SOAN 003D: First Year Seminar: International Human Rights/Local Culture

Fall 2008; Wednesdays 1:15 - 4:00

Professor Niklas Hultin; Kohlberg 247; Email: nhultin1; Phone: 610-690-5773
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:00 - 3:00 or by appointment

The global spread of human rights has raised a complex set of issues concerning how
human rights interact with local cultures, including: What are rights, and are they
culture specific? What happens when cultural and religious norms contradict notions of
universal human rights? Are some rights more important than other rights—can, for
example, political rights be ignored if it would help national security or socio-economic
development or are there situations when women’s rights should take a back seat to
religious rights? How are violence and the absence of rights experienced and justified?
This course is an introduction to international human rights from an anthropological
and sociological vantage point that stipulates that these questions need to be
addressed with the particularities of a given social situation firmly in mind. We will thus
examine these and other questions through specific human rights issues (e.g.
indigenous people’s rights, women’s rights) in different parts of the world, including
Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Readings are primarily drawn from
anthropology, but the course will also introduce students to the relevant legal
literature, conventions, and jurisprudence to see how human rights lawyers grapple
with cultural (and other) differences.
At the end of the semester, you should have a good grasp of the basics of
international human rights, an appreciation of what a social scientific approach to
human rights entails (as distinct from a legal approach, for example), an
understanding of the topical and geographical case studies of the course, and feel
comfortable addressing these issues verbally and in writing. We will accomplish these
goals through in-depth discussion of selected ethnographies and academic articles, a
nuanced reading of international human rights documents, and a variety of writing,
presentation, and group assignments.

Readings

The bulk of the course reading consists of ‘ethnographies.’ These are book-length
studies of a particular aspect of a given culture, sub-culture, organization, or social
process (the term ethnography can also be used to describe what an ‘ethnographer’
does, i.e. the kind of research he or she does). An ethnography can focus on just about
anything, from, say, kinship systems to political violence, religious “cults” to biotech
laboratories. The ethnographies chosen for this course all concern human rights or
political violence in some form and examine a variety of geographical contexts. They
are available for purchase in the bookstore, and copies are also on reserve in McCabe.
The books are:
Englund, H. 2006. Prisoners of Freedom: Human Rights and the African Poor.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Merry, S. E. 2006. Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International
Law into Local Justice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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 Skidmore, M. 2004. Karaoke Fascism: Burma and the Politics of Fear. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Speed, S. 2008. Rights in Rebellion: Indigenous Struggle and Human Rights in
Chiapas. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Tishkov, V. 2004. Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Wikan, U. 2001. Generous Betrayal: Politics of Culture in the New Europe. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
In addition to ethnographies, we will read shorter academic articles (by social
scientists and legal scholars), reports by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and
legal documents. Some of these will be distributed in class for discussion, and others
you will be expected to have read in advance. The latter readings are available on
Blackboard under Course Documents (listed alphabetically by the author’s last name).
Please also note that, in the Course Schedule below, I have included recommended
resources for some weeks. These resources provide more up-to-date information than
the ethnographies. Please do take a moment to look at these where available as doing
so will not only deepen your appreciation of the issues involved by also enrich our
classroom discussion.

Assignments and Logistics

Please read this section carefully. Most logistical questions you may have are
addressed below, but if anything is not clear please do not hesitate to ask me.

Class Attendance and Discussion Participation (18%): Because we meet only

once a week, steadfast attendance is absolutely crucial to the success of the seminar
and absences will be factored into the final grade. If you know at the beginning of the
semester that you have to be absent on certain dates (because of religious obligations
or participation in collegiate athletics, for example), talk to me about it in advance.
A key part of a seminar is class discussion. While I will lecture from time to time,
most of the time in the classroom will be spent discussing the relevant readings and
other material. It is therefore essential that you complete the readings in advance and
that you come ready to discuss them. I recommend that you take notes and think of
questions to address together with your classmates while you read (irrespective of
whether you present – see below – that week or not). At various times during the
semester, you will receive further instruction for in-class activities (group or solitary,
writing or speaking), and you are expected to participate in these as well.
Please note that participation also entails good citizenship. Even if, as is likely to
happen given the course’s subject matter, the discussion gets heated, we should
strive not to insult or interrupt each other and respect that all of us may have very
different opinions, personal attributes, and experiences. You are also expected to
contribute to the discussion, i.e. interact with and listen to your colleagues. If you find
participation in a discussion seminar tricky, please do not hesitate to talk to me.

Think Pieces (2x3%): These are brief (as short as a paragraph and no more than
one page double-spaced) pieces reacting to the readings for a given week. For each
piece, you should critically discuss an aspect of your choice of the readings. You could,

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for example, compare the method of inquiry of two articles for that week, you could
address the idea of culture used by a particular author, or maybe shortcomings in his
or her argument. You could also position the readings in the context of the course:
what is the point of the social scientific study of human rights as manifested in a
particular reading– is it to identify and fight social injustices or is it strictly an
intellectual exercise? The exact topic is less important than that you show a critical
engagement with a material, and that you use this engagement to ask provocative
questions.
You have to write two think pieces during the semester. You can choose the dates,
but you have to do so in advance (I will circulate a sign-up sheet). Note that December
3 is not an option. The think pieces will be distributed to all students in the class (if
you email your think piece to me a few minutes before class, I will make photocopies)
and use as launch pads for our discussion, moderated for that day by the think piece
author(s).
Please note that if you commit to writing a think piece for a given class meeting, all
of us depend on you doing so. For this reason, late think pieces – or last-minute
rescheduling of think pieces – will not be accepted. If you are unable to turn in your
think piece on time, it will count as a zero for purposes of your final grade. There will
be no exceptions to this rule, save for in truly extraordinary and unforeseen
circumstances.

Papers (4x19%): You will write four different papers for the course. The papers are
different kinds of academic tasks and are referred to as paper A, B, C, and D. There are
four set due dates in the course schedule – September 24, October 22, November 12,
December 3 – and you can choose which paper goes where. You could, for example,
write paper C on the first due date, followed by paper D, B, and A, or you could write
them in alphabetical order. Detailed rubrics for each assignment will be distributed
separately, but the following information should help you plan your work:
Paper A: This paper is an opportunity for you to explore a human rights-related
topic of your choice (maybe one that we have not had the opportunity to discuss in
class). You should pick two articles of thematic overlap from academic journals and
compare and evaluate their arguments. The articles can be from any journal, but one
of them must be an anthropological or sociological article (check with me). Please also
note that things like magazine articles, blog posts, or NGO reports are not appropriate
for this assignment. Among the questions you can ask yourself and answer in your
paper are: What do the articles argue? From what vantage point do they argue (an
anthropologist writing on children’s rights in Sierra Leone, for example, would write a
very different article than a law professor writing on the same topic)? What kinds of
sources do they use? Do they offer different prescriptions for alleviating a human
rights crisis? To find articles, you may consult the online sources listed under Law,
Sociology, and Anthropology on the Swarthmore Library homepage. We will also talk
about finding articles about human rights when we visit McCabe Library on September
10, and you are always welcome to talk to me or any of the reference librarians for
guidance.
Paper B: This paper is an exercise in synthesizing vast amounts of disparate
information. It should be an overview of a particular human right, such as “the right to
development” or “freedom of religion.” Imagine you are writing an encyclopedia entry

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on this right and describe to the reader what this right entails, when it began, what the
relevant international documents and organizations are, who are covered by the right
(e.g., how is a “minority” defined), in what parts of the world the right is the most
contested, and any ongoing developments in this right (i.e., if a new charter is in the
process of being drafted, or something similar). The key to this assignment is that it is
not intended to be exhaustive, but to offer a good starting point for somebody new to
the topic. The websites of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights
(http://www.ohchr.org/english/) or a major human rights organization such as Human
Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/) are useful starting points for this assignment.
Paper C: This paper is a creative exercise to get you to think of how human rights
abuse can be rationalized or defended. You are to write a dialogue between a) a
prosecutor, journalist, or human rights investigator and b) a person suspected of
human rights abuse, such as a military commander or an alleged human trafficker
(you can write this paper in a dialogue format, as if it were a screenplay). You can be
creative, but it important that you give both protagonists a ‘fair hearing.’ Give the
accused plausible counter-arguments and justifications for his or her actions that –
even if we might find them repugnant or invalid in the comfort of our collegiate lives –
would make sense in his or her situation. Have the investigator ask questions for
clarification, and (this is required) ask if the accused is aware of the relevant (as
defined by you) human rights provisions. The paper should also include sufficient
background information, who the protagonists are, what the alleged violation is, and
so on.
Paper D: Finally, you must pick one documentary film relevant to human rights and
write a review. The review should briefly tell the reader what the film is all about, how
it sheds light upon a human rights issue, and how it succeeds or fails in illuminating
different aspects of human rights (to get you started, think of the intentionality of the
film makers; most human rights documentaries are produced to convince viewers of
the ‘wrong-ness’ of the matter, whereas most social scientific works aim for nuance).
The easiest way to find videos is to do a search in Tripod for DVDs/Videos. Note that
you can inter-library loan videos if there is a particular one you want to review, but this
process is unpredictable and may take a while, so you want to plan well ahead!
All four papers are subject to the same basic requirements:
1. They should be a minimum of four double-spaced pages long, excluding
references and notes (see below).
2. They are due in hardcopy at the beginning of the class meeting. If you
cannot meet this deadline, I will subtract a third of a letter grade for every
eight hours (or part thereof) your paper is overdue. If you need more time to
complete the paper, please talk to me about it well in advance. Ex-post-facto
extensions will only be granted in extraordinary circumstance.
3. I expect your papers to conform to college-level standards of style and
grammar. If you are not sure of your writing, I recommend that you use of
the Writing Associate program (but do budget time accordingly – I will not
grant extensions on papers because of the unavailability of a WA), or, in a
pinch, ask a friend to proofread.
4. They must be conscientiously referenced. This means that whenever you
quote or cite somebody else’s text (whether online, in a book, a newspaper,

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 or what not), or get an idea from somewhere else, you must provide a
reference. Proper referencing is intrinsic to academic writing and paying
close attention to this at this stage in your academic career will only help
you down the road. A discussion of proper referencing procedure is available
in the paper guidelines produced by the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology (copies are available in the office in Kohlberg 232). Please note
that failing to reference properly may be plagiarism, which may result in
significant sanctions against you per the policies outlined in the College’s
Statement of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Code of Conduct (see
http://www.swarthmore.edu/cc_collegelife.xml).
5. While it is not required, I strongly recommend that you talk to me, via email
or phone, about your paper well before it is due. This will allow you to check
that your proposed topic fits the parameters of the assignment, that you are
using the right kind of sources, and so on. Every semester, at least one
student significantly misunderstands the parameters of these assignments
with a grade deduction as a result. Talking to me in advance will help you
avoid such a misunderstanding.

Communications: Please contact me with any problems that arise during the
semester or if you have any questions regarding the course or the subject-matter. I will
usually respond to emails within 24 hours. If you haven’t received a response or
acknowledgment within that timeframe, please send me a (polite) reminder. With most
questions, however, it might be best for us to discuss the matter face-to-face. While I
do have set office hours to meet with students, I am happy to schedule a meeting at a
different time. You are also welcome to stop by if you see my office door open.

Course Schedule

Section 1: Introduction

Sep. 3: Welcome (and a Quick Introduction to Human Rights and Anthropology)

Readings [distributed in class] :
Miner, H. 1958. Body Ritual among the Nacirema. American Anthropologist
58(3):503-507.
Morvai, K. 1998. "The Construction of the Other in the European Human Rights
Enterprise: A Narrative about Democracy, Human Rights, the Rule of Law
and My Neighbour Uncle Blaze," in Europe's Other: European Law between
Modernity and Postmodernity. Edited by P. Fitzpatrick and J. H. Bergeron, pp.
245-251. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

Sep. 10: Anthropology, Cultural Relativism, and Human Rights?

Readings:
Geertz, C. 1983. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology.
New York: Basic Books, pp. 167-234 [“Local Knowledge: Fact and Law in
Comparative Perspective,” focus on the first part and read the remainder if
you have time].

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 Zechenter, E. M. 1997 In the Name of Culture: Cultural Relativism and the Abuse
of the Individual. Journal of Anthropological Research 53(2):319-347.
Cowan, J. K., M.-B. Dembour, and R. A. Wilson. 2001. "Introduction," in Culture
and Rights: Anthropological Perspectives. Edited by J. K. Cowan, M.-B.
Dembour, and R. A. Wilson, pp. 1-26. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Recommended:
American Anthropological Association. 1947. Statement on Human Rights.
American Anthropologist 49:539.
American Anthropological Association. 1999. Declaration on Anthropology and
Human Rights, available online at
http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/humanrts.htm.
Bennett, J. W. 1949. Science and Human Rights: Reason and Action. American
Anthropologist 51:329-336 [this is a commentary on the first declaration and
gives you a good sense of the state of anthropological thinking at the time
when the United Nations human rights regime was born].
Brown, M. 2008. “Cultural Relativism 2.0.” Current Anthropology 49(3):363-383.

Section 2: Understanding (and Combating) Violence and Oppression

Sep. 17: War as an Ethnographic Subject: The Case of Chechnya

Readings:
Tishkov, V. Chechnya, pp. ix-163.
Recommended:
Nordstrom, C. 2000. Finding the Frontlines. Antropologiska Studier 66/67:15-33.

Sep. 24: War as a Human Rights Issue: Chechnya Continued

Assignment Due:
Paper #1
Readings:
Tishkov, V. Chechnya, pp. 164-232.
Anresch, W. 2005. “A Human Rights Law of Internal Armed Conflict: The
European Court of Human Rights in Chechnya.” European Journal of
International Law 16(4):741-767 [skim this article; do not worry too much
about legal nuances for now; we will discuss the technicalities in class as
needed].
Espiell, H. G. 2000. “Humanitarian Law and Human Rights,” in Human Rights:
Concepts and Standards. Edited by J. Symonides, pp. 345-359. Aldershot, UK:
Ashgate [as above, skim this reading].
Recommended Event:
At 7:30 this evening, there will be a public lecture by Jim von Geldern, an expert
on Russia and Chechnya, in Science Center 101. The talk, “Human Rights in War
and Peace: The Role and Process of Asylum ,” is not required but recommended.
There is also a possibility that Professor von Geldern will visit for part of our
class meeting.

Oct. 1: State of Emergency? Life in Burma, the “Disneyland for Dictators”

Readings:

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 Skidmore, M. Karaoke Fascism, pp. ix-146 [try to read further].
Recommended Resources:
Burma Campaign UK: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/
Human Rights Watch’s Burma page: http://hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=burma
Karen Human Rights Group: http://www.khrg.org/
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma [opposition]:
http://www.ncgub.net/
New Light of Myanmar [government]:
http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html
US Campaign for Burma: http://uscampaignforburma.org/

Oct. 8: How to Intervene in Burma – and would it be Justified?

Readings:
Skidmore, M. Karaoke Fascism, pp. 147-212.
Dale, J. G. 2007. “Transnational Conflict between Peasants and Corporations in
Burma: Human Rights and Discursive Ambivalence under the U.S. Alien Tort
Claims Act,” in The Practice of Human Rights: Tracking Law between the
Global and the Local. Edited by Mark Goodale and Sally Engle Merry, pp. 285-
319. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Silverstein, J. 1998. "The idea of freedom in Burma and the political thought of
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," in Asian freedoms: The idea of freedom in East and
Southeast Asia. Edited by D. Kelly and A. Reid, pp. 187-204. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Recommended:
Adams, V. 1998. “Suffering the Winds of Lhasa: Politicized Bodies, Human
Rights, Cultural Difference, and Humanism in Tibet.” Medical Anthropology
Quarterly 12(1):74-102.

Oct. 15: No class, Fall Break

Oct. 22: What Comes After Violence and Oppression? The South African Example
Assignment Due:
Paper #2
Readings:
Wilson, R. A. 2001. The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa:
Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State. New York: Cambridge University Press,
pp. 1-27, 97-187.
Recommended:
Borer, T. A. 2003. “A Taxonomy of Victims and Perpetrators: Human Rights and
Reconciliation in South Africa. Human Rights Quarterly 25:1088-116.
Fletcher, L. E. and H. M. Weinstein. 2002. “Violence and Social Repair:
Rethinking the Contribution of Justice to Reconciliation.” Human Rights
Quarterly 24:573-639.

Section 3: Human Rights and the Many Ways of Being Different

Oct. 29: Multiculturalism, Refugees, and Immigrants in the “New Europe”

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 Readings:
Wikan, U. Generous Betrayal, entire book.
Recommended:
Tuitt, P. 1999. "Rethinking the Refugee Concept," in Refugee Rights and
Realities: Evolving International Concepts and Regimes. Edited by F.
Nicholson and P. Twomey, pp. 106-118. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, available online
at: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm.

Nov. 5: Indigenous Peoples Rights

Readings:
Speed S., Rights in Rebellion, pp. 1-82
Bowen, J. R. 2000. “Should We Have a Universal Concept of ‘Indigenous Peoples’
Rights’?: Ethnicity and Essentialism in the Twenty-First Century.”
Anthropology Today 16(4):12-16
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People:
http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp [this is not a UN site but information compiled
by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Please take a few
moments to look at other things on their website that strikes your fancy].
Recommended:
Niezen, R. 2000. Recognizing Indigenism: Canadian Unity and the International
Movement of Indigenous Peoples. Comparative Studies in Society and
History 42:119-148.
Stavenhagen, R. 1996. "Indigenous Rights: Some Conceptual Problems," in
Constructing Democracy: Human Rights, Citizenship, and Society in Latin
America. Edited by E. Jelin and E. Hershberg, pp. 141-159. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.

Nov. 12: The Politics of Indigenity and Neoliberal Development

Assignment Due:
Paper #3
Readings:
Speed, S. Rights in Rebellion, pp. 83-184.
Recommended:
Ferguson, J. and A. Gupta. 2002. “Spatializing States: Toward an Ethnography of
Neoliberal Governmentality.” American Ethnologist 29(4):981-1002.

Section 4: How Human Rights are Made

Nov. 19: International Meetings and the ‘Translation’ of Rights

Readings:
Merry, S. E. Human Rights and Gender Violence, entire book.
Recommended:
Kennedy, D. 2004. The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International
Humanitarianism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 1-36 [“The
International Human Rights Movement: Part of the Problem?”].

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 Sikkink, K. 2002. "Transnational Advocacy Networks and the Social Construction
of Legal Rules," in Global Prescriptions: The Production, Exportation, and
Importation of a New Legal Orthodoxy. Edited by Y. Dezalay and B. G. Garth,
pp. 37-64. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Nov. 26: Human Rights on “the Ground:” Status and Elitism?

Assignment Due:
Paper #4
Readings:
Englund, H. Prisoners of Freedom, entire book.

Dec. 3: Conclusion: What about the Children?

Note:
Prior to this class, the group we will divide the class into two groups, Group A
and Group B. Each group will focus on one topic – child soldiers or child
prostitution – and be ready to give a brief summary presentation of the issue.
These presentations, and the contrast between the cases, will be the starting
point for our discussion this day.
Common Readings:
Kolosov, Y. 2000. "The Rights of the Child," in Human Rights: Concepts and
Standards. Edited by J. Symonides, pp. 259-275. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
United Nation’s Convention on the on the Rights of the Child:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm [also poke around at the website to
looks at some of the decisions, ratification data, etc.].
Group A Readings:
Peters, K., and P. Richards. 1998. 'Why We Fight': Voices of Youth Combatants in
Sierra Leone. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 68:183-210.
Rosen, D. M. 2007. Child Soldiers, International Humanitarian Law, and the
Globalization of Childhood. American Anthropologist 109:296-306.
Shepler, S. 2005. The Rites of the Child: Global Discourses of Youth and
Reintegrating Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone. Journal of Human Rights 4:197-
211.
Group B Readings:
Davidson, J. O. C. 2000. "Sex Tourism and Child Prostitution," in Tourism and
Sex: Culture, Commerce and Coercion, Tourism, Leisure and Recreation
Series. Edited by S. Clift and S. Carter, pp. 54-73. New York: Pinter.
Hoose, J., S. Clift, and S. Carter. 2000. "Combating Tourist Sexual Exploitation of
Children," in Tourism and Sex: Culture, Commerce and Coercion, Tourism,
Leisure and Recreation Series. Edited by S. Clift and S. Carter, pp. 74-90.
New York: Pinter.
Montgomery, H. 2001. "Imposing Rights? A Case Study of Child Prostitution in
Thailand," in Culture and Rights: Anthropological Perspectives. Edited by J.
Cowan, M.-B. Dembour, and R. A. Wilson, pp. 80-101. New York: Cambridge
University Press.

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