Paradoxes of Human Rights

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Contemporary human rights activists argue that human beings share a set of fundamental rights. But what happens when the seemingly universal concept of "human rights" is translated across different social, historical, and cultural contexts? In this class, we will look at how claims about human rights take shape as people engage tensions between universal models of the human and the diverse realities of everyday lives. When people advocate for social justice in terms of human rights, what arguments do they make about what it means to be human? What visions of justice do they produce? Such questions are central if we want to understand the potential of human rights projects to build a better world. Drawing on research from scholars in anthropology, history, and political theory, this course explores how human rights take shape within social and historical contexts.