262.54 sec. 001 - Human Rights Futures: New Directions in Law and Practice (Fall 2024)
Instructor: Laurel E Fletcher (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
TuTh 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM
Location: Law 113
From August 20, 2024
To November 21, 2024
Course End: November 21, 2024
Class Number: 32581
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 14
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 24
As of: 04/29 12:21 AM
The global human rights movement is transforming as it confronts unprecedented challenges to an international system that was built for the last century. At the same time, international human rights organizations in the global North continue to have outsized power within the movement. Thus, as the international human rights movement faces external challenges, it faces pressure to shift the locus of the movement to the global South, where most international interventions take place. This course will examine current debates about the external challenges facing human rights advocates, how these intersect with North-South hierarchies within the movement, and the new thinking and initiatives advocates are developing to respond to the present moment.
A premise of this course is that the role of human rights advocates in the global North will have a significant impact on how effectively a global human rights movement will meet the twenty-first century human rights challenges. Students will therefore analyze and reflect on the extent to which current efforts to transform the role of human rights lawyers and advocates in the global North are likely to succeed. Through guest speakers, case studies, and examples of current strategies, this course will analyze promising substantive, structural, and methodological innovations in the global human rights movement with specific attention to the role of North-based practitioners. Examples of topics include: (1) approaches to the substantive challenges of the climate crisis, social and economic inequality, rising authoritarianism, and disruptive capabilities of emerging technologies, among others; (2) efforts to overcome structural barriers to develop resilient transnational collaboration models, build power of human rights groups in the global South, and address funding inequities; and (3) new methods of solidaristic advocacy that legitimize local knowledge and expertise, decenter the international NGO expert, and enhance community agency.
The course uses multiple teaching methods of reading discussion, exercises, written reflections, and guest speakers to equip students with knowledge of the legal, institutional, and conceptual frameworks that undergird current debates. Students will be expected to attend class, actively engage in discussion, as well as participate in-class exercises.
Prerequisites:
No prerequisites! Concurrent/prior enrollment in international human rights law, the International Human Rights Clinic, or a human rights internship may be helpful.
|
Requirements Satisfaction:
|
Exam Notes: (None) Class requires a series of papers, assignments, or presentations throughout the semester
Course Category: International and Comparative Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Public Law and Policy
Race and Law
Social Justice and Public Interest
If you are the instructor or their FSU, you may add a file like a syllabus or a first assignment to this page.
Readers:
No reader.
Books:
Instructor has not yet confirmed their textbook order, please check back later.