HRIR: Exam Past Papers & Essay Plans
(1) Introducing Human Rights
(1.1) Cultural Relativism
- Critically assess the claim that human rights norms should be developed and enforced in a
culturally specific manner. (2017)
- Yes: morality is a social construct that is culturally dependent
- Western individualism and emphasis on civil & political rights
- Non-Western communal values and emphasis on economic, social &
cultural rights
- E.g. Asian Values (Singapore), Islamic values, African Declaration of
Human Rights etc.
- Clear oversimplification though
- Yes: cultural imperialism and imposing Western values
- Int’l community and int’l institutions are overly dominated by the West, who
get to define values
- Feminist critiques
- Anti-Africa bias in ICC?
- No: Those advancing the exceptionalist claim do not genuinely & legitimately
represent those on whose behalf that claim is made
- Often flimsy disguise for totalitarian tendencies
- Islam & HRs scholars: much of Islamic fundamentalism do not align w/
Islamic texts / jurisprudence
- No: Religious freedom & tolerance not traditionally Western either
- Stoning in Bible; Harvard Law School not admitting women until 1950s;
colonialism & Section 377
- No: HRs is grounded in modern social, economic, & scientific developments
- Issue: implies countries whose HRs do not meet our standards are
‘backwards’ / ‘uncivilised’ → racist & Western-centric narrative
- Issue: does not explain why countries with similar levels of development
have vastly different conceptions & practice of HRs
- No: binaries of North/South or West/non-West obscures the contributions & agency
of states outside the Global North re: HRs (Sikkink 2015)
- History of HRs policies reveals: HRs policies have often been embraced by
the less powerful to try to restrain the more powerful
- Latin America drafted the first intergovernmental declaration of rights (the
“American Declaration”) 8 months before UDHR was passed in UNGA, 1948
- All the rights in the UDHR also appear in the American Declaration
- NGO & LatAm lobbying led to the inclusion of HRs language in UN Charter
- The language was not the language of Great Powers; adopted by
Great Powers only in response to pressures from smaller states &
civil society
- ‘The current human rights regime is a form of cultural imperialism that promotes the values
of Western states’. Discuss. (2006)
- Cultural relativism
- Anti-Africa bias in ICC
, (1.2) General
- ‘The Security Council is increasingly linking human rights violations with peace and
security’. Why? (2006)
- “The movement of global justice has been a struggle against sovereignty.” Do you agree?
(2016) (2008)
- What are the problems attached to the universal enforcement of human rights? (2007)
(2) Theoretical Foundations
(1.1) Role of HR
- Choose at least two different theoretical approaches and critically assess how they
conceptualize ‘human rights’. (2018)
- What role do human rights play in international relations? Answer with reference to
different theoretical approaches. (2016)
- How convincing are realism and liberalism in their explanations of the role human rights
play in international relations? Do alternative approaches provide more convincing
frameworks? (2014)
- Which theoretical approach or combination of approaches best explains the state of the
current human rights regime? (2011)
(1.2) Emergence of HR
- How can the emergence of a universal human rights regime be best explained? Discuss
with reference to at least two different theoretical approaches. (2016)
(1.3) Others/Feminism
- Critically assess the feminist critiques of the current human rights regime. (2013)
- How persuasive are criticisms of the current international human rights regime? Discuss
with reference to at least one theoretical approach. (2010)
(3) The Global Application of Human Rights
(3.1) UN
- How effective is the UN in protecting and enforcing human rights? (2014)
- Thesis: other than UNSC, UN bodies are mainly for reporting & monitoring, so have
limited powers (requires state cooperation)
- UN in general:
- Increasing promotion of idea that HRs is ‘universal’ and ‘indivisible’
- Universality: applies to all humans
- Indivisibility: to guarantee civil & political rights, we must ensure
economic, social & cultural rights (& vice versa)
- Rejection of cultural relativism
- Has indirect enforcement powers & monitoring mechanisms
- If a state has signed up to something, the UN can monitor it
- UN Human Rights Council
- Embodies universality & indivisibility principles
- Monitors, advises, & publicly reports - universal periodic review of all UN
members’ HRs records
- Addresses HR violations and makes recommendations on them
(1) Introducing Human Rights
(1.1) Cultural Relativism
- Critically assess the claim that human rights norms should be developed and enforced in a
culturally specific manner. (2017)
- Yes: morality is a social construct that is culturally dependent
- Western individualism and emphasis on civil & political rights
- Non-Western communal values and emphasis on economic, social &
cultural rights
- E.g. Asian Values (Singapore), Islamic values, African Declaration of
Human Rights etc.
- Clear oversimplification though
- Yes: cultural imperialism and imposing Western values
- Int’l community and int’l institutions are overly dominated by the West, who
get to define values
- Feminist critiques
- Anti-Africa bias in ICC?
- No: Those advancing the exceptionalist claim do not genuinely & legitimately
represent those on whose behalf that claim is made
- Often flimsy disguise for totalitarian tendencies
- Islam & HRs scholars: much of Islamic fundamentalism do not align w/
Islamic texts / jurisprudence
- No: Religious freedom & tolerance not traditionally Western either
- Stoning in Bible; Harvard Law School not admitting women until 1950s;
colonialism & Section 377
- No: HRs is grounded in modern social, economic, & scientific developments
- Issue: implies countries whose HRs do not meet our standards are
‘backwards’ / ‘uncivilised’ → racist & Western-centric narrative
- Issue: does not explain why countries with similar levels of development
have vastly different conceptions & practice of HRs
- No: binaries of North/South or West/non-West obscures the contributions & agency
of states outside the Global North re: HRs (Sikkink 2015)
- History of HRs policies reveals: HRs policies have often been embraced by
the less powerful to try to restrain the more powerful
- Latin America drafted the first intergovernmental declaration of rights (the
“American Declaration”) 8 months before UDHR was passed in UNGA, 1948
- All the rights in the UDHR also appear in the American Declaration
- NGO & LatAm lobbying led to the inclusion of HRs language in UN Charter
- The language was not the language of Great Powers; adopted by
Great Powers only in response to pressures from smaller states &
civil society
- ‘The current human rights regime is a form of cultural imperialism that promotes the values
of Western states’. Discuss. (2006)
- Cultural relativism
- Anti-Africa bias in ICC
, (1.2) General
- ‘The Security Council is increasingly linking human rights violations with peace and
security’. Why? (2006)
- “The movement of global justice has been a struggle against sovereignty.” Do you agree?
(2016) (2008)
- What are the problems attached to the universal enforcement of human rights? (2007)
(2) Theoretical Foundations
(1.1) Role of HR
- Choose at least two different theoretical approaches and critically assess how they
conceptualize ‘human rights’. (2018)
- What role do human rights play in international relations? Answer with reference to
different theoretical approaches. (2016)
- How convincing are realism and liberalism in their explanations of the role human rights
play in international relations? Do alternative approaches provide more convincing
frameworks? (2014)
- Which theoretical approach or combination of approaches best explains the state of the
current human rights regime? (2011)
(1.2) Emergence of HR
- How can the emergence of a universal human rights regime be best explained? Discuss
with reference to at least two different theoretical approaches. (2016)
(1.3) Others/Feminism
- Critically assess the feminist critiques of the current human rights regime. (2013)
- How persuasive are criticisms of the current international human rights regime? Discuss
with reference to at least one theoretical approach. (2010)
(3) The Global Application of Human Rights
(3.1) UN
- How effective is the UN in protecting and enforcing human rights? (2014)
- Thesis: other than UNSC, UN bodies are mainly for reporting & monitoring, so have
limited powers (requires state cooperation)
- UN in general:
- Increasing promotion of idea that HRs is ‘universal’ and ‘indivisible’
- Universality: applies to all humans
- Indivisibility: to guarantee civil & political rights, we must ensure
economic, social & cultural rights (& vice versa)
- Rejection of cultural relativism
- Has indirect enforcement powers & monitoring mechanisms
- If a state has signed up to something, the UN can monitor it
- UN Human Rights Council
- Embodies universality & indivisibility principles
- Monitors, advises, & publicly reports - universal periodic review of all UN
members’ HRs records
- Addresses HR violations and makes recommendations on them
