PSC 233 - Intellectuals and Politics

Course Units: 1

Following the aftermath of World War II, we have seen the emergence of innumerable international and nongovernmental organizations that are specifically devoted to the protection of human rights. And yet, despite all these developments, human rights abuses, in different guises, rage on all over the world, including the developed countries of the West. During the course of the term, rather than covering the usual terrain by focusing on the outrageous and blatant human rights abuses undertaken by dictatorial regimes, we will turn our gaze to our own world and critically engage with the human rights issues that plague Western democracies, especially since the beginning of the “global war on terror” following the 9/ 11 terror attacks. Given how central human rights are to the identity of the democratic West, it is particularly disconcerting to observe increasing number of human rights abuses in countries such as the United States, UK, and various members of the European Union. What can account for this unsettling fact? Are the ongoing human rights abuses a result of an implementation problem bringing to light the inadequacies of the current international human rights regime(s) or are they symptomatic of a deeper problem that goes to the heart of the notion of human rights itself? Do the unprecedented developments in human rights law announce the coming of a new and better world where all people, regardless of their race, gender, and citizenship status will benefit from legal protection or is the idea of expanding human rights to whole humanity a utopian dream that runs the risk of becoming an ideological tool used by the Western powers? In this political theory course, we will address these challenging, intriguing, and somewhat distressing questions through an interdisciplinary inquiry.