Human Rights & Wrongs - POL00061I
Module summary
This module explores the politics of promoting and protecting human rights in different political contexts around the world, both in long-established democracies and in the majority world/global South.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
This module explores the politics of promoting and protecting human rights in different political contexts around the world, both in long-established democracies, and in the majority world/global South. It provides an overview of different sites of human rights struggle – from party politics to the family – and situates these in the context of histories of oppression, colonialism, and racialisation. Drawing on cutting-edge research being carried out by members of the Politics department at York, you’ll start to develop the skills you need to compare different cases and critically assess the strategic choices different political actors are making. You’ll learn to assess these choices in the light of ongoing political, philosophical and ideological debates about the nature of human rights, freedom, dignity, and justice.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
· Demonstrate detailed knowledge about the political dimensions of specific human rights struggles in a variety of local and national contexts (PLO1);
· Identify and compare the strategies human rights advocates use in response to different contexts and political opportunities (PLO3);
· Critically assess concrete cases/examples of struggles for freedom, dignity, and justice, taking an intersectional approach informed by histories of oppression, colonialism, and racialisation (PLO4).
Module content
Likely structure to include:
1 Intro
2 Histories of human rights and wrongs
3 Subjects of human rights and wrongs
4 Forum and strategies: law and politics
5 Class, labour and welfare
6 Love, care and the family
7 Political parties and human rights
8 Policing, surveillance and detention
9 Memory, justice and reparations
10 Struggles, NGOS and social movements
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s feedback and guidance hours.
Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 25 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor’s regular feedback and guidance hours.
Indicative reading
.