8665 research outputs found
Sort by
Researching and studying human rights: interdisciplinary insight
No full textSince 1948, the study of human rights has been dominated by legal scholarship that has sought to investigate the development of human rights law, emerging jurisprudence, regional systems, the decisions and recommendations of human rights mechanisms and institutions and to a lesser extent the ‘compliance gaps’ between state commitments and actions. Even so, in all of these spheres there are elements that cannot be fully understood through a purely legal lens, moreover, if we understand ‘human rights’ more broadly, and look into the practical world of human rights work and human rights discourse, advocacy and activism, then we need to go beyond legal analysis. Indeed, to understand the world of human rights in both theory and practice requires interdisciplinary insight, as it covers an enormous range of social, political, economic and environmental issues. In this chapter, I will outline the contributions of two disciplines that were slow to contribute to the field of human rights but which offer vitally important insights that can guide both academic research and human rights advocacy
Ancient Illiteracy?
No full textAncient writing is conventionally approached as a counterpart of speech, as in the dyad orality/literacy. Alphabetical writing systems are often regarded as superior precisely because they are better able to record speech. This paper takes inspiration from the work on ancient Near Eastern writing systems and considers ancient literacy as a general competence in handling sign systems that are often as much about numbers and quantities as about phonetic transcription. Means of recording proper names assume a special importance in transactions between strangers, and in documents that circulate without much context. But judged in terms of a capacity to handle numbers, signs, diagrams, and other symbols the debate over ancient literacy, and illiteracy, looks rather different. The paper argues that relative to their need to handle sign systems of this kind, very few members of the ancient world can be considered as functionally illiterate. Moving away from orality/literacy also raises questions about the widespread (but incomplete) spread of alphabets and abjads in the last and first millennia
The role of human rights in diversity management and conflict prevention
No full textDiversity along ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic lines exists as a matter of fact within all our societies as a result of migration of people across political boundaries or the changing of those boundaries themselves. Such cultural diversity2 is not a new phenomenon. This chapter argues that States should take active steps to effectively manage the diversity within their jurisdiction and sets out a ‘human rights-informed’ approach for doing so. It examines the different roles that international human rights law (IHRL) can play in managing diversity, while also acknowledging its limitations. It aims to show how the approach complements and builds on rights-based approaches by acknowledging the relevance and potential of other normative frameworks and principles in addition to those of human rights in processes of diversity management
Remedy Australia: because every human rights violation should be remedied
No full textIn the 20 years the Institute of Commonwealth Studies has been teaching the MA in human rights, 40 individual complaints of human rights violations by Australia have been upheld by the UN treaty bodies. This places Australia fifth of all participating nations for adverse findings by the UN committees (behind South Korea, Jamaica, Belarus and Uruguay)
Canadian Cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
No full textA paper by Professor Catharine MacMillan (Professor of Law and Legal History, University of Reading) exploring the enduring legacy of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on the development of Canadian law
Extraterritorial non-refoulement: intersections between human rights and refugee law
No full textHow does international law require States acting outside their own territories to treat refugees and other persons fleeing harm in their countries?1 This question has assumed increasing contemporary relevance in light of heightened externalised border controls, such as attempts by States to interdict migrant boats on the high seas in the Mediterranean (see, for instance Moreno-Lax 2012). However, the issue also arises in other contemporary scenarios, such as where persons seek protection in diplomatic or consular premises, where one State militarily occupies the territory of another, and where a State sets up a system for the extraterritorial processing of asylum claims.
This short analysis addresses the non-refoulement aspect of this extraterritoriality problem, i.e. protection against enforced removal to a territory where the person fears harm by a State acting outside its own territory. Inspired by the human rights focus of the volume overall, the chapter draws on current research by the author in order to examine this ever-topical concern against recent advances in the field of international human rights law. It not only confirms the view that the non-refoulement rule in human rights law applies extraterritorially, but also concludes that the resulting procedural implications should be taken seriously both for human rights law and for refugee la
“A Nation Depends on Its Children”: School Buildings and Citizenship in England and Wales, 1900–1939
No full textCalls for a renewed sense of “good citizenship” in the early twentieth century were loud and persistent. Especially important in the citizenship quest was the creation of healthy and efficient children, cured of urban maladies and loyal to a wide notion of community. Such attributes were seen as vital in an economically and militarily competitive world. Historians have already examined the sorts of political and bodily education that arose from these concerns. This article instead looks at how the focus on the body and citizenship was realized in the actual processes of school building. From the medical discourses that underpinned the design of heating, lighting, and ventilation systems, to the emerging focus on the sensory environment of the classroom, the materiality of the school was essential to creating the “good citizen”—physically fit, economically productive, and loyal to the nation
The scene of the crime: police photographs, visual culture and sexuality
No full textVisual materials are often neglected by legal researchers. However, attitudes to appearances played an important role in the way in which many criminal investigations were undertaken, notably in the years prior to the Sexual Offences Act (1967). Analysis of aspects of visual culture played a role in the detection of many forms of illegal behaviour and the resulting materials provide a valuable resource for the contemporary researcher. These issues are explored through a case study that involves reading between a painting by the British expressionist Francis Bacon (1909-92) and a photograph in the National Archives taken during a police raid on a London flat in 1927. Article by Dr Dominic Janes (Birkbeck, University of London)
Extreme energy, ‘fracking’ and human rights: a new field for human rights impact assessments?
No full textThis article explores the potential human rights impacts of the ‘extreme energy’ process, specifically focussing on the production of shale gas, coal-bed methane (CBM) and ‘tight oil’, known colloquially as ‘fracking’. The article locates the discussion within a broader context of resource depletion, the ‘limits to growth’ and the process of extreme energy itself. Utilising recent secondary data from the United States and Australia, combined with the preliminary findings of our ethnographic fieldwork in the United Kingdom, the article outlines a prima facie case for investigating ‘fracking’ development through a human rights lens. Indeed, based on considerable emerging evidence we argue that ‘fracking’ development poses a significant risk to a range of key human rights and should thus form the subject of a multitude of comprehensive, interdisciplinary human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) as a matter of urgency. Finally, given the close relationships between government and extractive industries, we argue that these impact assessments must do more than bolster corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements and should be truly independent of either government or industry influence