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Instructors: Marie-Therese Montana
Event type:
Practical course/lab
Displayed in timetable as:
96-2.02
Hours per week:
1
Credits:
2,0
Language of instruction:
German/English
Min. | Max. participants:
6 | 20
Waiting list:
Waiting list quota: 20%
More information:
This course is open to all students of the Master's programme "Peace and Security Studies" (regardless of whether they are enrolled in the one-year or two-year version).
The course is also open to students of other degree programmes. The prerequisite for participation in the course is attendance at the first session. In case of non-attendance, the place will be forfeited and will be made available for latecomers.
Preliminary meeting on 20.10.2022
Comments/contents:
‘Human rights law is too broad! Human rights are multiplying left and right! It doesn’t mean anything anymore!’ -- ‘No, what we are doing is not enough! We need to go from the mere minimum to a life actually worth living! Existing human rights law doesn’t do the idea of human rights any justice!’
How can we understand and perhaps settle such arguments? How can we reflect on and criticize existing human rights law? This is one of the main questions the philosophy of human rights is concerned with. Nevertheless, many philosophical approaches to human rights have come under close scrutiny and have been heavily criticized. Are the foundations of human rights crumbling under the charges of Western ideals and imperialism? I think there is one strong contender left! The capabilities approach may offer a promising route to the defense of human rights after all. But can the capabilities approach “deliver,” as it were? This is the question we will be concerned with.
This is a class for everyone! It is about enthusiasm for as well as skepticism of human rights. No prior knowledge of philosophy is required! We are all about curiosity, reflection, love for engaged discussion and perhaps heated debate.
What is the Capabilities Approach? It was put forth by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum is an established approach to conceptualizing human development and has been a vital guideline for the UN and many other organizations as an alternative to traditional economic policy focused on GDP over the past decades. Both, Sen’s and Nussbaum’s versions, serve not only as theoretical paradigms but also as policy frameworks that guide the UN and nation states.
More recently, the capability approach has been acknowledged as an important entry point for defending the validity of a broad class of human rights concerns. The advantage of a capability-based understanding of human rights is that it provides us with a framework not only for elucidating the scope of human rights and for thinking about the grounds of human rights but centrally for understanding what it means to secure human rights. With it, we can realistically capture and measure the freedoms and opportunities that are within a person’s reach. In short, the approach may be able to ground human rights, tell us how to turn them into public policy, and direct us to what it takes to realize them. Yay! (Or not?)
In this course we will familiarize ourselves with the capabilities approach with a focus on Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. We will discuss their advantages in conceptualizing human rights, and if time permits,Arjun Sengupta’s notion of a human rights-based development paradigm. In a second step, we will discuss how the approaches stand up to various criticisms, such as the post-colonial critique, the paternalism critique, and opposition from other human rights traditions.
I look forward to lively and engaging discussion! Everyone is welcome!!!
Learning objectives:
At the end of the course, you will have achieved a foundational understanding of the philosophical debate on the foundations of human rights and the important capability approach. This is highly useful knowledge because the capability approach is widely used by the UN and other international organizations. You will be familiar with the core concepts and the terminology used in the debate. You will be able to develop and defend your own critical stance towards human rights and the capability approach and you will be able to critique others' positions. You are highly encouraged to use current presentation software (not ppt) and should you choose to to so, you will be able to create state-of-the-art video presentations for this and future projects!
Didactic concept:
We will draw the scope of the topics according to the number of participants in the class. My teaching method combines several state-of-the-art approaches, such as cognitive apprenticeship, socratic dialogue, and learning trough teaching. But, you shouldn't be worried about this. The important thing is that this course invites you to engage and reflect on important issues of Human Rights and support you in forming your own unique opinion on the topic and equip you with the tools to actually voice your opinion in way that will be taken seriously. You will be assisted in your reading of specific articles or book excerpts on a topic your choice - ideally in groups
of two to three and in designing your presentation. I will pay specific attention to an even distribution of the workload
within the teams. You or your team will need to give a short 15-20-minute presentation on your topic to kick off class
discussion and lead break-out sessions as needed. This will be complemented with a lecture segment. Each session will display a heavy emphasis on informed class discussion, forming and conveying one’s own opinion and critiquing others’ views on these issues.
Literature:
Introductions to and entry points into our course topic:
Vizard, Polly (2021): The Capability Approach and Human Rights. In: Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti, Siddiqur Osmani und Mozaffar Quizilbash (Hg.): The Cambridge Handbook of the Capability Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, S. 624–642.
Nussbaum, Martha (1997): Capabilities and Human Rights. In: Fordham Law Review 66 (2), S. 273–300.
Nussbaum, Martha (2002): Capabilities and Human Rights. In: P. De Greiff und C. Cronin (Hg.): Global Justice and Transnational Politics. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, S. 117–149.
Sen, Amartya (2005): Human Rights and Capabilities. In: Journal of Human Development 6 (2), S. 151–166.
Sen, Amartya (2004): Elements of a Theory of Human Rights. In: Philosophy and Public Affairs 32 (4), S. 315–356.
Additional examination information:
You will need to be willing to work through readings and create a state-of-the-art presentation in order to kick-off class discussion.
Also, the class has a heavy focus on principled discussion - you will need to apply the readings in our discussions on human rights and the capapbility approach.
Should you need special accommodations, have specific concerns, child care or work obligations that conflict with our schedule, please contact me! I am happy to work it out with you! You can reach me at mth.montana@gmx.de Again: Everyone is welcome! I look forward to getting to know you!
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