Recently, social justice organizations, particularly those with a racial justice focus, have begun to work within a human rights frame. They regard human rights as a framework that challenges U.S. hegemony, and also provides an opportunity for U.S. based social justice organizations to make transnational linkages with social justice movements globally. This course would focus on case studies of social justice organizations in the U.S. that are utilizing a human rights framework to assess how the human rights framework impacts organizing around disparate social justice issues. In some cases, this framework helps U.S.-based social movements develop linkages transnationally with non-U.S.-based human rights groups. In some cases, this framework has led to transnational organizing limiting itself to U.N. fora and advocacy at the expense of other forms of transnational organizing. This course will look at what have been the benefits and the costs of building a U.S. Human Rights movement in terms of furthering the cause of social justice. The course will explore how social justice organizations have changed in their stance on human rights, and how they have addressed these initial critiques within their movements. The course will also include guest speakers from diverse social justice movements.