ABSTRACT:This article is an exploration of cultural codes of humanitarianism and human rights in feature-length films. The aim of the article is to contribute to the study of mediated human rights, which has been very little developed in comparison with work on humanitarian media and culture. The article draws on close readings of films and interviews with filmmakers and curators of human rights film festivals. The analysis is organized into themes that are prominent in critiques of humanitarianism and existing work on human rights films: victims, temporality, scale, and bearing witness. While there can be no definitive list of the essential differences between humanitarianism and human rights, there are differences as well as commonalities in the cultural codes of human rights films and humanitarian media. It is important to be aware of how mediated human rights represent alternatives to the humanitarian imaginary dominant in the West.
{"title":"Beyond Suffering, Towards Justice? Human Rights Films and the Critique of Humanitarian Culture","authors":"K. Nash","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0046","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This article is an exploration of cultural codes of humanitarianism and human rights in feature-length films. The aim of the article is to contribute to the study of mediated human rights, which has been very little developed in comparison with work on humanitarian media and culture. The article draws on close readings of films and interviews with filmmakers and curators of human rights film festivals. The analysis is organized into themes that are prominent in critiques of humanitarianism and existing work on human rights films: victims, temporality, scale, and bearing witness. While there can be no definitive list of the essential differences between humanitarianism and human rights, there are differences as well as commonalities in the cultural codes of human rights films and humanitarian media. It is important to be aware of how mediated human rights represent alternatives to the humanitarian imaginary dominant in the West.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"784 - 805"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48996947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
against hope. As a last word, this book is more than about failure of civilian protection in Syria and prospects for improvements therein. Syria as a case study is a microcosm of mass violations of human rights elsewhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Northern Ethiopia, North Korea, and most recently in Ukraine. Read this book if you care about civilian suffering in the setting of contemporary warfare. You will not be disappointed.
{"title":"Narrating Human Rights in Africa by Eleni Coundouriotis (review)","authors":"Bonny Ibhawoh","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0035","url":null,"abstract":"against hope. As a last word, this book is more than about failure of civilian protection in Syria and prospects for improvements therein. Syria as a case study is a microcosm of mass violations of human rights elsewhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Northern Ethiopia, North Korea, and most recently in Ukraine. Read this book if you care about civilian suffering in the setting of contemporary warfare. You will not be disappointed.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"865 - 868"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42621228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has implied a deep reconfiguration of national economies and a significant increase in inequalities. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which considers itself above human rights, has been a central institutional vehicle in this change through its credits and conditionalities that regularly translate into violations of the human rights of debtor states’ populations. Neoliberalism entertains a hegemonic notion of human rights that proposes a vision of them based on the—alleged—defense of civil and political rights—that focuses on the individuals and distrust of the state—to the detriment of economic and social rights—where the relational aspect is essential, and the state assumes positive obligations. This has led to strong criticism of the ineffectiveness of human rights in producing real change in the world. This article discusses this minimalist and defeatist interpretation of human rights, highlighting their transformative potential in the fields of finance and economics. Human rights can function as a method to achieve, in fields of high complexity and abstraction, objectives that today enjoy broad consensus: reducing poverty, inequality, and climate change. This study shows that the marginalization of human rights that characterizes the IMF parallels the excessive exercise of its power in the world. Finally, some indications are provided regarding how these tensions were exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
{"title":"Not Even with a Pandemic: The IMF, Human Rights, and Rational Choices Under Power Relations","authors":"J. P. Bohoslavsky, Francisco J. Cantamutto","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0045","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has implied a deep reconfiguration of national economies and a significant increase in inequalities. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which considers itself above human rights, has been a central institutional vehicle in this change through its credits and conditionalities that regularly translate into violations of the human rights of debtor states’ populations. Neoliberalism entertains a hegemonic notion of human rights that proposes a vision of them based on the—alleged—defense of civil and political rights—that focuses on the individuals and distrust of the state—to the detriment of economic and social rights—where the relational aspect is essential, and the state assumes positive obligations. This has led to strong criticism of the ineffectiveness of human rights in producing real change in the world. This article discusses this minimalist and defeatist interpretation of human rights, highlighting their transformative potential in the fields of finance and economics. Human rights can function as a method to achieve, in fields of high complexity and abstraction, objectives that today enjoy broad consensus: reducing poverty, inequality, and climate change. This study shows that the marginalization of human rights that characterizes the IMF parallels the excessive exercise of its power in the world. Finally, some indications are provided regarding how these tensions were exacerbated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"759 - 783"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44339533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clamoring for Legal Protection: What the Great Books Teach Us About People Fleeing from Persecution by Robert F. Barsky (review)","authors":"A. Shuman","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0039","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"846 - 848"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45585603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mass atrocities are—unfortunately—a persistent tragedy in world politics. How to halt them and save human lives has been a pressing issue of scholarship and policy for a long time.1 The book under review sheds light on one such contemporary tragedy, namely lack of civilian protection in the ongoing Syrian War (2011 -) with particular reference to mass atrocities, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detentions. A humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions, the Syrian War features immense intensity of fighting and levels of brutality against civilians, who have been—continuously—targets of both state and non-state violence. Since the inception of this war, more than half a million Syrians have been killed, more than 5 million have fled the country, and more than 6 million others have been internally displaced. Millions more Syrians have been injured and have suffered violations at the hands of multiple fighting parties in this war. The surviving Syrians have experienced a catalogue of horrors (in addition to those mentioned above)—such as sieges, starvation, torture, the use of chemical weapons, and other grave offences to human dignity—which have occurred on a widespread and systematic basis.2 As this tragedy has unfolded the world has watched on and done little to help the needy. What counts for this shocking failure in an institutional sense, and can there be responses to this human tragedy in ways that make a positive difference? This is the main consideration of the book under review. Jeremy Sarkin is not oblivious of the UN responses being offered with the view of halting the Syrian War. He pays detailed attention to institutional responses at various levels, from the UN Security Council to the UN General Assembly, to the Human Rights Council, to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the Geneva talks, to the Astana process.3 His findings are grim. Although steps have been taken to end this war, they have been completely inadequate. Both architecturally and methodologically, the UN has been ineffective in all respects, with dire consequences for hundreds of thousands of lives lost and millions of Syrians suffering at home or being uprooted abroad. This dark failure stands in stark contrast to the rhetoric of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) which has penetrated scholarly and policy discourses since 2005, when the principle of R2P was adopted by the UN General Assem-
{"title":"The Conflict in Syria and the Failure of International Law to Protect People Globally: Mass Atrocities, Enforced Disappearance and Arbitrary Detentions by Jeremy Julian Sarkin (review)","authors":"Klejda Mulaj","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0036","url":null,"abstract":"Mass atrocities are—unfortunately—a persistent tragedy in world politics. How to halt them and save human lives has been a pressing issue of scholarship and policy for a long time.1 The book under review sheds light on one such contemporary tragedy, namely lack of civilian protection in the ongoing Syrian War (2011 -) with particular reference to mass atrocities, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detentions. A humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions, the Syrian War features immense intensity of fighting and levels of brutality against civilians, who have been—continuously—targets of both state and non-state violence. Since the inception of this war, more than half a million Syrians have been killed, more than 5 million have fled the country, and more than 6 million others have been internally displaced. Millions more Syrians have been injured and have suffered violations at the hands of multiple fighting parties in this war. The surviving Syrians have experienced a catalogue of horrors (in addition to those mentioned above)—such as sieges, starvation, torture, the use of chemical weapons, and other grave offences to human dignity—which have occurred on a widespread and systematic basis.2 As this tragedy has unfolded the world has watched on and done little to help the needy. What counts for this shocking failure in an institutional sense, and can there be responses to this human tragedy in ways that make a positive difference? This is the main consideration of the book under review. Jeremy Sarkin is not oblivious of the UN responses being offered with the view of halting the Syrian War. He pays detailed attention to institutional responses at various levels, from the UN Security Council to the UN General Assembly, to the Human Rights Council, to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the Geneva talks, to the Astana process.3 His findings are grim. Although steps have been taken to end this war, they have been completely inadequate. Both architecturally and methodologically, the UN has been ineffective in all respects, with dire consequences for hundreds of thousands of lives lost and millions of Syrians suffering at home or being uprooted abroad. This dark failure stands in stark contrast to the rhetoric of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) which has penetrated scholarly and policy discourses since 2005, when the principle of R2P was adopted by the UN General Assem-","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"861 - 865"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44973932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Across the world, governments and state-aligned actors increasingly target human rights defenders online using techniques such as surveillance, censorship, harassment, and incitement, which together have been termed “digital authoritarianism.” We currently know little about the concrete effects on human rights defenders of digital authoritarianism as researchers have focused primarily on hate speech targeting religious, national, and ethnic minority groups. This article analyzes the effects of digital authoritarianism in two countries with among the highest rates of killings of human rights defenders in the world; Colombia and Guatemala. Anti-human rights speech in these countries portrays defenders as Marxist terrorists who are anti-patriotic and corrupt criminals. Evidence for a direct causal link to offline violence and killing is limited, however, and this empirical study documents the non-lethal and conditioning effects of speech. Human rights defenders who are targeted online report negative psychological and health outcomes and identify a nexus between online harassment and the criminalization of human rights work. Many take protective measures, engage in self-censorship, abandon human rights work, and leave the country. To prevent these harms, social media companies must implement stronger human rights-protective measures in at-risk countries, including expediting urgent requests for physical protection, adopting context-specific content moderation policies, and publicly documenting state abuses. The article concludes by advocating for a new United Nations-sponsored Digital Code of Conduct that would require states to adopt transparent digital policies, refrain from inciting attacks, and cease illegally surveilling human rights defenders.
{"title":"Digital Authoritarianism and The Global Assault on Human Rights","authors":"R. Wilson","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0043","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Across the world, governments and state-aligned actors increasingly target human rights defenders online using techniques such as surveillance, censorship, harassment, and incitement, which together have been termed “digital authoritarianism.” We currently know little about the concrete effects on human rights defenders of digital authoritarianism as researchers have focused primarily on hate speech targeting religious, national, and ethnic minority groups. This article analyzes the effects of digital authoritarianism in two countries with among the highest rates of killings of human rights defenders in the world; Colombia and Guatemala. Anti-human rights speech in these countries portrays defenders as Marxist terrorists who are anti-patriotic and corrupt criminals. Evidence for a direct causal link to offline violence and killing is limited, however, and this empirical study documents the non-lethal and conditioning effects of speech. Human rights defenders who are targeted online report negative psychological and health outcomes and identify a nexus between online harassment and the criminalization of human rights work. Many take protective measures, engage in self-censorship, abandon human rights work, and leave the country. To prevent these harms, social media companies must implement stronger human rights-protective measures in at-risk countries, including expediting urgent requests for physical protection, adopting context-specific content moderation policies, and publicly documenting state abuses. The article concludes by advocating for a new United Nations-sponsored Digital Code of Conduct that would require states to adopt transparent digital policies, refrain from inciting attacks, and cease illegally surveilling human rights defenders.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"704 - 739"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43431836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Disabled Contract: Severe Intellectual Disability, Justice and Morality by Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry (review)","authors":"Matthew S. Smith, M. Stein","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0040","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"839 - 845"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46997698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:An abundance of research has sought to understand how people seek to restore justice in the face of injustices. However, there is little understanding of how people with refugee and migrant backgrounds respond to systemic injustice and how this may shape their understandings of justice. This study qualitatively explored the meaning of justice and the pathways to restore justice for Uyghur people resettled in Australia. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted and analyzed thematically. The results highlight that justice is understood as equal rights, truth, and freedom. Restoring justice included acknowledging injustices, right of return, safety, self-determination, and political intervention.
{"title":"Understanding and Restoring Justice: A Qualitative Study of Uyghurs in Australia","authors":"M. Alim, Clemence Due, Peter Strelan","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0028","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:An abundance of research has sought to understand how people seek to restore justice in the face of injustices. However, there is little understanding of how people with refugee and migrant backgrounds respond to systemic injustice and how this may shape their understandings of justice. This study qualitatively explored the meaning of justice and the pathways to restore justice for Uyghur people resettled in Australia. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted and analyzed thematically. The results highlight that justice is understood as equal rights, truth, and freedom. Restoring justice included acknowledging injustices, right of return, safety, self-determination, and political intervention.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"592 - 611"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45251134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:What countries are most dangerous for environmental defenders? In many countries around the world advocating on behalf of the environment can be deadly. We theorize that three main factors, which we term the triangle of vulnerability, put environmental defenders most at risk. Those factors are global demand for resources, marginalization of affected populations from the political process, and a culture of impunity where perpetrators of violence against defenders escape justice. Overall, we show that environmental defenders are at risk from violence, and, given the elements that drive this violence are unlikely to abate soon, they are also in need of protection.
{"title":"A Triangle of Vulnerability: Global Demand for Resources, Political Marginalization, and a Culture of Impunity as Causes of Environmental Defender Killings","authors":"Daniel Braaten","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0026","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:What countries are most dangerous for environmental defenders? In many countries around the world advocating on behalf of the environment can be deadly. We theorize that three main factors, which we term the triangle of vulnerability, put environmental defenders most at risk. Those factors are global demand for resources, marginalization of affected populations from the political process, and a culture of impunity where perpetrators of violence against defenders escape justice. Overall, we show that environmental defenders are at risk from violence, and, given the elements that drive this violence are unlikely to abate soon, they are also in need of protection.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"537 - 563"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43207139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ABSTRACT:Existing theoretical frameworks and data collection tools relating to religious freedom suffer from various blind spots, leaving many forms of vulnerability of religiously motivated individuals and communities unobserved. We develop a new approach to observing violations of freedom of religion, informed by human security and with attention to active religious behavior. In a case study of the interactions of actively practicing Christians with crime syndicates in Northeast Mexico, we show that threats at the subnational level may have nothing to do with the quality of national legislation, and that religious freedom may be threatened by non-state actors who need not be religiously motivated. Most importantly, by focusing on religious behavior rather than religious identity, we bring to light the risks people may run because they translate their religiosity into behavior that involuntarily or intentionally challenges local powerholders.
{"title":"Vulnerability and Active Religious Behavior: Christians and Crime Syndicates in Mexico","authors":"Dennis P. Petri, M. Glasius","doi":"10.1353/hrq.2022.0025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2022.0025","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:Existing theoretical frameworks and data collection tools relating to religious freedom suffer from various blind spots, leaving many forms of vulnerability of religiously motivated individuals and communities unobserved. We develop a new approach to observing violations of freedom of religion, informed by human security and with attention to active religious behavior. In a case study of the interactions of actively practicing Christians with crime syndicates in Northeast Mexico, we show that threats at the subnational level may have nothing to do with the quality of national legislation, and that religious freedom may be threatened by non-state actors who need not be religiously motivated. Most importantly, by focusing on religious behavior rather than religious identity, we bring to light the risks people may run because they translate their religiosity into behavior that involuntarily or intentionally challenges local powerholders.","PeriodicalId":47589,"journal":{"name":"Human Rights Quarterly","volume":"44 1","pages":"514 - 536"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43114773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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