Human Rights in Global PerspectiveANTH 140aSpring 2019

Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:50Room: Lown 203

Instructor: Elanah Uretsky Office: Brown 322 Office phone: 781-736-8741 Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00-3:00 e-mail: euretsky@brandeis.edu or by appointment

Course Description: Since the end of World War II human rights have emerged as the dominant frame for thinking about social justice. The relationship between the universal definition of human rights that dominates this discourse and respect for cultural diversity and local interpretations of rights has spurred much debate in anthropology but also within the practitioner world. This course provides an introduction to the study of human rights and culture. In addition to introducing you to the history of human rights theory and practice, the course will also provide you with an overview of anthropology’s engagement with human rights. We will critically explore key human rights concepts, major treaties and international frameworks for human rights, and in-depth case studies so that we can understand the relationships between universalism and cultural relativism, individual vs. communal rights, and the origins of human rights. We will also scrutinize challenges related to the implementation of globally formulated human rights ideas into culturally diverse localities. After learning about the theories and treaties that are foundational to international codes of human rights we will delve into a series of case studies that help us understand how human rights work in different global contexts, how they have affected sexuality, and gender, and how international power influences the practice of human rights.

Course Format: This course will be conducted as a hybrid lecture/seminar. I will present some material, and we will have discussion as we go along. I will ask a lot of questions, and there may sometimes be small group work and exercises to help us think critically about the issues we are tacking in class. Hopefully you will spend a lot of the class time talking with each other about the material. Please come to class prepared, having already read the material assigned for that day as well as anything your classmates have posted in preparation for the class. If you posted a question, blog, or response for that day’s material, expect that I may call on you to help guide the discussion. Bring your questions as well – it is perfectly acceptable to arrive not having necessarily understood all of the material. The important thing is that you read it and gave it your best shot.

Course Learning Objectives: This course will teach students to: Identify and critically discuss the features of the international human rights

system and key human rights concepts Provide an overview of the major human rights declarations Engage with the major human rights debates and controversies that have

emerged from within anthropology

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Employ competing anthropological and social theories to critically discuss human rights norms and practices and issues such as gender equality, sexuality, violence, indigenous populations.

Read a newspaper article about human rights with an anthropological lens Use relevant research to explore and test ideas about human rights and refute

generalizations

Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, online discussions, preparation for exams, field trips, etc.). for each hour of direct faculty instruction.

Required Texts (available for purchase at the Brandeis bookstore):

Donnelley, Jack Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013 (3rd edition)

Wahl, Rachel. 2017. Just Violence: Torture and Human Rights in the Eyes of the Police. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univeristy Press. Intro, Chapters 1,3,4,&7

The following films will be screened in class:

The Gate of Heavenly Peace (1995) - Richard Gordon and Carma Hinton The Silk Road of Pop (2012) – Sameer Farooq That Kind of Love (2016) – Jeanne Marie Hallacy Divorce Iranian Style (1998) – Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir Hosseni

Course Assignments and requirements:

1. Attendance and participation 15%2. Group Presentation 15%3. Film response 10%4. Notebooks on current events on Human Rights (3) 30%5. Final paper 30%

Attendance and participation: The success of this course requires us to ALL come to class prepared to discuss and engage with the materials. There will be some lecture but for the most part I will foster a classroom dynamic that allows us to discuss and debate the readings and issues they discuss. Preparation for discussion includes identifying puzzling aspects of the text, highlighting passages for analysis, and raising questions for debate. Everybody should make an effort to participate in the discussion. That will ensure that everyone’s voice is represented and that we are all learning from one another. I recognize that people have different styles of participation and different levels of comfort with speaking in class. I will try, as much as possible, to create different types of opportunities for people to speak. Your attendance and participation grade is not only dependent on coming to class but also showing that you can assist the class in generating lively and meaningful discussion about class topics.

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Group Tutorial Presentation: During weeks 7, 8, 9, 10, & 13 two groups of 2-3 students, each will engage in a 20 to 30-minute debate on a specific topic (2 x 10-15 minutes for each group), followed by discussion within the class. Topics are set in advance, but students have significant latitude for group creativity. Preparation will be completed together as a whole group (of the 5 or 6 students) so that the presentation is cohesive and comprehensive. Topics for each debate can be found in Appendix C at the end of the syllabus.

Students should provide the class with a one-page outline of crucial points for each perspective (though they should NOT read this to the class—Please don’t!). The class will be responsible for providing feedback as well as engaging in the post-presentation activity, whether that is debate, question and answer, or discussion of the presentation.

Students will be evaluated on the quality of the handout, the effectiveness of the presentation, the coverage of the topic, and the presentational qualities of their work (including creativity, clarity, etc.). The assessor will have some latitude to award students within the group different scores if different levels of commitment are obvious, and group members will be asked to write a self-evaluation of the team and their experience.

Discussion Questions: During class meetings when we do not have group presentations, students will be required to submit discussion questions related to the reading assignments. For this purpose the class will be divided into four groups: A,B,C and D. We will begin the rotation during the third week of class and each group will be responsible for submitting questions every fourth session (sessions are labeled A,B,C,D). We will assign students to their designated groups. Tips for writing good discussion questions can be found in Appendix A at the end of the syllabus. Discussion questions will be graded on a check, check plus, check minus basis and we will offer feedback accordingly in order to improve the quality of your questions. You are expected to submit these questions on time. No extensions can be granted. Discussion questions will be calculated as part of your participation grade.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED TO LATTE BY 9:00PM THE NIGHT PRECDEDING THE CLASS FOR WHICH THEY ARE WRITTEN.

Notebook Responses (3): Each student is expected to submit three notebook entries during the semester reacting to a story they read about human rights in current media source. This assignment is meant to get you in the habit of monitoring the media for stories on human rights and forming critical opinions around the way our Western media covers issues of human rights. This is important because of the influence the media has on public opinion. To prepare, you may scour newspapers, blogs, radio, and TV for content on human rights and record any interesting stories in an electronic type written notebook. Entries can also be made in reaction to television shows or movies you see, podcasts you listen to, propaganda you see on the street, or reading assignments you do for other classes. For each entry you should document the source promoting your reaction (source, date, and any other identifying information) and include a scanned copy or link if it is text based. Each entry should also be accompanied by a one-paragraph reaction not to exceed 350 words. Look for what’s missing in the piece. What makes you angry or just doesn’t seem right. Question it and let me know why you questions it. You should draw on the knowledge you’ve built during class

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discussions and from course readings when writing your reactions. The first notebook entry should be submitted by the end of the sixth week of class. The second entry should be submitted by the end of week 10 and the third by the end of week 13. You should also feel free bring your entries to class to include them as part of our discussion when appropriate.

Film Review: We will view four films during the course of the semester. Each student will be required to write a 2-3 page (double-spaced) reaction of one of the films or showing how they relate to something we’ve learned in class. This assignment will be due at the last class session but can be submitted early if you are reviewing films that are screened before the end of the semester.

Final essay (DUE: May 7th) Your final essay will be a paper that will allow you to research a human rights topic of your choice. The paper should be 10-12 pages double spaced, using 12 point font and one inch margins. The essay will be developed through a set of different stages. Choice of topic and a ½ page preliminary proposal are due February 12th. We will provide feedback to each other in class. A brief annotated bibliography of 8-10 sources and a one-page preliminary progress report on your research are due March 26th. This will be a time to raise any difficulties you are having with your research process and receive further feedback from the class. Final grade for your final essay will consist of grades for your preliminary proposal (5%), bibliography and preliminary progress report (15%), and the final essay itself (80%).

Further instructions for writing your essay and some sample topics appear in Appendix D

Late Policy – Late discussion questions will not be accepted. Other assignments will be graded down by 5% for each day they are late.

Computer and Cell Phone UseIn order to focus your full attention on the class and on each other, laptops are not allowed during class time. Flat tablets (such as Ipads) are an exception, but may be used only to pull up the readings and not for typing. The use of cell phones is of course prohibited.

DisabilitiesIf you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please come and see me.

Academic IntegrityIn all of your written assignments, please make sure to cite properly any sources that you consulted, whether or not you use direct quotes. You may not simply lift text from any source and incorporate it into your own work, nor can you just change a few words here and there and claim it as your own, even if you do cite the source. You must thoroughly and carefully paraphrase any information that you include. We will go over proper citation style in class.

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You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism (see http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai). Faculty may refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Student Development and Conduct. Instances of academic dishonesty may result in sanctions, including but not limited to failing grades being issued, educational programs, and other consequences.

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COURSE OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1 Introduction to the course – Concepts and History of Human Rights

Questions to think about: How do sovereign nations balance the need for a universal declaration of human rights?

1/15 (Tues) Donnelly –Chapter 1

1/17 (Thurs) Donnelly – Chapters 2,4, &8Mazower, Mark. “The Strange Triumph of Human Rights, 1933-1950.” The Historical Journal 47(2):379-398

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) The Declaration of Man and Citizen (1789)

Mitoma, Glenn. 2013. Human Rights and the Negotiation of American Power. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Intro and Chapter 1 – AVAILABLE AS E-BOOK THROUGH LTS.

Week 2 Anthropological Ethics and Human Rights

1/22 THIS IS A BRANDEIS MONDAY – MONDAY SCHEDULE IN EFFCT

1/24 Nancy Scheper-Hughes, “Primacy of the Ethical: Propositions for a Militant Anthropology”

Current Anthropology 36, 3 (1995):409-440Phillipe Bourgois, “Confronting Anthropological Ethics: Ethnographic

Lessons from CentralAmerica,” Journal of Peace Research, 27, 1 (1990): 43-54Mark Goodale, “Ethical Theory as Social Practice,” American

Anthropologist 108, 1 (2006):25-37.Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association 1947. Statement on Human Rights American Anthropologist 49 (4):539-543.Declaration on Anthropology and Human Rights

Week 3 Human Rights Culture and Anthropology

Questions to think about: Why do anthropologists have such problems with human rights discourse? Is it possible to respect cultural values while pursuing a global human rights agenda?

1/29 (Tues) Donnelly Chapters 5,6,&7Steward, Julian. 1948. “Comments on the Statement on Human Rights.” American Anthropologist 50: 351-2.

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Barnett, H.G. 1948. “On Science and Human Rights.” American Anthropologist 50: 352-5Engle, Karen, “From Skepticism to Embrace: Human Rights and the American Anthropological Association.” Human Rights Quarterly 23 (2001):536-560Goodale, Mark. 2006. ”Toward a Critical Anthropology of Human Rights.” Current Anthropology 47(3):485-511.

1/31 (Thurs) Geertz, Clifford.1984. “Distinguished Lecture: Anti Anti-relativism.” American Anthropologist 86:263-278.Zechenter, Elizabeth. 1997. “In the Name of Culture: Cultural Relativism and the Abuse of the Individual. Journal of Anthropological Research 53(3):319-347Morreira, Shannon. 2016. Rights After Wrongs: Local Knowledge and Human Rights in Zimbabwe Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Intro, Conclusion, and Chapter 1.

OPTIONAL READINGDeSousa Santos, Boaventura. 2015. If God Were a Human Rights Activist. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Chapters 1,2 &6.

Week 4 Indigenous Rights: Indigenous Peoples and the International System

Questions to think about: How does the international system view indigenous people? Why do we need special human rights policies for indigenous populations when the declaration is supposedly universal?

2/5 (Tues) Donnelly, Chapters 11&12Asian Development Bank, Policy on Indigenous PeoplesUnited Nations, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesUNDP and Indigenous Peoples: A Policy of EngagementUSAID Issue Brief – Tenure and Indigenous Peoples: The Importance of Self-Determination, Territory, and Rights to Land and Other Natural ResourcesTrigger, David and Cameo Dalley. 2010. “Negotiating Indigineity: Culture, Identity, and Politics.” Reviews in Anthropology 39:46-65.Quane, Helen. 2005. “The Rights of Indigenous People and the Development Process.” Human Rights Quarterly 27:652-682.

2/7 (Thurs) DFID White Paper, Indigenoius People Core TextUnited Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Resource Kit

on Indigenous Peoples’ IssuesOperations Policy and Country Services (OPCS) Working Paper. 2011. Implementation of the World Bank’s Indigenous Peoples PolicyDoyle, Cathal. 2009. “Indigenous Peoples and the UN Millennium Development Goals: ‘Sacrificial Lambs’ or Equal Beneficiaries?” The International Joiurnal of Human Rights 13(1)::44-71.

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Munarriz, Gerardo. 2008. “Rhetoric and Reality: The World Bank DevelopmentPolicies, Mining Corporations, and Indigenous Communities in Latin America.” International Community Law Review. 10:431-443.

Week 5 Indigenous Rights: Local Struggles for Rights

2/12 (Tues) Hodgson, Dorothy. 2004. “Precarious Alliances: The Cultural Politics and Structural Predicaments of the Indigenous Rights Movement in Tanzania.” American Anthropologist 104(4):1086-1097.Lynch, Gabrielle. 2011. “Becoming Indigenous in the Pursuit of Justice: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Endorois.” African Affairs 111:24-45.Donahoe, Brian, Joachim Otto Habeck, Agnieszka Halemba, István Sántha. 2008. “Size and Place in the Construction of Indigeneity in the Russian Federation.” Current Anthropology 49(6):993-1020.

Half page preliminary proposal of final essay due

2/14 (Thurs) Hathaway, Michael. 2010. “The Emergence of Indigeneity: Public Intellectuals and an Indigenous Space in Southwest China.” Cultural Anthropology 25(2):301-333Pedersen, Morten. 2008. “Burma’s Ethnic Minorities Charting Their Own Path to Peace.” Critical Asian Studies. 40(1): 45-66.Harrell, Stevan. 1995. ""Introduction: Civilizing Projects and the Reaction to Them"." In Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers, edited by Stevan Harrell. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Notebook #1 Due

FEBRUARY 18 –FEBRUARY 22 – MIDTERM RECESS – HAVE A GOOD BREAK

Week 6 Ethnic Minority Rights in China

Questions to think about: What is the place of ethnic minorities in China? How does their situation compare to that of other indigenous communiies?

2/26 (Tues) Kaup, Katherine 2018. “Controlling the Law: Pluralism in China’s Southwest Minority Regions.” The China Quarterly 236:1154-1174.Rabgey, Tashi. 2003. “Citizenship as Agency in a Virtual Tibetan Public.” Preoceedigs of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS. Volume 11: Tibetan ModernitiesZhu Guobin. 2014. “The Right to Minority Language Instruction in Schools: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multinational China.” Human Rights Quarterly 36:691-721.

In- Class Debate: The Company Retreat

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2/28 (Thurs) Bovingdon, Gardner. 2004. “Autonomy in Xinjiang: Han Nationalist Imperatives and Uyghur Discontent” East-West Center Policy Studies 11.Cliff, Tom. 2014. Oil and Water: Being Han in Xinjiang. Chicago, ILL:

University of Chicago Press.CHOOSE CHAPTERSHarris, Rachel. 2005. “Reggae on the Silk Road: The Globalization of Uyghur Pop.” The China Quarterly. 83:627-643.

FILM: The Silk Road of Pop

Week 7 Economic and Social Justice: The Asian Challenge

Questions to think about: What is the Asian model of rights and how is it justified in our environment of universal human rights?

3/5 (Tues) Donnelly, Chapter 9Zakarai, Fareed. 1994. “Culture is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew” Foreign Affairs 73(2):109-126.Davis, Michael. 1998. “Constitutionalism and Political Culture: The Debate over Human Rights and Asian Values.” Harvard Human Rights Journal 11:109-147.Chan, Joseph. 1999. “A Confucian Perspective on Human Rights for China.” In Joanne Bauer and Daniel Bell (eds.) The East Asian Challendge for Human Rights. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 212-240.

In-class Debate: Civil and Economic Rights in Conflict

3/7 Alford, William. 1992. “Making a Goddess of Democracy from Loose Sand: Thoughts on Human Rights in the People’s Republic of China.” In In Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: A Quest for Consensus. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im, ed. Pp. 65-80. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

FILM: Tiananmen – Gate of Heavenly Peace

Week 8 Torture, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity

Questions to think about: How can we understand the social, political, cultural, and social dynamics that lead to mounting violations of human rights?

3/12 (Tues) An-Na`im, Abdullahi Ahmed. 1992. Toward a Cross-Cultural Approach to Defining International Standards of Human Rights: The Meaning of Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

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In Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: A Quest for Consensus. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im, ed. Pp. 19-43. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Asad, Talal. 1997. On Torture, or Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment. In Human Rights, Culture and Context. Wilson, Richard, ed. Pp. 111-133. London: Pluto Press.

In-Class Debate: The Case for an International Criminal Court

3/14 (Thurs) Wahl, Rachel. 2017. Just Violence: Torture and Human Rights in the Eyes of the Police. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Intro, Chapters 1,3,4,&7

Week 9 Women’s Rights and Gender EqualityQuestions to think about: Do women’s rights exist universally? If so, What do they look like and how are they different from our conceptions of women’s rights?

3/19 (Tues) Hodgson, Dorothy. 2011. “These are not our Priorities: Maasai Women, Human Rights, and the Problem of Culture.” In Dorothy Hodgson (ed.) Gender and Culture at the Limit of Rights. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 138-158.Abu-Lughod, Lila. 2002. Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?: Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others. American Anthropologist 104(3): 783-790.Abu-Lughod, Lila. 2011. “The Active Social Life of Muslim Women’s Rights.” In Dorothy Hodgson (ed.) Gender and Culture at the Limit of Rights. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 101-119.

3/21 (Thurs) Bettina Shell-Duncan, “From Health to Human Rights: Female Genital Cutting and the Politics of Intervention” American Anthropologist 110, 2 (2008): 225-236Gruenbaum, Ellen. “Honorable Mutilation? Changing Responses to Female Genital Cutting in Sudan.” In Health Robert A. Hahn and Marcia C. Inhorn (eds). Anthropology and Public Health: Bridging Differences in Culture and Society, Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Alice Miller, “Sexuality, Violence against Women and Human Rights: Women Make Demands and Ladies Get Protection,” Health and Human Rights 7, 2 (2004).

In-Class Debate: Women’s RightsNotebook #2 Due

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Week 103/26 (Tues) FILM: Divorce Iranian Style

Brief annotated bibliography of 8-10 sources and a one-page preliminary progress report on your research due

3/28 (Thurs) Music and Cultural Rights – Guest appearance by Horomona Horo, Ian Munro, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

Week 11 Sexual rights4/2 &4 Chua, Lynette. 2019. The Politics of Love in Myanmar: LGBT

Mobilization and Human Rights as a Way of Life. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Intro, Chap. 1&2, ConclusionFILM: That Kind of Love

Week 12 Humanitarianism and Human RightsQuestions to think about: For whom are humanitarian organizations working for?

4/9 (Tues) Peter Redfield and Erica Bornstein, Forces of Compassion: Humanitarianism Between Ethics and Politics - CHOOSE SELECTION Abramowitz, Sharon. 2015. “What Happens when MSF Leaves? Humanitarian Departure and Medical Sovereignty in Postconflict Liberia.” In Sharon Abramowitz and Catherine Panter-Brick (eds.) Medical Humanitarianism: Ethnographies of Practice Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Pp. 137-154.Human Rights in PracticeQuestions to think about: How feasible is a rights based approach to development?

4/11 (Thurs) Shannon Speed, “At the Crossroads of Human Rights and Anthropology: Toward a Critically Engaged Activist Research,”American Anthropologist 108, 1 (2006): 66-76.Kennedy, David. 2002. “The international human rights movement: Part of the problem?” Harvard Human Rights Journal 15: 101-126. Charlesworth, Hillary. 2002. “A Response to David Kennedy.” Harvard Human Rights Journal 15: 127-131.

Week 13

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4/16 (Tues) Diane Otto, 1996. Non-governmental organizations in the United Nations System: The Emerging Role of International Civil Society, Human Rights Quarterly 18: 107- 141.Mertus, Julie. 2009. “Counting in Threes: The Human Rights Ombudsmen in Bosnia-Herzegovina.” In Human Rights Matters: Local Politics and National Human Rights Institutions. Stanford, CA:Stanford University Press. Pp. 60-84.McMahon, Patrice. 2017. The NGO Game: Post Conflict Peacebuilding in the Balkans and Beyond. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Intro, Chapter 2&3

Trafficking and Domestic Workers’ Rights

Questions to think about: What is the definition of trafficking? How can we protect rights of the informal labor force?

4/16 (Tues) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UN Palermo Protocol). 2003. www.unodc.org Kay Warren. 2007. “The 2000 UN Human Trafficking Protocol: rights, enforcement, vulnerabilities.” Pp. 242-273 in Goodale and Merry, The Practice of Human Rights. Peters, Alicia. 2015. Responding to Human Trafficking: Sex, Gender, and Culture in the Law. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Intro, Chapter 1.In-Class Debate: To report or not report?

4/18 (Thurs) Guest Lecturer: Ronnie Goldberg 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

1944 ILO Declaration of PhiladelphiaBecker, Jo. 2013. Campaigning for Justice: Human Rights Advocacy in Practice. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Chapter 2: “Organizing for Decent Work for Domestic Workers: The ILO Convention.” Pp. 32-58.Anderson, Bridget. 2010. “Mobilizing migrants, making citizens: Migrant Domestic Workers as Political Agents.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 33(1):60-74.Parreñas, Rhacel. 2011. Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. CHOOSE CHAPTERS

Notebook #3 Due

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APRIL 22-26 – PASSOVER BREAK – HAVE A GOOD BREAK

5/2 (Thurs) LAST DAY OF CLASSES – BUT THIS IS A BRANDEIS FRIDAY – NO CLASS

MAY 7TH – FINAL ESSAY DUE ON LATTE BY 5:00PM

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Appendix A: TIPS FOR WRITING GOOD DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

FormatA good question for spurring active conversation is generally structured in two parts: a set-up and a pay-off. The set-up tells your listeners what the subject is, and the pay-off actually asks the question or questions that you want to explore. An off-topic example is: (set-up) In the Declaration of Independence, the framers wrote that "all men are created equal." (pay-off) Did they really think that all men were created equal? Did they only mean men? Why or why not (i.e. what evidence exists to say one way or another)? If they only meant men, how should this change our usual interpretation of the Declaration's meaning?

In this example, the set-up could have led to many different pay-offs; for instance, it could have been a question about what was meant by equality, or about whether the ideal of equality was betrayed by the Constitution, or any number of different things. At the end, it asks us to think about the bigger theoretical issue raised, and offers some different possibilities for how to answer the question. Doing the latter is important because it helps guide discussion.

Your set-up can be fairly long. It could be, for example, a quote from the reading, a controversial point from something not in the reading, or an argument of your own. If today's reading reminds you of something we read earlier in class, this is a good place to bring that up as a part of your set-up. For example, you could say: "Last week, Author A said X. This week, Author B says Y, the polar opposite of X. How can we explain the differences in their interpretation/theory?" and suggest some possible ways to answer that, such as different underlying assumptions, different theoretical or ideological perspective, etc.

ContentThe questions should be about ideas or approaches, and are meant to get us talking. They should not be merely factual, i.e. they should not ask what the author said on p. 132, or what the author meant by a particular term or phrase, or be answerable by a single word or phrase. (They should also not require knowledge of empirical information we have not covered.) Always ask for analysis. To this end, it is OK if questions are controversial, though it is not acceptable if they are purposely offensive. Good questions will ask your classmates to put the readings in perspective or in context of previous readings, to figure out authors' viewpoints, and generally to think critically about the readings. How does your question make us think differently about what we have read? How does it challenge the authors' interpretations? What is the theoretical significance of your question?

A good set of questions will address the entire set of readings, demonstrating among other things that you have done all of the reading, but also meaning that you are comparing, contrasting, and analyzing the differences and similarities among readings, when there are multiple readings. A good question has a clear purpose. Make it clear why what you are asking is significant and worthy of discussion, and what your point is. What do we learn from discussing your question?

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Appendix B: TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD RESPONSE PAPER

A response paper is a good way for reacting to and offering your analysis on a published piece of literature. Just because someone published something doesn’t mean they’re right and a response paper offers the author the opportunity to comment and offer a critical view on the literature. Such papers require that you have comprehensive understanding of the text you’ve read and are prepared to comment on how well it completed its objective. If you are responding to multiple texts then you should also comment on how they relate to each other or comment on a theme you see that connects the texts. A response paper may also include a discussion of interesting questions that a certain reading prompts for you., but such a discussion is not sufficient itself.

Response papers are brief but don’t let their brevity fooling you into thinking they are simple. They require a lot of thought before putting finger to key (or pen to paper if you’re old fashioned). It’s not simply a matter of reading the text and expressing your opinion about it. You must allow yourself enough time to digest the text and synthesize its meaning for yourself and how it relates to other texts and your opinion. In preparing your response paper then it is crucial that you allow yourself enough time to both read and synthesize the material you are writing about.

Some questions you may want to ask in preparation for writing your response paper

What is the main problem the author is addressing (both content and conceptually)?

What is the author’s central argument or point? What assumptions does the author make? What evidence does the author use to support their argument? What are the strengths or weaknesses of the text? What the possible counterarguments to the text’s claims? Why are these problems and arguments interesting and important to you? To a

wider audience?

When considering texts collectively – think about

How they relate to each other. Do the author’s perspective coincide or diverge? In what way does the information and analysis from one text strengthen or

weaken that of the other? Can we integrate the claims in these multiple texts to form a better, more complete understanding of the issue at hand?

Other things to consider when writing a response paper:

Explain key terms, main arguments, and assumptions of each text Do your best to characterize each text’s arguments and assumptions fairly and

accurately Evaluate the evidence that each text present and point out the strengths and

weaknesses both internal to the text and in relation to others. For example, if one text makes an argument based on a certain assumption that another confirms

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or refutes then you can use the latter text to evaluate the plausibility of the claim made in the former.

Explain how the text relate to or ‘speak’ to one another and how this relation to one another helps you to evaluate the situation.

Try considering both sides of an argument even if all the texts you read come down on one side of an issue.

Think about what else can be said or asked? What other evidence the authors need to strengthen their argument to the point where you think it is valid.

This is your opinion, your reflection so make your voice heard by weighing in on the argument, evaluating the evidence through your lens and raising critical questions that the author may not have raised. If you think there’s an important part of the story that the authors left out then raise it as an area of concern and provide basis for its significance.

Keep an eye out for omissions that the authors may have made along the way and raise counterarguments when you detect an author’s arguments are weak.

What not to do

Do not wait too long to start writing. Reading and understanding the texts are only the first steps in completing your assignment. Give yourself time to write and edit because, as brief as it is, an assignment like this requires revision to make it sound right.

Response papers are not about how you feel about something – even about how you feel about the texts. They are not simply a venue for you to say whether you like or dislike a text. Give praise or blame where it is due through a critical lens but do not simply commend or condemn a text.

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Appendix C: In-Class Debates

Week 7: The Company Retreat

You work for a big US corporation that often holds its lavish annual retreat in an exotic far off locations. Attendance is not mandatory – but it wouldn’t look good to not show up. This year’s retreat is being held in Xinjiang – just miles away from camps where it is suspected 1 million Uyghur people are being held in detention. A group of students feels this is justified. The company had planned this retreat for a long time and their presence has no impact on the situation. The other feels it is wrong to hold the retreat there because of the role the company is playing in supporting the authoritarian government holding the Uyghurs. The decision is still difficult though because of the impact it can have on their career.

Week 8: Civil and Economic Rights in Conflict

A visiting entourage has arrived a developing East Asian country currently experiencing rapid economic growth that follows the model of East Asian ‘tigers’ like Singapore, Malaysia, and China in liberalizing economically before creating greater safeguards for individuals’ civil rights. One group of students represents the visitors and must present to the US Congress as persuasively as possible the reasoning for the continued restrictions on freedom of the press, on criticism of the government, on political activity such as public demonstrations, and on free access to the Internet. The other group represents a community of exiled intellectuals from the same community that have been given the opportunity to speak before the same assembly; they must, as persuasively as possible, try to influence the visiting entourage into greater respect for human rights. (Note, this requires a diplomatic approach as public humiliation or aggression will not be effective.) Both groups have 15 minutes, and the class, afterwards, will discuss how either presentation might be made more effective.

Week 9: The Case for an International Criminal Court

This week’s debate will take the form of competing presentations by pairs of student, one in favor of a proposal to join the International Criminal Court, and the other opposed to the proposal. The two student groups will each have 10 to 15 minutes to present their case, which will then be followed by open questions, comments, and discussions among tutorial students. At the end, students will vote on whether or not they should join the ICC; presenters’ marks will in no way be influenced by the outcome of the vote.

Supplemental Readings for PreparationKissinger, Henry A. 2001. The Pitfalls of Universal Jurisdiction. Foreign Affairs 80 (4): 86-96.Roth, Kenneth. 2001. The Case for Universal Jurisdiction. Foreign Affairs 80 (5): 150-154.

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Week 10: Women’s Rights

In a fictitious country, two human rights groups have drafted what they consider to be the most important and fundamental first laws to apply to the rights of women. Both groups must present their legislation to the class and argue why they think that this particular piece of legislation should be considered, as the legislature only has time to consider one more bill before recessing for the summer. Each group must choose both the activist group that they represent and the issue that they believe this group will see as foremost among women’s rights; they must then argue their proposal for a general audience. In other words, they must draft the law thinking about their particular interest but ‘sell’ it to a broader constituency. Both groups have 15 minutes to present their law ‘in character’. Discussion afterwards will center on what disparities might exist between group motivation and public presentation and the diversity of women’s rights. Credit will be given for creativity and consistency in the group’s character, in addition to effectiveness of presentation.

Week 13: To Report or Not Report?

Doing research on sex workers at the border of China and Viet Nam you come across a group of Vietnamese women who were trafficked into China. Your research is funded by the US government, which has a policy of reporting trafficking. Upon speaking with the women you discover they were originally trafficked to another city where they were horribly abused. The police in that city helped them to be re-trafficked to their current location. Reporting them to the US government may incur attention and someone coming to save them and return them home. The women say they are quite happy where they are now. Their current boss treats them quite well and they would rather stay where they are and not return home. One group of students will represent a careful researcher who knows the dangers to their funding of possibly being suspected by the government of not reporting a required situation. The other wants to respect the wishes of the women.

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Appendix D: Writing the Final Essay

The goal of the research essay is to help to train you as an advocate to write arguments and conduct research projects that take into account the particularity of different cultures’ attitudes toward human rights. These topics are designed to get you to think about the intersection between a distinct way of viewing the world (a culture) and a human rights problem from the first two ‘generations’ of human rights.

The essays require some thought and creativity because the topics are a bit odd (intentionally). You’re unlikely to find an essay on any of these topics on-line, but, if you pull together several sources, they can all be done without a tremendous amount of research. For example, you could write a defence of an Asian country’s record on human rights (or a critique) from the perspective of sayings by the Dalai Lama by thinking about how what he has said about human dignity relates to the different principles in the Universal Declaration and the interview with Lee Kuan Yew.

It is not expected that you will all write arguments with which you fundamentally agree. In other words, your essay may not be a representation of your position on an issue. This is an exercise in taking up different perspectives and assembling evidence- and logic-based arguments from our analysis of the materials.

Sample topics:

Liability in socio-economic rightsCould a wealthy government be prosecuted for its treatment of its own poor, unemployed, or under-served diseased individuals, given the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights? How might injustice be defended or prosecuted in cases around the world? What punishment or redress could be sought, who would the case target, and how might the advocates involved make their cases?

Prepare the prosecution or defense case, or an amicus brief (that is, a report given to the court by a ‘friend’, in this case, by a human rights scholar on the applicability of human rights law to this case) on a case like the following: failure to provide adequate education, unemployment, economic inequality, under-development, child poverty, or dietary inadequacy.

Institutions for restitutionIn the case of former African slaves in the United States, Native Americans in Canada or the United States, Australian Aborigines, Palestinians in Israel, Basques in Spain, or other situation of unresolved conflict familiar to you, describe why you think either a truth and reconciliation-style commission or a justice tribunal would be a more appropriate way to redress past injustice. By

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choosing a situation that is familiar, I hope that it gives you more time to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the types of institutions. You will not get credit for simply describing the long-standing conflict.

Defending ‘Asian values’After having read Lee Kuan Yew’s interview about ‘Asian values’ and human rights, pick an Asian country and defend that country’s record on human rights, or, from the perspective of a representative of a human rights organization from an Asian country, criticize a country’s human rights record using ‘Asian values’ as a foundation for your argument.

I am less interested in the accuracy of information about a country’s human rights record than I am about the effectiveness of your argument’s use of ideas, concepts, or textual precedents from the appropriate traditions.

Societies that recoverInvestigate one society that has either successfully or unsuccessfully recovered from severe, endemic violence. How did that society accomplish this, or what might have been some of the factors involved in the failure? What factors are characteristic of the place itself or the violent regime it endured, and what factors were contributed by the process of reconciliation and rebuilding that it either passed through or failed to pass through?

See the web links for possible cases, but you might consider one of the following: Guatemala, South Africa, Argentina, Sierra Leone, the former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, or Cambodia. I point these out simply because they will be discussed in class or are in your additional resources.

Child soldier legislationInvestigate the current child soldier legislation being implemented in different countries (for example, the Child Soldiers Accountability Act recently passed in the US) to suggest whether similar legislation could be proposed in Australia. Clearly explore and explain how the legislation is supposed to work (definition of offense, enforcement, penalties, etc.), assess its strength and weaknesses, and provide some overview of its potential impact.

Human rights in regional crisesInvestigate how different religious worldviews affect attitudes toward human rights issues with a specific context in mind (for example, the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka, abuses in Burma, or other nearby region). Suggest how religious or cultural worldview in our region affects the perception, understanding and application of a specific human rights issue in an area of interest to Australia. Please note: In some cases, you may find that you need to explore how diverse worldviews in the same area (such as across religious difference in Sri Lanka, or varieties of Muslim attitudes toward women in Afghanistan) affects different sides in conflict.

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Disability rights and international donorsHow might disability rights be articulated in aid, legislation, or activism, especially for disabled people in the developing world where resources to redress problems confronting disabled people are not widely available. You will need to organize the principle types of rights that are at issue and consider how donors or international organizations might influence policy or assist disabled people. Does the location of disabled people in developing world affect likely donors, how can this be addressed, and what role do you see for international organizations in disabled rights in the developing world?

The ethics of NGO fundraising effortsExplore the ethics of fundraising by NGOs, especially the ways in which NGOs depict the people with whom they work. For example, one key area of concern is the use of child sponsorship as a mechanism to attract and retain sponsors, but the possibility that this mechanism creates ethical problems, shaping who can be helped, donor expectations, and the relationship between those giving and receiving aid.

On a more general level, how does the way that NGOs advertise and attract attention to problems affect the way that global poverty, health problems and other social issues are understood by the Western public? Does the mode of addressing the public make it harder to address some sorts of problems rather than others? You might look at a number of different strategies employed by different NGOs in Australia or abroad.

Right to foodWhat is the current state of discussion of a right to food, especially in light of current food crises, use of food crops for alternative fuels, conflicts over seed patents and genetically modified crops, decrease in fish stocks, and concerns about the impact of agriculture on the environment. How might Australian organizations work constructively to advance a right to food given the current state of the world’s economy, environment, and other concerns?

Rights-based development and financial crisisHow is a rights-based approach (RBA) to addressing social problems affected by current financial problems? You may want to consider the design of different governments’ ‘stimulus packages’ to consider the implicit priorities that shape these programs and their relationship to various human rights principles. You may also want to investigate changes to international development aid or health aid during the same time periods proposed in the stimulus packages; in other words, looking at overall government budgets and changes, is there a significant shift away from human rights-related funding (are cuts to these programs used to offset stimulus spending?) or are rights-related programs part of economic stimulus spending? In other words, investigate how the priorities and spending of economic stimulus relate to rights-related development (for example, compare

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to Millennium Development Goals).

Outcomes of rights-based researchHow does a rights-based approach to development affect development outcomes? You may have to find some examples and make some phone calls to organizations who have attempted to implement rights-based approaches to development to ask for examples where these approaches have been tested. Outcomes are likely to be mixed, but it would be helpful to find some specific examples that might help to inform the discussion about rights-based development.

Refugee rights and self-determinationHow should refugees be handled? Do Australians have a right to determine who enters their country, and if so, how should the country handle those who arrive in Australia or its territorial waters without permission?

WRITE YOUR OWN TOPIC!We actually prefer to read original papers that bring together items from the news with theoretical concepts, arguments or forms of analysis that we have learned more about in class. In conjunction with either you tutor or the unit convenor, you can devise your own research topic related to culture and human rights.

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Appdenix E: Additional Resources for Learning About Human Rights

Aid Watchhttp://blogs.nyu.edu/fas/dri/aidwatch/

AIDS and Rightshttp://eliminateaids.blogspot.com/

Alternet’s Human Rights newshttp://www.alternet.org/rights/

Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/

Asia Catalysthttp://asiacatalyst.org/

Blog of Rights (American Civil Liberties Union)http://blog.aclu.org/

China Digital Timeshttps://duihua.org/

Derechos Human Rightshttp://www.derechos.org/

The Dui Hua Foundationhttps://duihua.org/

The Guardian’s Human Rights pagehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/human-rights

Global Issueshttp://www.globalissues.org/

Human Development Reports (UN)http://hdr.undp.org/en/

The Human Rights Bloghttp://human-rights.typepad.com/

Human Rights in Chinahttps://www.hrichina.org/en

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Human Rights Digesthttp://www.humanrightsdigest.org/

Human Rights Now (Amnesty International USA)http://blog.amnestyusa.org/

Human Rights Monitorhttp://www.humanrightsmonitor.net/

Human Rights Watchhttp://www.hrw.org/

One World Nethttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx

The People’s Movement for Human Rights Learninghttp://www.pdhre.org/

Third World Networkhttp://www.twnside.org.sg/

UN High Commissioner for Human Rightshttp://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx

UN Human Rights Newshttp://www.un.org/apps/news/subject.asp?SubjectID=5

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Appendix F: Some famous Human Rights Activists

Chen Guangcheng Wan Yanhai Desmond Tutu Nelson Mandela Dalai Lama Aung San Suu Kyi Oskar Schindler Martin Luther King, Jr. Malala Wang Dan Harry Wu Liu Xiaobo Natan Sharansky Ezra Nawi Zackie Achmat Vaclav Havel Andrei Sakharov Adam Yauch Nikolai Girenko Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Human Rights in Global PerspectiveANTH 140a

Group Member and Self Evaluation

Your Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Names of your group members: ___________________________________________________

Please rate and describe your group members’ contributions to your learning associated with the group assignment and and your contributions to your group members’ learning in the assignment, providing comments to support your evaluation. On your self-evaluation review, consider your attainment of personal goals as well as how you would rate your effort in (and that of your group member) during preparation for the group presentation (again, provide comments).

Points Description

0 Did not contribute to the group’s preparation for the debate, my learning, or that of our group

2 Responded when asked but did not offer information without promptingDemonstrated infrequent involvement in group learning and preparationEngaged in work avoidanceOffered few suggestionsDid not give or receive constructive feedback

5 Offered only a few suggestions and participated at a minimal levelDemonstrated only a moderate involvement in preparation for the group presentatoin

7 Actively engaged in preparation for the group presentationDemonstrated consistent ongoing involvement in the preparation

10 Demonstrated leadership in preparation for the group projectContributed in a significant way to responding to challenges to our preparation for the debate

Name Score Comments

Self

Other Comments:

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