Unit information: Human Rights in Law, Politics and Society in 2019/20

Unit name	Human Rights in Law, Politics and Society
Unit code	LAWD30125
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Greer
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	University of Bristol Law School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit covers the following topics and themes: the history of the human rights ideal and its contested status in western debates about law, politics and society; the internationalization and globalization of human rights; arguments about the universality and cultural limits of human rights particularly with respect to Islam, Asia, China, and multicultural societies; attempts to sanction human rights violations through judicial processes, especially by the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court; and some sharp contemporary debates, including about the profile of human rights in processes of democratization, in relation to economic development, aid and trade, in response to terrorism, and in armed conflict.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit a successful student will be able to:

• Explain the nature of human rights and their contested status in debates in, and between, western and non-western political moralities, and about globalization, international law and international relations.
• Identify and discuss some core debates where human rights are particularly central, eg transitional justice, terrorism, multiculturalism.
• State the various arguments and positions in key debates accurately, assess them critically and come to provisional reasoned conclusions about how the issues might best be understood and problems resolved.

• Demonstrate the following benchmark skills

o selection of sources from a wide range of suggested literature;

o reading in depth and in breadth;

o critical analysis of written texts;

o written argumentation.

Teaching Information

Ten one-hour lectures and ten two-hour seminars.

Assessment Information

Reading and References

• J. Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (Cornell University Press, 3^rd edn., 2013).

• J. Donnelly and D. Whelan, International Human Rights: Dilemmas in World Politics, (Westview Press, 5^th edn., 2017). Other texts to which frequent reference is made include:
  • M. Freeman, Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Polity, 3^rd edn., 2017).
  • M. Goodhart, Human Rights: Politics and Practice (Oxford University Press, 3^rd edn., 2016).
  • I. Bantekas & L. Odette, International Human Rights Law and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2^nd edn. 2016).
  • M. Frezzo, The Sociology of Human Rights (Polity, 2015).
  • O. De Schutter, International Human Rights Law: Cases, Materials, Commentary (Cambridge University Press, 2^nd edn., 2014).
  • C. Tomuschat, Human Rights: Between Idealism and Realism (Oxford University Press, 3^rd edn., 2014).