Religion and Human Rights

Religion & Human Rights

RLG388H5-W

Professor Kurt Anders Richardson

UTM Mondays 12-2 pm NE 139 Winter 2008

1. General Course Information

1.1 Course Details

Course Description: Public embrace and defense of human rights have become an indispensible mark of legitimacy for democratic practice and democratization. Human Rights achieved stable public definition in the 20th century and religious perspectives were often directly associated with these formulations. As religions develop in conjunction with their own changing contexts, human rights have their exponents and opponents in a variety of cultural contexts. This course will explore the interface between religions and human rights outside and inside the communities of democratic politics and discourse.

1.2 Course Introduction

Following WWII there was a “revolution” in human rights theory, practice, and institution building. Drawing upon centuries of political theory individuals are to be seen as having ‘inalienable rights’, not just as members of states. Human beings individually are seen as having equal with rights and that cannot be overridden by state rights to sovereignty.

The role of religions in defining the human individual, the rule of law, the capacity of individuals to learn wisdom and to practice self-governance, to contribute to the peaceful co-existence of different cultures within a single state and within the world, the obligations of individuals to one another to protect life and to promote happiness all contribute to the principles of human rights, even in their secular expressions.

This course will then pursue a number of questions such as humanitarian intervention, international criminal justice, Western foreign policy, immigration, and economic rights.

1.3 Course Staff

Instructor:  Kurt Anders Richardson     Email: kurt.richardson@utoronto.ca

Office hours: 11-12 am Mondays

2. Aims, Objectives & Graduate Attributes

2.1 Course Aims

The...