Human Rights and the Contemporary International System

Objectives

To understand the importance of human rights in contemporary international system, developing among the students analytical and discursive competencies regarding the challenges and threats facing it.
To examine the contemporary international system and to understand the roles of its various actors and agents, through the analysis and commentary of documents, reports and specialised scientific bibliography.
To develop research and individual work, reflecting on the acquisition of oral and written discursive competencies and in the critical evaluation of the current role of human rights in contemporary world.

Program

The human dignity as a fundamental value. The generations of rights: main concepts, theoretical and historical contexts. Debates and contemporary perspectives on human rights.
The International Law of Human Rights. Meaning and relevance of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The protection of Human Rights in the international law (international and regional systems). The role of civil society in defense of Human Rights: Non-Governmental Organisations; media and social networks. Human rights, democracy and globalization.
International society and its progressive institutionalisation. The history and development of the contemporary international system: predominant features and main actors. The academic debate and the ‘shock of reality’: theories and key events. The challenges of international society regarding peace and security. The future of the international system.

Teaching Methodologies

The content outlined is organised in such a way as to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the historical context of the emergence and expansion of the contemporary international system, as well as to illustrate the importance of human rights in terms of international relations. Dealing with living material and almost daily developments, it is important to promote an understanding of theoretical foundations, but especially to promote a critical view of contemporary reality.
The goal is to maximise the meeting of different perspectives and theories, assuring the scientific and pedagogical conditions through which the students develop analytical and critical competencies. In a sequential manner, the objectives of the curricular unit lead to the fundamental structure that is intended to be transmitted and shared with the students: the careful analysis of the concepts and the documents that justify human rights and characterise the contemporary international system.

Bibliography

ARENDT, H., The Origins of Totalitarianism, New York, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1979.
ARENDT, H., Condition de l’homme moderne, Paris, Agora/Pocket, 1961.
BARRY, B., Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2001.
BEITZ, Ch., The Idea of Human Rights, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009.
BELL, D., East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia, New Jersey, Princeton Univ. Press, 2000.
BIELEFELDT, H., Filosofia dos Direitos Humanos, São Leopoldo, Ed. da Univ. de Vale do Rio dos Sinos, 2002.
BOBBIO, N., The Age of Rights, Cambridge, Blackwell, 1996.
BRYSK, A. (Ed.), Globalization and Human Rights, Berkeley/LA, Univ. of California Press, 2002.
BUCHANAN, A., The Heart of Human Rights, Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2013.
CORTINA, A., Ciudadanos del mundo: hacia una teoría de la ciudadania, Madrid, Alianza Ed., 1999.
COSTA, M.N. (Org.), Democracia, Direitos Humanos e Justiça Global, V.N. de Famalicão, Edições Húmus, 2013.
DONNELLY, J., Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, NY/London, Cornell Univ. Press, 2003.
DWORKIN, R., Taking Rights Seriously, Londres, Duckworth, 1978.
GADAMER, H.-G., Verdade e Método, Petrópolis, Ed. Vozes, 1998.
GEWIRTH, A., Human Rights: Essays on Justification and Applications, Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1982.
GOULD, C., Globalizing Democracy and Human Rights, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004.
GRIFFIN, J., On Human Rights, Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.
HAYDEN, P. (Ed.), The Philosophy of Human Rights, St. Paul MN, Paragon House, 2001.
HOLDER, C. e REIDY, D. (Eds.), Human Rights: the Hard Questions, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013.
ISHAY, M. (Ed.), The Human Rights Reader, New York, Routledge, 1997.
JULLIEN, F., De l’Universel, de l’Uniforme, du Commun et du Dialogue entre les Cultures, Paris, Fayard, 2008.
KYMLICKA, W., Politics in the Vernacular: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Citizenship, Oxford Univ. Press, 2001.
MARINA, J.A. e VÁLGOMA, M. de la, A Luta pela Dignidade. Teoria da Felicidade Política, Lisboa, Fim de Século, 2005.
MOYN, S., The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History, Harvard Univ. Press, 2010.
NUSSBAUM, M., Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Harvard Univ. Press, 2007.
PATRÃO NEVES, M.C. e TEIXEIRA, N.S. (Coords.), Ética Aplicada: Relações Internacionais, Lisboa, Ed. 70, 2018.
POGGE, T., World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2000.
RAWLS, J., The Law of Peoples, Harvard Univ. Press, 1999.
ROCHA, A. (Org.), Justiça e Direitos Humanos, Braga, Universidade do Minho, 2001.
ROCHA-CUNHA, S. da, MARTINS, M.A.B. e VASQUES, R.F. (Orgs.), Os Direitos Humanos por um Fio? Perspectivas Transdisciplinares em torno dos Direitos Humanos em Tempos Difíceis, V.N. de Famalicão, Autores e Ed. Húmus, 2019.
ROSAS, J. C. (Ed.), Novas Direcções na Filosofia dos Direitos Humanos, Braga, Centro de Estudos Humanísticos da Universidade do Minho / Edições Húmus, 2014.
SANDEL, M.J., A Tirania do Mérito. O que Aconteceu ao Bem Comum?, Lisboa, Ed. Presença, 2022.
SEN, A., Development as Freedom, NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
SINGER, P., A Vida Que Podemos Salvar. Agir Agora para Pôr Fim à Pobreza no Mundo, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2011.
TALBOTT, W., Which Rights Should be Universal?, Oxford Univ. Press, 2005.
TAYLOR, Ch., Multiculturalism, Examining the Politics of Recognition, Princeton Univ. Press, 1992.
Nota: serão indicadas outras referências bibliográficas ao longo do semestre, de acordo com as necessidades da lecionação.