Human rights & the state in modern international relations 現代國際關係中的人權與國家

1. Human rights & the state in modern international relations現代國際關係中的人權與國家 Dr. Titus C. Chen Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

2. Session II (03/05/2010) Agenda • John Lennon, Give Peace a Chance (1969) • Human rights news report • Weekly readings • What human rights? • Whose human rights? • Who decides human rights for others? • Western heritage of human rights

3. What human rights? • An expanding list of HR (Donnelly, IHR, p. 7) • Categories of early HR • The freedom of religion and opinion • The right to life • The right to private property • Presented as natural rights • HR evolved from concrete human experiences that stimulated political philosophies & actions

4. Two origins of modern HR (1)The modern state (a) • Modern inter-state system in Europe • Religious wars in 16th & 17th centuries • The 1648 Westphalian system • The prince as the territorial sovereign • The absolutist monarchical state • Religious freedom for the state, not subjects • Provision of religious asylum for dissenters

5. Two origins of modern HR (2)The modern state (b) • Civil rights • The freedom of religion • The freedom of opinion • The right to life

6. Two origins of modern HR (3)The modern market (a) • Appearance of the Bourgeoisie • The propertied class • Financially independent to the sovereign state • Landed country gentry (agricultural) • Urban residents with skills in trades (merchant)

7. Two origins of modern HR (4)The modern market (b) • Economic rights • The right to private property • The right to manage one’s property

8. Western heritage of modern HR (I)The Enlightenment legacy (a) • The era of Voltaire, John Locke, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Montesquieu, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, etc. • Belief in reason & reasoning capacity as the defining characteristic of human beings • Reason as the legitimate source of political authority • From reason to secularism—decline of organized religion in politics

9. Western heritage of modern HR (I)The Enlightenment legacy (b) • Those who can reason and articulate independently are rational, self-interested beings • They know what their interests and goals are • They can find means to fulfill their own interests and pursue their own goals • They should be granted inalienable rights to satisfy their interests and goals • Men have natural rights to pursue “liberty, health, liberty, or possession.”

10. Western heritage of modern HR (I)The Enlightenment legacy (c) • Classical liberalism • The origin of liberal democracy • Social contract as the foundation of a polity • A limited government

11. Western heritage of modern HR (I)The Enlightenment legacy (d) • Provisos of enjoying natural rights • Gender – are women rational beings? • Race – are the “colored” a whole person?

12. Western heritage of modern HR (I)The Enlightenment legacy (e) • Provisos of holding political rights • Gender • Race • Financial independence - property • Literacy - education • Time - leisure

13. Western heritage of modern HR (II)The preeminent roles of the state (a) • State sovereignty as the dominant principle of political organization in the modern international system that’s based on the norms of anarchy & non-intervention • The prominence of the state as the precondition of modern HR development

14. Western heritage of modern HR (II)The preeminent roles of the state (b) • HR as a set of practices regulating relations btw. the state and its citizens/subjects • The state as the predominant provider and guarantor of HR • The state perpetrated the most egregious HR violations • Citizens/subjects had to deal mainly with the state/state agents to realize their HR

15. Western heritage of modern HR (II)The preeminent roles of the state (c) • This Western idea influenced even non-Western HR development—STATE-LED protection of HR • Changed understanding of the place of individuals in international relations

16. Western heritage of modern HR (II)The preeminent roles of the state (d) • Juridical tendency of the state (i) • From religious/cultural/racial/ethnic • Through territorial • To juridical sense of the state sovereignty and the citizenship • Law-based definition of citizenship and HR protection for citizens • Law in both senses of natural law and positive law

17. Western heritage of modern HR (II)The preeminent roles of the state (d) • Juridical tendency of the state (ii) • Provision and protection of HR is mostly formalized into law/binding regulations through legislative/rule-making processes • Advocacy for HR by citizens usually aim at enactment of certain legislation • Preeminence of law, legal institutions, and lawyers in HR protection

18. Western heritage of modern HR (III) • Implications • Do Western elements of HR make it less universal? • Does the Western heritage make HR less appealing/applicable to the rest of the world?

19. 3 models of implementing HR (1)The Statist model • State-centered & only the state • HR as a matter of sovereign national jurisdiction • HR as a matter of purely domestic nature • Applying the norm of non-intervention • Resist international/foreign intervention • It’s an international system

20. 3 models of implementing HR (2)The Cosmopolitan model • Individuals & social groups as the legitimate international actors • The state is to fulfill HR as demanded by citizens, NGOs, and international advocacy groups • HR issues are not stopped at state borders • Advocate for international intervention • It’s a global/world society

21. 3 models of implementing HR (3)The Internationalist model • Transnational HR advocacy is permissible only to the extent that is authorized by international law, which are formulated by states • Emphasis on multilateral/bilateral negotiations and rule-based deliberation among states • It’s an international society

22. Realist skepticism of HR • Realism is couched on the belief of the self-interested or interest-based human nature • Realism suggests that states pursue the maximization of national interests, measured in terms of power and security • Realism understands HR as moral principles and argues against the idea of promoting HR by foreign policy

23. Have a great weekend! • Bob Dylan, The Times They are a-changin’ (1964)