'The 'human' as referent object? Humanitarianism as securitization' is an interesting piece written by Scott Watson of the University of Victoria in Canada's political science department and is primarily a sociological piece versus what could have been, as in, looking at the issues of securitization through a more International Relations focused view. Watson is clear from the outset in what he wants to achieve in this article; he wants to contend that humanitarianism has the power to legitimise many extreme measures and identifies that the problem with humanitarianism is that it's ambiguity and manipulability are understood in the best possible way, by viewing the issue as a form of securitization. He identifies that securitizing discourses …show more content…
In the introduction Watson gives us brief summations of what securitization and humanitarianism were; further along in the piece we are introduced to a paragraph which discusses the influence of the Copenhagen school and that primary types of discourse that emerged from their theorisation of security; discussing how the school's sectoral approach captures how many political elites have the capacity to securitize a widening range of objects that could be deemed as referent and details how humanitarianism can function as a form of securitizing dialogue. Watson also discerns between humanitarianism as security versus societal and state security, in that humanitarianism, in it's most recent form, human security – is distinct from the aforementioned typed of security as they primarily around the concept of securing identity and securing the concept of sovereignty – human security's main focus is that in which it securitzes human life and human dignity over the interests of state and society and due to the usage by academics, humanitarian organisations and states has now lead to humanitarianism becoming a securitzing discourse that is loosely organised around the general concept of protecting and preserving human
In “On the American Indians” Vitoria argues that there are few situations that justify a country to use humanitarian intervention. Humanitarian intervention is defined as military force, publicly stated to end the violation of human rights, against another state. Vitoria discredits the justification of humanitarian intervention in every case, unless you are intervening for an ally or a friend. In this paper, I will argue that his view is more plausible than it may at first appear.
Pillay, Navi. "HUMAN RIGHTS HIGH COMMISSIONER SAYS RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT OFFERS OPPORTUNITY TO PREPARE FUTURE RESPONSE TO SITUATIONS UNITED NATIONS WAS CREATED TO PREVENT." United Nations. It's Your World. Department of Public Information, 22 Jul 2009. Web. 14 Jan 2014. .
There have been many humanitarians that strive to help countries suffering with human right abuses. People think that the help from IGOs and NGOs will be enough to stop human rights violations. However, it hasn’t been effective. Every day, more and more human rights violations happen. The problem is escalating. People, including children, are still being forced to work to death, innocent civilians are still suffering the consequences of war, and families are struggling to stay firm together. Despite the efforts from the people, IGOs, and NGOs, In the year 2100, human rights abuse will not end.
The overall thesis that Thomson presents in “A Defence of Abortion”, is that abortion is permissible no matter the personhood status of the fetus. Their argument addresses various aspects of the issue: the rights of the fetus, the person pregnant with the fetus, how those rights interact with each other, third parties and moral obligation. They claim that the rights of a fetus are not any more important than the rights of the person pregnant. However, they also address cases where there is a sense of moral obligation not to have an abortion. Their discussion about third party participation can be used for other types of third party participation.
Barnett, Michael, and Thomas G. Weiss. Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2008.
Solomon, Mark. "The Transhumanist Dream." Foreign Policy (Jan. 2005): 4-4. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 2 Nov. 2008 .
In this essay I will research and provide a timeline of developments to human rights, i will explain the underlying principles of the human rights approach and the importance of adopting human rights to care. After the Second World War ended in the mid 1940’s there became a serious realisation to the importance of human rights. This realisation got the United Nations to establish the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration shows the first ever international agreement on the primary principles of human rights. There is a total of thirty basic human rights within the Universal Declaration and these rights apply to every single person in the world. An example of one of the rights everyone has is ‘the
“Human rights are not worthy of the name if they do not protect the people we don’t like as those we do”, said Trevor Phillips, a British writer, broadcaster and former politician. Since the day of human civilization and human rights are found. No one can argue against the idea that God created us equal, but this idea have been well understood and known after the appearance of many associations that fight for human rights as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that showed up in 1948. Human rights are those rights that every person, without exceptions, is born with. They are the most important human basic needs because no one can live a decent appropriate life without having those rights as a human. In fact, these rights
Hayden, Patrick. "Utilitarism. Philosophy of Human Rights. Paragon House, 2001. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <https://courses.ryerson.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-2707097-dt-content-rid-2806873_2/courses/phl400_f12_01/Mill%20-%20What%20Utilitarianism%20Is.pdf>
Just War and Human Rights. Philosophy and Public Affairs 9 (2):160-81. Mill, J. S., Bentham, J., & Ryan, A. (1987) The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Utilitarianism and other essays.
There is such a thing as universality of human rights that is different from cultural relativism, humanity comes before culture and traditions. People are humans first and belong to cultures second (Collaway, Harrelson-Stephens, 2007 p.109), this universality needs to take priority over any cultural views, and any state sovereignty over its residing citizens.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine is an emerging principle, developed after catastrophes such as the Rwandan genocide to ensure such a large-scale tragedy would never happen again. It presents the idea that sovereignty is not a right, and that states should allow international intervention during acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. Under the R2P, the international community has the right to defend other nations from these tragedies; however, many nations will not be obliged to be bound by an agreement, due to opposing and conflicting views and objectives. This has been demonstrated in various instances when nations are in disagreement with the planned course of action and abstained as a result. The doctrine serves as a pathway for the world’s leading powers to invade another state’s sovereignty, which could divide the members of the Security Council. Furthermore, if enacted regularly, the R2P would cause more harm than good, leading to destruction and exploitation Due to this, not all of the international community are in disagreement and thereby not obliged to act. Many states will not consider acting when a tragedy occurs, due to distrust and ongoing suspicions with these plans. This ultimately devalues the authenticity and objective of the R2P. Firstly, my paper will outline the definitions of the R2P doctrine. Secondly, the effectiveness of the R2P and its relationship with different UN members, followed by case studies. Lastly, short analysis will conclude the paper.
Magno, A., (2001) Human Rights in Times of Conflict: Humanitarian Intervention . Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, 2 (5). [online] Available from: [Accessed 2 March 2011]
Human Rights Watch’s selective and biased application of the human rights norms enshrined in the UN Declaration not only undermines its credibility, it also promotes injustice.
Parr, Sakiko Fukuda and Messineo, Carol. (2012, January). Human Security: A Critical Review of the Literature. Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) , 1-19.