Course Description:

This course examines the international human rights framework through through the lens of gender. We explore why and how women and transgender people continue to experience discrimination as a consequence of their gender and to what extent human rights can be useful in ameliorating the social, economic and political position of marginalized groups.

Human rights can play many roles and can serve multiple political interests. The discourse of human rights functions as a political tool, a framework for law enforcement, and a strategic context for creating social change. Human rights provide a central discourse in domestic legislation, foreign policy, development aid and even military interventions. Claiming that women’s rights and transgender rights are human rights provides a specific legal language for recognizing and addressing violations and a particular framework for articulating and channeling movements for social change.

Over many decades, the Women’s Rights Movement has been successful in advocating for a feminist approach in policy making and as a result women’s lives have been improved globally. Yet many challenges remain, as there is often a great divide between political rhetoric and social outcomes, while the human rights framework continues to privilege abuses in the domain of public life and neglects the violations that occur in the ‘private sphere.’ Women continue to be more likely to live in poverty, and a lack of access to education, formal work and political participation maintain women’s subordinate status. Child marriage, domestic labor, prostitution, the feminization of poverty and migration, discrimination based on race, class, sexuality and religion, sexual violence and reproductive rights are examples of current gender-specific issues, some of which we will examine during the course.

The movement for Transgender Rights has recently gained increased visibility and recognition, and the claim that ‘Transgender Rights are Human Rights’ provides a further ‘gender perspective’ through which to interrogate the capacity of the international human rights framework to bring about progressive social change.

 A gender approach to human rights acknowledges the importance of existing legal concepts, but also highlights dimensions of discrimination that are gender-specific, and which need to be addressed if the universal human rights framework is to include and reflect the experiences of women and transgender people. A ‘human rights approach’ to issues of gender discrimination also has significant limitations as legal rights do not of themselves translate into social realities. Throughout this course we shall be interrogating the effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach’ in addressing the pervasive discrimination, inequality and violence suffered by women and transgender people.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop a basic understanding of human rights, accountability mechanisms and obstacles to international human rights law
• Gain a historical and contemporary understanding of women’s rights and the potential impact of feminism as a political discourse
• Examine obstacles to gender equality and examples of gender-specific human rights issues  
• Discover how social norms related to gender and sexuality impacts the rights of women

Faculty:

Campbell Munro

Campbell holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from Lund University, and previously practiced as a barrister in London, specializing in refugee and immigration law. He is currently completing a PhD in International Law at the University of Copenhagen.

Readings:

A list of ‘required class readings’ for each class are provided on the Canvas calendar. Below is a list of required and further reading. Students will be expected to prepare one of a range of ‘short written assignments’ on the required readings. (See ‘assignments’ below).

'What are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought', Marie-Bénédicte Dembour, (2010) 32(1) Human Rights Quarterly, 1-20.

'Introduction: Genealogies of Human Rights', by Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann, in Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann (ed.) Human Rights in the Twentieth Century, (2010, Cambridge University Press)

'Foundations Beyond Law', by Florian Hoffmann, in Conor Gearty and Costas Douzinas (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law, (2012, Cambridge University Press) ‘Normative and Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights’ by Anthony J. Langlois, in Michael Goodhart (ed) Human Rights: Politics and Practice, (3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2016).

'The Human Rights 'History Wars', by Ben Holder, (2015) auspublaw.org

‘Normative and Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights’ by Anthony J. Langlois, in Michael Goodhart (ed) Human Rights: Politics and Practice, (3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2016).

‘Introduction – Anger, Hope, And The Belief You Can Make A Difference’, in Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century, by Kathryn Sikkink, (Princeton University Press, 2019)

‘Where Does the Critique of International Human Rights Stand? An Exploration in 18 Vignettes’, by Frédéric Mégret in José María Beneyto and David Kennedy (eds.), New Approaches to International Law (Springer,2012).

‘Framing The Project’ Of International Human Rights Law: Reflections On The Dysfunctional ‘Family’ Of The Universal Declaration’, by Anna Grear, in Conor Gearty and Costas Douzinas (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law, (Cambridge University Press, 2012)

‘Human Rights And The Paradoxes Of Liberalism’, by Costas Douzinas, 7 August 2014, opendemocracy.net

‘Introduction: The Morals of the Market,’ in The Morals of the Market: Human Rights and the Rise of Neoliberalism, by Jessica Whyte, (Verso, 2019)

‘How the Human Rights Movement Failed’ by Samuel Moyn, New York Times, April 23, 2018.

‘Capitalism, Inequality, and Human Rights’ by Paul O’Connell, LPE Project, lpeproject.org, April 6, 2018.

'Feminist Perspectives on Human Rights,' by Laura Parisi, in Robert A. Denemark and Renée Marlin-Bennett (eds.) The International Studies Encyclopedia, (2010, Wiley-Blackwell).

‘Women's Rights as Human Rights: Toward a Re-Vision of Human Rights’ by Charlotte Bunch, 12 Human Rights Quarterly (1990), 486 – 498.

'Can Intersectionality Contribute to Effective Equality?' by Colm O'Cinneide, ECRI Annual Seminar, 2022

‘Chapter 1: An Introduction to Gender’, in Language and Gender, by Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, (Cambridge University Press, 2013)

‘Unpacking “Gender Ideology” and the Global Right’s Antigender Countermovement’, by Elizabeth S. Corredor, 44(3) Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (2019), 613 - 638

‘The Backlash Against “Gender Ideology” Must Stop’ by Judith Butler, New Statesman, 21 January 2019.

’A Decolonial Feminism,’ by Françoise Vergès, (Pluto Press, 2021)

‘Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses,’ by Chandra Talpade Mohanty, 12(3) Boundary (1984), 333-358.

'Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics,’ by bell hooks, (Pluto Press, 2000)

’The Combahee River Collective Statement,’ Combahee River Collective (1978)

‘The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought,’ by Patricia Hill Collins, 14(4) Signs (1989), 745-773

‘Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,’ by Kimberle Crenshaw, University of Chicago Legal Forum, (1989)

‘The Waves Of Feminism, And Why People Keep Fighting Over Them, Explained’, by Constance Grady, vox.com, July 28, 2018

‘The CEDAW: A Holistic Approach To Women’s Equality And Freedom’ by Rikki Holtmaat, in Anne Hellum and Henriette Sinding Aasen (eds.) Women's Human Rights: CEDAW in International, Regional and National Law, (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

‘Women’s Progress and Women’s Human Rights’ by Martha Nussbaum, in Bardo Fassbender and Knut Traisbach (eds.) The Limits of Human Rights, (Oxford University Press, 2019)

‘Beijing +25: Accelerating Progress For Women and Girls’  (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and The Rockefeller Foundation, 2020)

’Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law,’ by Dean Spade, (2015, Duke University Press)

‘The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice,’ by Shon Faye, (2021, Verso)

‘Introduction: TERFs, Gender-Critical Movements, and Postfascist Feminisms,’ by Serena Bassi and Greta Lafleur, 9(3) TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly, (2022), 311-333

'Trans Rights are Human Rights: Dismantling Misconceptions About Gender, Gender Identity, and the Human Rights of Trans People’, prepared by GATE, ILGA-Europe, and TGEU, July 2021

‘Sex/Gender is Fluid, What Now for Feminism and International Human Rights Law? A Call to Queer the Foundations’, by Kathryn McNeilly, in Susan Harris Rimmer and Kate Ogg (eds.) Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law, (Elgar, 2019)

‘The Limits And The Promise Of Trans Rights As Human Rights Claims’ by Avery R. Everhart, OpenGloablRights.org, October 6 2020

'Abortion Involves Killing – And That’s OK: To Be Pro-Choice Is To Be Against Forced Life', Sophie Lewis, The Nation, June 22, 2022

’Abortion After the Baby Boom’, Jenny Brown, n+1, August 11, 2022

‘The End of Roe v. Wade Is the Culmination of Years of Right-Wing Efforts’, Julia Rock Matthew Cunningham-Cook Andrew Perez David Sirota, Jacobin, May 4, 2022

‘Jettisoned: Justice Alito Gives Us a Narrow Rulebook Imprisoned in The Past’, Jack Jackson, n+1, August 4, 2022

‘The Fight for Abortion and Reproductive Justice After Roe’, Camila Valle, Sherry Wolf Emily Janakiram, And Holly Lewis, Spectre Journal, September 23, 2022

‘Gender Equality and The Istanbul Convention: A Decade of Action’, Conference Report Berlin, Germany 11 May 2021.

‘Here’s Why The Istanbul Convention Saves Lives’, Amnesty.org, May 7, 2021

‘Why Turkey’s Withdrawal From The Istanbul Convention Is A Global Problem’, by Özlem Altan-Olcay and Bertil Emrah Oder, opendemocracy.net, June 2, 2021.

‘New Regime, New Patriarchy: The Istanbul Convention At Stake’, by Simten Coşar, openglobalrights.org, July 30, 2021‘A Feminist Approach to Humanitarian Intervention,’ by Kirthi Jayakumar, The Gender Security Project, Mar 18, 2020.

’In the Name of Women's Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism,’ by Sara Farris, (Duke University Press, 2017)

‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others,’ by Lila Abu-Lughod, 104(3) American Anthropologist (2002) 783-790.

‘Afghan Women Betrayed: The Legacy of Imperial Feminism’, by Deepa Kumar, spectrejournal.com, September 4, 2021.

‘Saving Brown Women,’ by Miriam Cooke, 28(1) Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (2002) 468-470.

‘Feminist Reflections on the Responsibility to Protect,’ by Hilary Charlesworth, 2 Global Responsibility to Protect (2010) 232–249.

‘Imperialist Feminism and Liberalism,’ by Deepa Kumar, opendemocracy.com, 6 November 2014.

‘The Antis: Anti-Imperialist or Anti-Feminist?,’ by Meredith Tax, opendemocracy.com, 19 November 2014.

‘Imperialist Feminism: A Response to Meredith Tax,’ by Deepa Kumar, opendemocracy.com, 17 December 2014.

‘A Second Response to Meredith Tax: Straw Men Make Poor Arguments,’ by Saadia Toor, opendemocracy.com, 19 December 2014.

Field Studies:

Students are required to participate in two Field Studies during the course.

Approach to Teaching:

The approach to teaching adopted in this course will be based on a seminar model, in which classroom discussion and engaged participation will be the main method of teaching and learning. Students should consider the course as presenting a series of ‘shared problems’ that we as a group will seek to reflect on together. Our shared project is to gain a better understanding of the international human rights framework, and to be able to critically analyse the effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach’ in addressing the pervasive discrimination, inequality and violence suffered by women and transgender people.

Expectations of the Students:

Students are expected to abide by the Academic Regulations and assist in creating an environment that is conducive to learning and that protects the rights of all members of the DIS community. This course is designed to expose students to a variety of different arguments concerning a very topical and controversial topic, and is designed to provide students with tools with which to analyse those arguments and assess them critically. Please show respect for the views of your fellow-classmates, whether you agree with them or not. Whereas this course is designed to encourage debate, judgmental or intolerant behaviour will not be tolerated.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their engaged classroom participation and their assignments. Attendance for all classes and Field Studies is mandatory. Students are required to attend class on time and be prepared to actively participate in class. The starting point for such engaged participation will be the submission of ‘short written assignments’ prior to class, which will inform class discussion. These assignments form a bridge between the reading students undertake prior to class and their engaged participation in class.

Assignments:

A: Short Written Assignments:

These assignments are intended to enhance your understanding of the topics addressed in each class and enable you to better identify key concepts from the reading. The principal aim of these assignments, however, is to foster class discussion and collaboration, and all assignments must therefore be submitted onto the shared Discussion Board.

The Short Written Assignments (SWA) will serve as a key venue for each of you to set out your understanding of the material covered during the course and explore issues that interest you or that you wish to clarify. You should draft the SWA after having completed the reading assigned for each class and having considered the other materials provided.

Each SWA invites you to draft a ‘question for class discussion’ that relates to the topic of the class in some way, and refers to the class material directly. The questions posed will serve as a starting point for class discussion.

In order to fulfil each SWA, you are also required to comment on or respond to at least one other question posed by other students. Comments should be drafted in such a way as to invite responses from other students, in order to foster class discussion. You will only be able to read and comment on other submissions once you have submitted your own assignment. Having met the minimum requirement of submitting a SWA and commenting on one other, the SWA will be graded as complete.

In order to allow time for you to comment on your peer’s submissions and for a discussion to take place, each SWA must be uploaded to the Discussion Board by 20:00 on the day before the relevant Class.

B: Research paper:  The impact of both social movements and the human rights approach on a gender related human rights violation

This assignment provides an opportunity for students to both further their understanding of the international human rights regime, and investigate in depth specific issues of gender related human rights violations. Each student will draft a research paper on a specific case study of gender related human rights violations with the aim of interrogating the interaction between ‘the human rights approach’ and social movement activism in seeking to address that particular violation.

Students should set out the long-term causes, genealogy, and modalities of the gender related violation before going on to compare and contrast how social movements and the human rights approach have each contributed to:

• Our popular and academic knowledge and understanding, alongside the media framing and discourse around the issue;
• The generation of activism, organizing and campaigning on the issue;
• The provision of redress, support, compensation and recovery to victims of the violation;
• The shifting of social, cultural, political, and legal roles, behaviours, practices, standards, policies and laws that ameliorate, limit, reduce, and eradicate the violation.

C: Group Project: Interrogating the ‘Human Rights Approach’

Interrogating the role of human rights in both ‘bottom up’ social movements and ‘top down,’ state led interventions is one of the central themes of this course. Many social movements and campaigns for gender rights utilize the language of human rights to catalogue the violence and discrimination they suffer and frame their demands for redress. The effectiveness of adopting a ‘human rights approach’ has, however, come under scrutiny, with some arguing that the individual and legal focus of human rights undermines the collective potential of social movements. The obligation to uphold and protect human rights, particularly the rights of women, also plays a key part in state led initiatives and interventions by the international community. Once again, however, the deployment of human rights to frame and legitimate such interventions has not escaped censure, with human rights allegedly serving as a fig-leaf for more hard-nosed political interests or distracting from underlying causes of violence and discrimination.

This assignment provides an opportunity to engage with these debates through a sustained investigation and analysis of both contemporary campaigns for gender rights and state led initiatives launched under the banner of gender rights. Students will be divided into four groups and each group will select a topic.  Each group will be expected to work together to research, design, construct and present an interactive presentation of their assigned topic that addresses the contentious debates around the role and effectiveness of a ‘human rights approach.’

The entire 80 minutes of the class will be set aside for the presentation of each group project and active class discussion. Each presentation should be between 30 - 40 minutes in order for each of the group members to contribute to the presentation. During the presentation the rest of the class will be expected to prepare questions about the presentation that will form the basis for an active class discussion.

Grading:

To be eligible for a passing grade for this course every student must complete all of the assigned work. The grading breakdown for the class is as follows:

Assignment	Percent
Engaged classroom participation	20%
Short Written Assignments	20%
Research paper:  The impact of both social movements and the human rights approach on a gender related human rights violation	35%
Group Project: Interrogating the ‘Human Rights Approach’	25%

 

Classroom Policies:

Plagiarism/Cheating:

Plagiarism and cheating of any kind will not be tolerated. Any assignment which shows evidence of either will receive an immediate fail. It is essential that you attribute all the ideas that you have borrowed. All students should familiarize themselves with the DIS Academic Honor Code.

Lateness:

Minor and infrequent lateness is occasionally unavoidable, but please enter the classroom quietly and with as little disruption as possible. Repeated or disruptive lateness will affect your participation grade.

Mobile phones and laptop computers:

Any and every use of mobile phones and laptops during class is strictly prohibited. If you use an electronic device during class your participation grade will suffer. The reason for this rule is simple, research has consistently shown that students who use laptops during class to take notes contribute less to class discussion and leave class having learnt less!