Human Rights and Political Power

Course content

The aim of this course is to discuss and examine a well-known paradox concerning the relationship between modern states and human rights norms. The paradox is that since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states legally complied to the norms of human rights on the one hand; yet on the other hand, the same states, under certain circumstances, cultivated political aversion from realizing human rights norms. The course will elaborate two-already-given responses to the paradox: liberal optimism and cynical realism. Through criticizing both of these responses, we will try to articulate the possibility of a third outlook to the above-mentioned tension between human rights and political power.