Human rights face new challenges worldwide, especially in developing countries. These challenges are due to a vastly changed framework of international cooperation that emphasizes the role of markets over the role of governments. Although governments are still ultimately responsible for protecting human rights, shrinking budgets and foreign debt service obligations limit their policy choices. Meanwhile, the need to attract private sector investments often place them in a competitive race with each other. These combined forces leave many governments little operating space, creating tough choices between development priorities and human rights obligations.
The need for private sector investments also brings new, non-state actors to the table. Most notably, transnational corporations (TNCs) have become key actors for development, since their investments create wealth and provide jobs and technology. TNCs are often in a better negotiating position than a host country regarding the terms of investment. Consequently, pressure is growing to either hold TNCs accountable for human rights violations committed within their sphere of influence or to encourage them to play a more active role in promoting human rights. At the same time, non-governmental organizations are exploding in numbers in developing countries and expanding their mandates to include issues of economic and social rights and the right to development.
Governments, aid agencies, TNCs and NGOs are looking to find common ground in their development activities, which will inevitably bring change to the economic and social structures of societies. Early development initiatives after WWII took for granted the desirability of western-style economic and social development. A closer look at the actors directly affected by development policies has taught us to be more cautious about this assumption. Development strategies have achieved mixed results, with vulnerable groups in developing countries at times suffering rather than benefitting.
Human rights can provide a framework for shaping development policies. How can the observance of human rights criteria in planning, implementing and evaluating development projects and policies will contribute to their effectiveness and sustainability? The class will examine development policy choices and their impact by juxtaposing the interests and points-of-view of the various stakeholders involved in designing and implementing development policies.
The course is intended for graduate students focusing on human rights and/or development studies. The course will be co-taught by Judy Gearhart and Rainer Braun, drawing from their hands-on experience with the human rights dimension of development policies. This is a three-credit class that will meet on Wednesdays starting January 23. Class participation at every session is stongly encouraged.
The course will begin with a general overview of how human rights and development activities are interrelated. The following course segment will familiarize students with the perspectives and agendas of stakeholders in the human rights and development field, such as the international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and the business community. This will enable students to argue various stakeholder points-of-view for the final course segment, where we will examine three current controversial topics in development and human rights in a case-study approach. The theoretical background of the issues at stake will be discussed during one class and students will be assigned to develop a brief position paper for one of the actors involved in the case (i.e. the local government, donor organizations, NGOs or the business sector). Students will be asked to argue their position in role play scenarios during the subsequent class.