INTLSTD 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Hugo Grotius, Lynn Hunt, Law French
20 Nov 2016
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Inventing Human Rights
● Magna Carta (1215): everyone, including the King, is subject to the law
○ Right to justice and a fair trial, everyone follows the law of the land
○ Created after King John was a horrible, selfish King
● Renaissance Europe (late 1500’s)
○ Created by Hugo Grotius
○ Wrote about natural rights, not contingent upon laws so are universal
○ Decreased religious conservatism and feudal authoritarianism
● American Revolution (1776)
○ Virginia Declaration of Rights: statement of human rights
○ Legitimacy of a government rests on its ability to guarantee rights under the law
● French Revolution (1789)
○ Declaration of the Rights of Man: all citizens have rights, not just citizens
○ Montesquieu, Rousseau
● Cultural Context written by Lynn Hunt
○ Views of the body changed - less public urination, rudeness
○ Novels created empathy by putting you in the character’s shoes (1st person)
■ Gave people who were not like the character the experience
○ People increasing capable of moral autonomy
○ Movement to abolish legal torture - public humiliation used to educate the
community what not to do
● UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
○ Aftermath of WWII, UN Charter specified a commission be created
○ Collectively authored - many different personalities and views coming together
○ 30 basic human rights
○ Contribution
■ Inspirational, motivated people
■ Raised the bar of what people believe they can achieve
■ Written in a language that could be understood by all
● Most translated document in history
■ Beneficiary-oriented
■ A declaration, non-binding treaty, governments can decide whether they
uphold it or not
● International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966)
○ Not many communist countries interested in this (Cold War)
■ This is why they are separate from the Covenant below
● International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966)
○ AKA the International Bill of Rights
○ Some communist countries interested in this, they wanted to maximize the
amount of rights in the countries
● Human RIghts Treaty Ratification - US notorious for not signing on to many treaties
Basic Activities
● Promotion: talking about human rights, spreading the word
● Implementation: the steps states put to prevent violations
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Magna carta (1215): everyone, including the king, is subject to the law. Right to justice and a fair trial, everyone follows the law of the land. Created after king john was a horrible, selfish king. Wrote about natural rights, not contingent upon laws so are universal. Virginia declaration of rights: statement of human rights. Legitimacy of a government rests on its ability to guarantee rights under the law. Declaration of the rights of man: all citizens have rights, not just citizens. Views of the body changed - less public urination, rudeness. Novels created empathy by putting you in the character"s shoes (1st person) Gave people who were not like the character the experience. Movement to abolish legal torture - public humiliation used to educate the community what not to do. Aftermath of wwii, un charter specified a commission be created. Collectively authored - many different personalities and views coming together. Raised the bar of what people believe they can achieve.
