Human Rights and Needs Perspective

Human Rights - Basics

• Human rights are rights inherent to all individuals, simply by being human.
• Inalienable: these rights cannot be taken away or given up.
• Universal: they apply to everyone, regardless of background or circumstances.
• Equal: all people are entitled to the same rights.
• Subjective: these rights are intrinsic to the individual; external factors do not grant them.
• Inherently linked to the subject: rights are not simply benefits; they empower individuals.
• They do not reduce to correlative duties or benefits.
• They are active, requiring individuals to take charge of their rights and interactions.
• They are exercised and empower those that hold them.

Human Rights - Interaction Types

• Rights can be involved in three types of interactions:
  • Assertive exercise: the right-holder actively asserts their right, demanding obligations from the duty-bearer (e.g., "I have my rights, I want my phone call!").
  • Active respect: the duty-bearer considers the right in their actions, even without the right-holder explicitly claiming it (e.g., allowing the accused to see their lawyer).
  • Objective enjoyment: rights are implicitly present but not explicitly considered in the exchange (e.g., buying a product).

Human Rights as Needs

• The conceptual framework of human rights as needs links rights to the material conditions for people to enjoy them.
• Strengths: establishing a foundation for material conditions necessary for human rights, focusing on basic needs for well-being.
• Weaknesses: culturally defined needs that aren't universal or verifiable, potentially lacking a focus on universal human dignity.
• Defining human needs as a basis for rights links them to basic survival and a minimum quality of life.

Human Rights as Capabilities

• This framework empowers individuals to achieve meaningful lives by enhancing abilities and freedoms.
• Strengths: emphasizing agency and all attributes needed for meaningful life, incorporating concepts of political and social participation; without the ability to develop and exercise preference and participation cannot enjoy human rights.
• Weaknesses: some rights might not be reliably assessed in terms of capability, broad framework may require extensive public investment and the context of human rights depend on specific circumstances, hard to immediately or visibly detect violations.
• This framework emphasizes the importance of empowerment and opportunity for enjoyment of life.

Human Rights Conventions

• The UN Declaration of Human Rights is a landmark document, approved in 1948; Eleanor Roosevelt played a crucial role.
• It's the bedrock for the International Bill of Human Rights and followed by further treaties and conventions.
• Various international conventions exist, outlining specific rights and obligations (e.g., racial discrimination, economic rights, women's rights, children's rights, etc.).
• Many key countries still do not sign human rights treaties.

Limitations of HR Conventions

• Despite the declarations, enforcement mechanisms are often lacking.
• Human rights are not always a priority even in countries that have signed the conventions.
• The worst human rights violators are sometimes most likely to sign these treaties.
• Some violations may be judged less severe than others, potentially hindering the enforcement.

Human Rights - Strategic View

• Countries often sign treaties only when aligned with their interests (rather than out of true commitment to universal values).
• Making pledges is easy, but following through on obligations proves more challenging.
• Autocratic and democratic leaders alike sometimes pursue national interests above human rights.
• Countries may sign treaties for perceived short-term gains or strategic advantage.

Human Rights - Constructivist View

• International treaties influence state values and behavior, potentially improving them.
• Legitimacy: treaties gain strength by being adhered to, influencing future behavior.
• Role definition: states that actively participate in the development of treaties often represent those values better.
• Reflection: states use treaties as a way of projecting an image of how they would like to be viewed, encouraging virtuous behavior.
• Empirical evidence may suggest that these effects are often weaker than envisioned or hoped.

Human Rights - Dilemmas

• Human Rights vs. Sovereignty: The norm of non-interference in state affairs, potentially clashing with strong abuses of human rights that justify outside intervention. Some human rights issues may necessitate intervention. States may avoid signing or adhering to treaties based on this factor.
• Poverty and Human Rights: Poverty can impede the true enjoyment of human rights; Authoritarian or other less democratic leaders often use the pursuit of prosperity or national economic growth to minimize or disregard human rights.
• Link between poverty and human rights: the relationship between poverty and the exercise of human rights is often complicated. Economic hardship or progress may not correlate directly to human rights protections for all people.
• Inconsistencies between rights: Religious freedom or other cultural values may conflict with other human rights.
• Intersectional Approach: an approach to human rights that acknowledges multiple overlapping identities, like gender, race, or class, that can create complex experiences of discrimination or advantage. Some existing frameworks might not consider the full range of vulnerabilities and needs of marginalized groups.

Human Rights - The Intersectional Approach

• Recognizing various intersecting factors, like gender, race, class and religion, affect an individual’s experience of human rights.
• Recognizing this helps to see and focus on how social advantage and disadvantage compound together.
• Existing frameworks may not account for how social disadvantages create inequality or limit human rights enjoyment.
• Recognizing disparities created by intersections can help inform a stronger, more inclusive approach to policy and human rights.

Explore the complexities of human rights through the lens of the needs perspective and the capabilities approach. This quiz covers key concepts such as inalienability, subjective rights, and the impact of gender on human rights. Additionally, examine international efforts regarding human rights conventions and their implications.