Unit information: The Politics of Human Rights in 2017/18

Unit name	The Politics of Human Rights
Unit code	POLI20011
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Ashley Dodsworth
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The Politics of Human Rights introduces students to the debates over human rights. Exploring the contemporary debates over rights to migration and torture, the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of human rights, debates over who can possess such rights and the ethical considerations over measurement, this unit will enable students to both understand and participate in the dominant moral language of contemporary politics and the contested attempts to apply it.

The aims of this unit are:
• to examine the theoretical and practical underpinnings of human rights
• explore what is meant by ‘human’, how such rights have developed, the extent of their reach and their measurement.
• enable students to understand the contemporary political debate surrounding five rights; the rights of migrants, the right to life, the right to freedom from torture, gender rights and environmental rights

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module students will be able to:

• Understand the development of human rights and the problems inherent with the definition of these concepts, particularly with regard to the terms ‘universality’ and ‘human’
• Apply the methodologies that are used to assess human rights fulfilment and understand the ethical implications of the methods chosen
• Assess the contemporary debate surrounding key human rights and develop their own position in response
• Present and defend their position in response to the relevant academic literature

Teaching Information

Two hours of lectures and a one hour seminar per week

Assessment Information

• Essay 1 - 1500 words in length (25%) with a focus on learning outcomes 1 and 2
• Essay 2 - 3000 words in length (75%) with a focus on learning outcomes 3 and 4

Reading and References

James Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights, (Blackwell: New York, 2007)

Lynn Hunt, Inventing Human Rights, (New York: Norton, 2007)

Todd Landman and Edzia Carvalho, Measuring Human Rights, (New York: Routledge, 2010)

Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, Third Edition, (USA: Cornell University Press, 2013)

Andrew Clapham, Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction, Second Edition, (Oxford: OUP, 2015)

Michael Goodhart (ed), Human Rights: Polices and Practice, Third Edition (New York: OUP, 2016)