Hey Doug. What I meant is that I was interested in seeing folks dialogue on this issue. What I meant by the complexity of the concepts is this…"human rights" and associated "human rights movements" are pluralistic, with dizzying arrays of variation - such are not located solely (or not even largely) at the level of state "actors" nor solely (or not even largely) at the international organization of said state "actors" like the United Nations – thus to think about what exactly is being "co–opted" is at least as equally complex of a relationship. As such, I know that many folks on this list study many forms of "human rights," as articulated in many forms of "movements," by different communities, etc.
Dr. David L. Brunsma
Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology
Virginia Tech
560 McBryde Hall (0137)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
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Executive Officer, Southern Sociological Society
(http://www.southernsociologicalsociety.org/)
Founding Co-Editor of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
(http://www.asanet.org)
Co-Editor of Societies Without Borders: Human Rights and the Social Sciences
(http://societieswithoutborders.org/)
Past Chair, Section of Racial and Ethnic Minorities, American Sociological Association
(http://www2.asanet.org/sectionrem/)
Race and Ethnicity Section Editor, Sociology Compass
(http://www.blackwell-compass.com/subject/sociology/section_home?section=soco-race)
Treasurer, Sociologists Without Borders
(http://www.sociologistswithoutborders.org/)
Co-Editor of The Handbook of Sociology and Human Rights
(http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=298828)
(573) 355-0599 [cell]
"I may never prove what I know to be true, but I know that I still have to try." -Dream Theatre
From: Douglas Parker <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Sunday, April 7, 2013 4:05 AM
To: David Brunsma <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>, "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: U.S. Cooption of the Human Rights Movement Continues | Dissident Voice
David: I do not understand what you are referring to by "Both are complex concepts." There are clearly right-wing human rights advocates, e.g., Thomas Cushman, who argues that the Iraqi invasion by U.S. forces was a great humanitarian intervention, and those who are progressive human rights advocates who argue that the Israeli policies concerning the settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal and immoral. So where has the US successfully co-opted the human rights movement? By appointing liberals to run Amnesty International or other human rights organizations? It's not that the US would not try but too many of us would spot it and point it out. The CIA probably has a unit that is trying to co-opt those who are engaged in critiques of what is going on in the US and other countries insofar as they are failing to uphold civil, political and/or social and economic rights. But there is and has been for a long time a plausible, though I think mistaken, argument that human rights advocacy has been hijacked in order to justify interventions in Libya, Syria and now North Korea as well as other countries. But while NATO did intervene in Libya from offshore, it has not intervened very much in Syria and it has not yet intervened in North Korea although the UN Mandate from the 1950's with Russia boycotting the Security Council probably does allow it to do so. So we should have some guardians who watch for the co-option of
human rights movement(s) but who do not confound their suspicions of the west with those who are advancing arguments concerning human rights. We can continue discussing these issues and others, e.g., when the SSF listserve will reappear (when it was closed down, the SSF Council indicated it would be several weeks before it was reestablished and it has now been several months) at SSS in Atlanta. --Doug
________________________________
From: "Brunsma, David" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, April 5, 2013 2:25:52 PM
Subject: Re: U.S. Cooption of the Human Rights Movement Continues | Dissident Voice
I am curious about a discussion about this piece, because I do not think the US has "coopted" the "human rights movemnt". Both are complex concepts.
Dr. David L. Brunsma
Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology
Virginia Tech
560 McBryde Hall (0137)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Executive Officer, Southern Sociological Society
(http://www.southernsociologicalsociety.org/)
Founding Co-Editor of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
(http://www.asanet.org)
Co-Editor of Societies Without Borders: Human Rights and the Social Sciences
(http://societieswithoutborders.org/)
Past Chair, Section of Racial and Ethnic Minorities, American Sociological Association
(http://www2.asanet.org/sectionrem/)
Race and Ethnicity Section Editor, Sociology Compass
(http://www.blackwell-compass.com/subject/sociology/section_home?section=soco-race)
Treasurer, Sociologists Without Borders
(http://www.sociologistswithoutborders.org/)
Co-Editor of The Handbook of Sociology and Human Rights
(http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=298828)
(573) 355-0599 [cell]
"I may never prove what I know to be true, but I know that I still have to try." -Dream Theatre
From: Claudia Chaufan <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>>
Reply-To: Claudia Chaufan <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>>
Date: Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:27 AM
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]><mailto:[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>>
Subject: U.S. Cooption of the Human Rights Movement Continues | Dissident Voice
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/04/u-s-cooption-of-the-human-rights-movement-continues/
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