donnelly

Human Rights in the Global Political Economy: Critical Processes

The limits of tolerance: Islam as counter-hegemony?