Published Papers by Catherine Buerger
In: The State of Economic and Social Human Rights: A
Global Overview. Lanse Minkler (Ed.) London... more In: The State of Economic and Social Human Rights: A
Global Overview. Lanse Minkler (Ed.) London: Cambridge University Press.
This paper offers an introduction to the anthropology of human rights. Human rights articulate a ... more This paper offers an introduction to the anthropology of human rights. Human rights articulate a universal set of claims, but they are usually not universal in their application and their empirical effects are uncertain. Instead, the outcomes of struggles over human rights are often local, temporary, and limited. While doctrinally, human rights are orientated towards the institutions of the nation-state, their influence is often more social and normative than legal or legislative, in that they shift cultural attitudes and moral norms rather than lead to definite political or legal victories. The paper calls for the ethnographic study of the social life of rights, and socio-cultural anthropologists are well-placed to understand how the moral discourse of human rights overlaps with, but is not confined to, political institutions and the law. Anthropologists have also provided insights into how a political ideology forged in the crucible of the American and French revolutions has come to have such a significant impact on decolonization and post-colonial politics in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and how the conception of human rights has in turn been shaped by its global extension over the last half-century. Adopting a global perspective that integrates law and society, anthropologists provide a profound understanding of this universal language that announces that all persons possess inalienable rights because of their common humanity.
Keywords: anthropology of human rights, human rights, legal anthropology, the social life of rights
Human rights and international development organizations are increasingly promoting community par... more Human rights and international development organizations are increasingly promoting community participation as a critical component of successful programmes. Not all methods of participation are equal. Some might be misleading or downright harmful. But these practices remain widespread and for their proponents, full of emancipatory promise. This article joins the debate on community participation by casting critical attention on one of the most easily overlooked acts of community participation: the act of gathering people for a community meeting. Who gathers ‘community’? How do they understand their activities? What consequences does participation have for them? In an ethnography of human rights and development work in Ghana, we find that activists who mobilize local attendance engage in hidden labour that is time-consuming and sometimes socially costly, but they gain an opportunity to exert some power and strengthen their social networks. Practitioners should think more frankly about the practices that undergird community participation. ‘Local volunteering’ would perhaps be fairly integrated into the formal organizational structure as semi-skilled labour.
Syllabi by Catherine Buerger
Websites by Catherine Buerger
Online database of interdisciplinary human rights syllabi and lesson plans, managed by interdisci... more Online database of interdisciplinary human rights syllabi and lesson plans, managed by interdisciplinary human rights scholars
Papers by Catherine Buerger
This guide, a revised version of an earlier text (Benesch, 2013) defines Dangerous Speech, explai... more This guide, a revised version of an earlier text (Benesch, 2013) defines Dangerous Speech, explains how to determine which messages are indeed dangerous, and illustrates why the concept is useful for preventing violence. We also discuss how digital and social media allow Dangerous Speech to spread and threaten peace, and describe some promising methods for reducing Dangerous Speech – or its harmful effects on people.
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Published Papers by Catherine Buerger
Global Overview. Lanse Minkler (Ed.) London: Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: anthropology of human rights, human rights, legal anthropology, the social life of rights
Syllabi by Catherine Buerger
Websites by Catherine Buerger
Papers by Catherine Buerger
Global Overview. Lanse Minkler (Ed.) London: Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: anthropology of human rights, human rights, legal anthropology, the social life of rights