Social and Political Theories of Justice & Human Rights

La conception de la démocratie varie selon les  paradigmes concurrents internes à chaque école théorique et entre les disciplines qui s'essayent à en (re) construire  une définition. Dans cet article nous examinons la forme et les les enjeux théoriques du différend entre d'une part les approches formaliste/substantielle du droit et matérielle de la sociologie électorale et politique classiques et d’autre part les perspectives théoriques, philosophiques historiques, politiques, sociales ou culturelles contemporaines qui questionnent les premières. Et ce en partant de la définition lincolnienne de la démocratie comme "gouvernement du peuple par le peuple pour le peuple".

It is commonly held that political society is based on an agreement about justice, especially in terms of a guarantee of individual rights. Cicero suggests that we need to look elsewhere for the origin and strength of the social fabric, namely, the various forms of friendship. This paper is based on a presentation at ACTC 2017.

In this essay, I argue that Fichte's political philosophy, in response to the problem of social cooperation, defends a conception of political society as a system of mutual recognition. I examine his theory of right, recognition, property, contracts, and family right.

Ask yourself: What is violence, and how do we learn to think of it? What is war and why is it started? How can it be avoided? Is violence ever justified? How do we know when we are safe, or what insecurity is? What is conflict? Is it “natural” or “biological”? How can conflicts be transformed or resolved, and for whom? How do different actors—local to international—define and “make” peace? Is peace the absence of war, or is it the presence of justice and sustainability? How do we build and preserve it? What are the roots of terrorism and political violence, and what are the effective ways of countering them? What is the “war on terror,” and does it conform to traditional views of war? How does media treat war and different forms of violence? How does war end? What are the links between war and everyday practices? How do violence, war, and insecurity variously shape our collective and individual subjectivities, even in so-called “times of peace”?

This course centers on these open questions to develop a framework that will help us make sense of, and critically engage with, issues of conflict, violence, war, and peace. In history books and the news, violence and war seem to be pervasive aspects of the human experience. Medical and sociological research strongly suggests that its impacts are long-lasting and intergenerational. To understand it, we must therefore explore in-depth how it is experienced, interpreted, remembered, and reproduced by everyday people, as well as how it becomes institutionalized. Studying this also allows us to ask the broader question, "what are politics?" There is no politically neutral way to think of violence. Violence is political (even in how one defines it), and politics are marked by conflict, but are all politics violent? Exploring diverse approaches to violence, from across different contexts, will show how views about it are closely associated with distinct world views.

La astucia de separar la esfera pública de la privada, hurtando a esta última todo valor, empaña los orígenes de las teorías políticas más importantes de la actualidad. Tal es el caso de la teoría liberal de la justicia de Rawls. La teoría feminista ha interrogado y desplazado la frontera entre estos dos mundos advirtiendo de los peligros de no universalizar una ética del cuidado. La estrategia liberal presupone elementos no discutidos en el foro, como por ejemplo quiénes y a qué precio realizan en la práctica el amplio espectro de trabajos necesarios para asegurar el relevo generacional y el funcionamiento social, algunos arduos pero invisibles; todos de responsabilidad colectiva.
Este análisis pretende indagar en este olvido de la teoría liberal: el trabajo realizado sin remuneración en las familias por más mujeres que hombres, en particular los de atención a personas dependientes que no han llegado a ser ciudadanos libres e iguales fully cooperating. Para ello, se enmarca la teoría de la justicia rawlsiana en el proyecto moderno kantiano y se examinan las principales críticas feministas a Rawls en relación con su desconocimiento de esta pluralidad de tareas no remuneradas.

Chika Unigwe is a Nigeria-Belgian author who published Zwarte Messias, a biographical novel about Olaudah Equiano, and she is currently working on a biographical novel about Equiano's daughter, Joanna. In this interview, Unigwe provides an excellent way to understand the differences between the historical novel and the biographical novel.

During the past three decades, development has been perceived both as a goal itself and as a means towards achieving ‎certain goals. In many Third World countries, development has even become a form of ideology. To achieve it, numerous ‎theories and strategies have been presented. Many of these approaches have been experimented with in a practical ‎manner. In general, however, returns and benefits have been negligible. Although modernized sectors have appeared in ‎most Third World countries, along with social classes and lifestyles similar to those of the West, the majority of the ‎population's economic and social standard of living has deteriorated. Many basic human and P9litical rights have even ‎been stripped away in the name of achieving development. In many instances, development has become nothing more ‎than a slogan and a means for despotic regimes lo solidify their grip on their unfortunate populations.‎

Despite the provisions of international and domestic laws that no citizen shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth, the healthcare community in Nigeria inhibits the right of access of children living with disability and medical complexities to adequate and appropriate healthcare. The question whether discrimination and exclusion is a result of lack of knowledge of available laws or a deliberate suppression and denial of access of children with disabilities to their rights thus violating the law is examined. In addition, reduced funding and "priority" spending by governments and stakeholders impact on access to adequate healthcare by children with disabilities and how existing administrative and legal procedures can be enforced is reviewed. The objective of this paper is achieved if participants commit to build capacity to assure, prioritise and protect the right of access to adequate healthcare by children living with disabilities and medical complexities in Nigeria.

In the present article a comparative analysis of the evolution of the concept of citizenship is made, at the same time as it analyzes the extent to which work establishes an intimate connection with it, in the sense of enabling social inclusion, improving the level of social democracy. It is assumed that individuals not only wish to be members of the Society, but also want their recognition as members, in the desire to be respected as such. Thus, it is emphasized that by ensuring rights
and civil, political and social liberties, extensive for all, in formal and substantive equality, attackes the marginalization and exclusion of certain categories of citizens only formally considered, like the unemployed - restricted citizens. For this, in the article it’s done an incursion for the citizenship, like historical phenomenon, as originated in the classic city-states, above all, in Athenian; according Thomas Humprey Marshall; and, finally, by the Brazilian, revisited by José Murilo de Carvalho, using the deductive method and as a technical means of investigation, the monographic.

No presente artigo se faz uma análise comparativa da evolução do conceito de cidadania, ao tempo em que se analisa
em que medida o trabalho estabelece íntima ligação com ela, no sentido de viabilizador de inclusão social, aprimorando o
patamar de democracia social. Parte-se do princípio de que os indivíduos não só desejam serem membros da sociedade,
como também querem seu reconhecimento enquanto membros, no afã de serem respeitados enquanto tal. Assim,
ressalta-se que, através da garantia de direitos e liberdades civis, políticos e sociais, extensivos a todos, em igualdade
formal e substancial, combate-se a marginalização/exclusão de determinadas categorias de cidadãos apenas formalmente
considerados, a exemplo dos desempregados – cidadãos restritos. Para tanto, realiza-se uma incursão pela cidadania
como fenômeno histórico, tal qual originada nas cidades-Estado clássicas, sobretudo na ateniense, pela pensada por
Thomas Humprey Marshall, e, por fim, pela brasileira, revisitada por José Murilo de Carvalho, utilizando-se o método
dedutivo e, como meio técnico de investigação, o monográfico.

In this paper I introduce a (new) distinction to human rights theory, between two types of genuine obligations corresponding to human rights: a) obligations that require us to rule out specific considerations for treating people in a certain way, such as the obligation not to consider Jane's skin colour when deciding whether she should be permitted to enter a shop or the obligation not to take political expediency as a relevant consideration to whether political opponents should be silenced, and b) an obligation to give some weight to different interests, those interests people have in enjoying certain conditions and those of people who must carry burdens to create these conditions, when deciding what must be done for rights holders. For example, we must weigh the interest Jane has in seeing certain improved access to health care secured versus the interests of other members of Jane's society in not facing significantly-increasing tax burdens, or seeing reduced social opportunities for their ends, as these will impact on their abilities to pursue their own personal life projects. Both types of interest matter, so to resolve how much health provision Jane is entitled to have we need to know how to weigh them against each other-we need an index. These different types of obligations, with their basis in different forms of reasoning, cut across categories of human rights and can both exist for any one human right. Accepting the distinction also means accepting that we must pay attention to how a human right is given content in the form of obligations. It also rein -troduces conceptions of distributive justice as a necessary component in solving how conflicting interests should be weighed and providing an "index" for such weighing.

Trata-se, neste artigo, dos fundamentos teóricos da justiça distributiva de
John Rawls, considerando sua estruturação em “Uma Teoria da Justiça”,
publicado originalmente em 1971, revisando, ainda, as críticas neoliberais e comunitaristas a ela endereçadas. Para tanto, disserta-se, em sequência, sobre: o conceito de véu da ignorância; a interpretação dos princípios de justiça; a crítica ao utilitarismo; e a formulação política – e não metafísica– da teoria de justiça rawlsiana. Em seguida, aborda-se a crítica anarcoliberal de Robert Nozick, considerando os postulados da justiça em propriedade. Discute ainda a crítica comunitarista de Alasdair MacIntyre e Michael Walzer às formulações rawlsianas de distribuição de justiça. Por fim, introduz a noção de “igualdade complexa” de Walzer, que instrumentaliza o papel distributivo do Estado no tocante aos bens sociais, em oposição ao que sucede em regimes autoritários.

Religious Christians believe that the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins. Secular people who actively participate in, or remain silent about, morally reprehensible acts have to be satisfied with lesser beings. In the case of racial injustices, some of us try to wash our history away by calling as defence witnesses the iconic leaders of the oppressed, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and now, notably, Nelson Mandela. By misappropriating their names and even attributing self-held views to them, minor changes for the good are magnified and failures to effect any meaningful change are concealed through complex processes of displacement and collective denial. I want to consider here the case of ‘Mandela-wash’, which was used so commonly after the end of legal apartheid in South Africa and has found new adherents in Oxford in the debate concerning the legacies and benefactions of Cecil Rhodes.

Two widely endorsed moral principles-sufficiency and reciprocity-lie at the core of existing social protection systems. The tension between these two principles accounts for most political conflicts around the appropriate form of social protection and for the contemporary normative crisis of the welfare state. International human rights law is also ambiguous on this issue. As a result, the human right to a decent standard of living-maybe the most fundamental of all rights-is widely abused. This paper considers several ways of improving social protection in order to protect this fundamental right. It argues for the recognition of a right to a subsistence income, its unconditionality, its constitutionalization, and reviews several objections from a variety of perspectives.

"Success" in any ministry endeavour is fraught with challenges. Thus to be critically aware of the pitfalls and mixed motives is crucial -- as are the ingredients for any possible outcome and/or effort that could be a "successful". Three substantial case studies are presented and, with the help of social theologians (e.g. Bretherton), conclusions are proffered.

When thinking about children's entitlements, priority tends to be given to protecting their well-being achievements, while limiting their entitlement to exercise freedoms and agency. An assumption of "inability" is used as the grounding justification for limiting children's freedom and agency. Using the capability approach (CA) as a method to conceptualise what is owed to individuals, this article intends to show that the justifiability of restricting freedom to 'unable' individuals is not as straightforward as assumed. Understanding the role that abilities play in justifiably limiting freedom requires an assessment of what being "(un)able" means, and how this "inability" may translate into particular privileges or restrictions. The article, thus, intends to give an answer to the following questions: first, how should the concept of 'ability' be understood within the CA? And, second, how does ability bind our understanding of the legitimate restriction of freedom and agency? The article offers a response to the first question through an evolving and dynamic understanding of 'ability'. It claims, moreover, that the process through which abilities develop (the process of capability-formation) ought to be taken into account when assessing what is owed to an individual as a matter of justice.