How did ‘human rights’ become today’s moral language? Visible in the press, social media, blogs, tweets, etc. human rights have become the dominant frame by which recent generations frame their idealism. Contrary to conventional wisdom, ‘human rights’, as a moral lens through which to see the world, did not always exist. Instead, ‘human rights’, both as a practice and a discourse, are a post-WWII phenomenon with roots in the European Enlightenment.
This course focuses on the longer history of how categories such a ‘humanity’ and ‘rights’ came about, how they were combined and put to use in the last two centuries. Herein, special attention is placed on:
- the rise of international law in the context of shifting international politics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
- the interaction of various groups with international law and the language of human rights
- the challenges that accompany the invention and application of international norms and laws.
It is the goal of this course to perhaps surprise. A critical historical study will reveal the controversial nature of ideals that are generally taken for granted.
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