LFU:online

Students understand the classic and modern concepts of political theory. They recognize meta-theoretical premises of political theory by scientific contextualization of key concepts. They can link historic and theoretical perspectives and are because of their dealing with theories on citizenship and human rights, social movements and publics, justice, peace and democracy, migration and globalization, political subjectiveness and power of action, injustice and representation as well as state and government able to work on and explain processes of political significance.

Conceived as universal and egalitarian, human rights are understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply by virtue of being a human being. Classified and organized into civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights, several theoretical approaches have been advanced to explain how and why protection and promotion of human rights are intrinsic to processes of transnational justice and democracy as well as to identify the causes of human rights shortcomings. The doctrine of human rights has provoked considerable skepticism and debates, with feminist, postcolonial and queer theorists questioning the transformative and emancipatory potential of the human rights project. They outline how universalist claims of human rights and the rational subject, have justified political exclusions and even oppression in practice. This calls for new imaginings and cosmologies for rethinking the field of human rights theory and politics.

Close reading of texts, class presentations, class discussions

Class presentation, Term paper

Makau Mutua (2002): Human Rights. A Political and Cultural Critique, Philadelphia.

successful completion of compulsory module 1 to 4

Texts and class discussions will be in English, so English language proficiency is required