Lovely, Mark.

We can be concrete about this. The human rights researcher who 
investigates how to expand the food supply (such as in the Horn of 
Africa, where there is now a food crisis) is guided by a paradigm, just 
as the Monsanto researcher is guided by a paradigm --- I'd say making 
huge profits on the backs of farmers. True, there are ethical and 
philosophical questions in the sociology of human rights that require 
more elaborate theorizing but for the most part we "can have our tacos 
and eat them too" (let's forget the cake). And the assumptions we make 
are virtuous and solid - e.g., everyone has the right to food.

Its persuading the American public about our assumptions that I think is 
the hard part.

On 7/8/2011 11:42 AM, MARK VINCENT FREZZO wrote:
> In response to Judith's most recent post:
>
> It seems to me that the list has been used more for announcements (ASA items, calls for papers, sources on human rights, conferences, special events, etc.) than for substantive discussion. Perhaps we ought to have more conversations on issues pertaining to human rights. But I have not noticed an exaggerated emphasis on activism over scholarship. That said, I share Judith's belief that activism and scholarship are closely connected--especially in the area of human rights. Doubtless, the members of the Human Rights Section come from numerous different political perspectives. Such pluralism reflects the vibrancy of the nascent field. Nevertheless, I suspect that the vast majority of the members believe that the academic field known as the "sociology of human rights" presupposes a normative judgment--an immanent critique of how the world actually is and a vision of how the world "ought" to be. In other words, it seems likely that most members believe that human rights norms should be reinterpreted, reinvented, debated, implemented, and enforced (whether at the global, national, or local level). Is this a reasonable assumption? If so, then the question shifts to how we conceptualize the relationship between activism and scholarship? How much of a gap or "hiatus" should there be between the two dimensions? On the one hand, it seems appropriate to acknowledge the normative thrust of the sociology of human rights. On the other hand, it seems useful to maintain a measure of social scientific rigor. Hence the question arises: How shall we go about having it both ways? This question bears on the critique of positivism (as manifested in the idea that social scientific research should be "value neutral") and the concomitant quest for an engaged yet rigorous social science.
>
> Mark Frezzo, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Mississippi http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/soc_anth/SOC/Faculty/frezzo.html
> Secretary-Treasurer, Human Rights Section, American Sociological Association http://www.asanet.org/sections/humanrights.cfm
> Vice President of Public Relations, Sociologists without Borders http://www.sociologistswithoutborders.org/
> Co-Editor, Societies Without Borders http://societieswithoutborders.org/
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Human Rights Announcement [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Judith Blau [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 9:53 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: a question about the Section
>
> Hello all,
>
> Someone sent in an excellent comment suggesting there is a tension
> between activism and scholarly discussions about human rights, and the
> list does not lend itself to scholarly discussions. There is only one
> (global) web site that I know of where there are ongoing democratic,
> scholarly discussions about human rights, and that is:
> http://www.ssfthinktank.org/
> It has over 1700 members, and it is free.
>
> There are many excellent sites and resources but they are not interactive.
> http://www.hrusa.org/
> http://www.hrea.org/
> http://www.choike.org/
> http://www.pambazuka.org/
> http://www.nesri.org/about
> http://www.cesr.org/index.php
> http://www.socialwatch.org/
>
> You are welcome to suggest others.
>
> It is personally hard for me to divorce scholarship from advocacy, and I
> apologize if I have bored you with accounts of what we are doing at the
> Human Rights Center. Pedagogically, it has been a huge success because
> it links my idealistic students with the "trampled-on" classes, and I
> wanted to give others of you courage to start similar NGOs. I will be
> more disciplined in the future.:-)
>
> Judith
> http://humanrightscities.org/