The New School -- Spring 1999

Seminar: Democracy and Cultural Pluralism

T. R. Quigley

Course Description

The theme of this semester's seminar is "Culture, Democracy, and Human Rights". We'll begin by looking at the philosophical origins of the concept of universal rights as it emerged during the Enlightenment. What is a right? What makes a right universal? Who has the right to speak, to vote, to work, etc. and under what conditions? What justifies these rights? Do they derive from God, nature, or social convention?

Then we'll turn from the metaphysical and ontological questions about human nature and natural law to an examination of how human rights are applied and used in different cultures. What are the forces and interests that have shaped the discourse on human rights in specific cultural contexts and political struggles? How are human rights and laws related to transnational corporate behavior and globalization? Do corporations have rights? What role do rights play in particular struggles over control of economic and natural resources? How can one's commitment to human rights assist in progressive social transformation?

Format and Requirements

Our seminar will function primarily as a critical discussion group engaged in analyzing problems and possible solutions. Each week students will be asked to read carefully the assigned material, and prepare brief written and oral presentations to introduce the assigned readings and initiate class discussion.

A seminar paper is required on a subject within the scope of the course and selected in consultation with the instructor.

Required Texts

• The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History, Lynn Hunt (ed.), New York: St. Martin's Press (Bedford Books), 1996. [FRHR]
• On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. Walter Kaufmann, New York: Vintage, 1967. [GM]
• The Ethos of Pluralization, William E. Connolly, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. [EP]
• Perpetual Peace and Other Essays, Immanuel Kant, trans. Ted Humphrey, Indianapolis: Hacket, 1983. [PP]
• Course Packet [CP]

Study Guides

• The Academic Essay: An Overview
• What is an Argument?
• Analyzing a Text
• Critical Response
• Writing a Research Paper

Topics and Readings

The Contemporary Discourse on Human Rights

United Nations Documents:

• "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" [CP]
• "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" [CP]
• "International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights" [CP]
• "Declaration on the Right to Development" [CP]
• "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women" [CP]
• "Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action" [CP]
• "Globalization and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights" [CP]
• "The United Nations and Human Rights" [Supplement]
• "The Challenge of Human Rights and Cultural Diversity", Diana Ayton-Shenker [Supplement]

Cultural Pluralism and Human Rights

• "Female Genital Mutilation", Amnesty International [CP]
• "Searching for 'Voices': Feminism, Anthropology, and the Global Debate over Female Genital Operations", Christine J. Walley [CP]
• "Ban on Female Circumcision Backfires", David Hecht

State Power, Corporations, and Human Rights

• Chomsky, "The United States and the 'Challenge of Relativity'
• Chomsky on Strategies and Solutions
• Chomsky on Human Rights

Miscellaneous Items

Extending Human Rights to Great Apes:

• "Almost Human", Rachel Nowak, New Scientist, 13 February 1999
• "The Great Divide?", Editorial, New Scientist, 13 February 1999
• "When One Culture's Custom Is Another's Taboo", Barbara Crossette, NYTimes, 6 March 99

The Theoretical Discourse on Human Rights

Natural Law, Natural Rights, and Political Subjectivity: Background

• The Intellectual World of the Early Seventeenth Century
• Nature and Modern Subjectivity
• Natural Law
• Hugo Grotius
• Natural Rights: The Seventeenth Century Background
• Locke on Natural Law, Natural Rights, and Property

The Enlightenment and French Revolution

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen [CP]
• Hunt, The French Revolution and Human Rights [FRHR]
• "An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?", Immanuel Kant [PP]
• Social Atomism and the Old World Order

Modernity and the Subject of Rights

• On Liberty, John Stuart Mill [CP]

Notes on Mill, On Liberty

• On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche [GM]

Brief Biography of Nietzsche

Pluralism, Rights, and Postmodernity

• The Ethos of Pluralization, William E. Connolly [EP]

© T. R. Quigley

Revised 3 FEB 99