Human Rights and Human Development

Faculty of Law

Human Rights and Human Development

Full course description

Human rights and human development analyzes the different efforts that have been made to re-conceptualize economic relations between developed and developing countries in terms of rights and obligations. Topics covered include: (1) the capabilities approach of Sen and Nussbaum as a theoretical framework for thinking about development; (2) the NIEO program sponsored by the Non Aligned Movement in the UN General Assembly; (3) the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals; (4) the exploration of abuses in development programs as well as exploitative economic practices such as “land grabbing” and modern forms of slavery; (5) the effort to quantify and measure progress in human rights through indicators, including the recent SERF index; (6) disability and development; and (7) the World Bank. This course is interdisciplinary in nature and explores the limited hard law and soft law that exists in the field of human development with the aid of extra-legal perspectives. It also provides students with opportunities to engage with the mechanics and difficulties of measuring human rights achievement.

Assessment methods
Final written exam (75%) and oral presentation with written memorandum (25%)

Course objectives

By the end of the course students should be able:

To understand the theoretical background underlying the linkage between human rights and development;
To critically understand the history of the notion of development, as it has changed from the NIEO program into the modern SDG paradigm;
To be able to evaluate complex fact patterns or policy programs from the perspective of human development;
To demonstrate their knowledge by presenting complex information to an audience;
To understand the tradeoffs that go into different empirical measures of human rights achievement, and to analyse/evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different proposals for indicators; and
To integrate existing legal knowledge and skills in a wider interdisciplinary conceptual framework.

Prerequisites

None

Recommended prior knowledge
A basic knowledge of human rights law and/or international economic law.

Human Rights and Human Development