Rights and Activism in Modern China NANT3570
Spring 2012 on Mondays from 4:00-5:50 PM
The language of human rights has become increasingly common in China today. Amid the economic and social upheavals of the late socialist period, ordinary Chinese have turned to human rights as both a political strategy and a new way of understanding themselves and their relationship to the state.
We use studies of current and prominent human rights cases to contemplate the following questions: What is the relationship between the international human rights movement and domestic grassroots activism? In what kinds of situations is the language of rights useful, and how are individuals interpreting and pressing human rights claims? What is the role of the state in promoting or suppressing human rights? What impact do China’s burgeoning capitalist markets have on human rights?
We discuss the growth of grassroots groups and the expansion of civil society in China, exploring the impact of technology, international funding, and domestic law. The course draws on scholarly texts, publications by nongovernmental human rights organizations, and Web-based academic projects and blogs.