Making Human Rights Intelligible: Towards a Sociology of Human Rights

by Mikael Rask Madsen, Rosemary Hunter, Gert Verschraegen, David Nelken

Overview

Human rights have become a defining feature of contemporary society, permeating public discourse on politics, law and culture. But why did human rights emerge as a key social force in our time and what is the relationship between rights and the structures of both national and international society? By highlighting the institutional and socio-cultural context of human rights, this timely and thought-provoking collection provides illuminating insights into the emergence and contemporary societal significance of human rights. Drawn from both sides of the Atlantic and adhering to refreshingly different theoretical orientations, the contributors to this volume show how sociology can develop our understanding of human rights and how the emergence of human rights relates to classical sociological questions such as social change, modernisation or state formation.

Making Human Rights Intelligible provides an important sociological account of the development of international human rights. It will be of interest to human rights scholars and sociologists of law and anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of one of the most significant issues of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849463959
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/20/2013
Series:	Oñati International Series in Law and Society
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Mikael Rask Madsen is Director of iCourts, Centre of Excellence for International Courts and a Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen.
Gert Verschraegen is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Antwerp.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Notes on Contributors ix

1 Making Human Rights Intelligible: An Introduction to a Sociology of Human Rights Mikael Rask Madsen Gert Verschraegen 1

Part I Sociological Understanding of Human Rights

2 State Building, Constitutional Rights and the Social Construction of Norms: Outline for a Sociology of Constitutions Chris Thornhill 25

3 Differentiation and Inclusion: A Neglected Sociological Approach to Fundamental Rights Gert Verschraegen 61

4 Beyond Prescription: Towards a Reflexive Sociology of Human Rights Mikael Rask Madsen 81

5 Human Rights between Brute Fact and Articulated Aspiration Paul Stenner 105

6 International Human Rights versus Democracy Promotion: On Two Different Meanings of Human Rights in US Foreign Policy Nicolas Guilhot 127

7 Towards a Socio-legal Analysis of the European Convention on Human Rights Steven Greer 149

8 In Defence of Societies Judith Blau Alberto Moncada 173

Part II Human Rights and the Transformation of Key Institution of Modern Society

9 From Citizenship to Human Rights to Human Rights Education Francisco O Ramirez Rennie Moon 191

10 (Human) Rights and Solidarity: Restructuring the National Welfare Space Frederik Thuesen 215

11 Adapting Locally to International Health and Human Rights Standards: An Alternative Theoretical Framework for Progressive Realisation Lesley A Jacobs 233

12 'Legal Form' and the Purchase of Human Rights Discourse in Domestic Policy-Making: The Achievement of Same-Sex Marriage in Canada Luke McNamara 247

13 Activating the Law: Exploring the Legal Responses of NGOs to Gross Rights Violations Loveday Hodson 267

14 The Complexities of Human Rights Implementation within the Costa Rican Police System Quirine Eijkman 283

Index 301