How do human rights victories get won?
July 7, 2020 6:44 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for objective, factual analyses of how human rights battles ultimately get won. In a perfect world, I'd like to read a meta-analysis (probably a book) that assesses a large number of human rights victories and tries to parcel out responsibility for how each one came to pass. Like, to what extent could success be attributed to spontaneous on-the-ground protest versus external/international shaming versus consumer-led boycotts versus sanctions versus leadership by a single charismatic individual versus dogged work and planning by people advocating on behalf of themselves. That kind of thing.
I know that what I'm looking is super-unlikely to exist, because the question is basically unanswerable. It would be impossible to separate out all the factors that contributed to any particular win and figure out which mattered most. But if you can point me towards anything that aims to even partly or imperfectly answer my question, I'd really appreciate it.
I know that what I'm looking is super-unlikely to exist, because the question is basically unanswerable. It would be impossible to separate out all the factors that contributed to any particular win and figure out which mattered most. But if you can point me towards anything that aims to even partly or imperfectly answer my question, I'd really appreciate it.
This is a whole field of study in political science. The approach you are looking for probably doesn't exist because its nearly impossible to do. Human rights victories are overdetermined, meaning that when they occur its driven by many factors, all of which interplay and determine the outcome. Basically you'll have a better job looking at studies that examine specific factors and see how/when they help improve human rights. Mobilizing for Human Rights is a good place to start.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:06 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:06 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is not exactly what you asked for, but the book King Leopold's Ghost has a major theme of analyzing the campaign to raise awareness about atrocities in the Belgian Congo as the first modern global human rights movement.
posted by thelonius at 7:43 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 7:43 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think you might like Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities, which covers a wide range of activist movements and successes.
posted by stellaluna at 8:22 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by stellaluna at 8:22 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
One classic historical study that springs to mind is The Making of The English Working Class: X by EP Thompson, but I second what others mention above about external factors. As an example here, the population in Europe was so diminished by the Black Plague that working class people could demand more for their labor.
posted by effluvia at 9:33 AM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 9:33 AM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
This book, Human Rights in Canada, examines when in the 1970s Canadian Human rights moved from grevances against specific people/institutions to the idea that human rights are inherent, leading the the formation of the Charter in 1982. Canadian human rights protections and reality are much further along than the US, so it is a good comparison of how things we take for granted here are still contested in the US.
posted by saucysault at 11:34 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by saucysault at 11:34 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
The Swarthmore Global Nonviolent Action Database is probably the closest thing that matches what you're looking for, since it offers numerous case studies browsable by methods and a surprising amount of metadata.
I think it's worth parsing out the many expressions of human rights. The tactics used to achieve LGBTQ marriage equality victories versus labor organizing in factories have been radically different. So therefore any kind of comparative analysis of effective strategies has to start from recognizing that the path to achieving victory sometimes goes straight through legal reform, but sometimes it does not.
Some of the writers who tackle the larger meta-analysis of non-violent direct action include Gene Sharp and Erica Chenoweth.
Finally, if you're open to a specific case study, I'd recommend Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby. It's a biography of Ella Baker, but it's also a larger description of how the various tendencies of the US Civil Rights movement (charismatic leadership vs rank and file organizing, electoral reforms versus economic self-sufficiency, etc etc) existed alongside and in tension with one another.
posted by mostly vowels at 11:57 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think it's worth parsing out the many expressions of human rights. The tactics used to achieve LGBTQ marriage equality victories versus labor organizing in factories have been radically different. So therefore any kind of comparative analysis of effective strategies has to start from recognizing that the path to achieving victory sometimes goes straight through legal reform, but sometimes it does not.
Some of the writers who tackle the larger meta-analysis of non-violent direct action include Gene Sharp and Erica Chenoweth.
Finally, if you're open to a specific case study, I'd recommend Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby. It's a biography of Ella Baker, but it's also a larger description of how the various tendencies of the US Civil Rights movement (charismatic leadership vs rank and file organizing, electoral reforms versus economic self-sufficiency, etc etc) existed alongside and in tension with one another.
posted by mostly vowels at 11:57 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yes, there is a lot of academic political science research examining this. Some of the most influential researchers in this area include Margaret Keck, Kathryn Sikkink, Thomas Risse, and Stephen C. Ropp. Their focus tends to be on the intersection of international norms and domestic political changes towards acceptance of human rights.
In the book, Activists Beyond Borders, Keck and Sikkink examine the ways in which NGOs and other civil society actors can work collaboratively across national borders to effect change in a non-rights respecting country. They introduce a "boomerang pattern" showing how domestic actors in a non-rights respecting country attempt to internationalize their struggle, which in turn may induce foreign actors/states to pressure their home state for change. Several case studies are examined.
In the book, The Power of Human Rights, edited by Risse, Ropp and Sikkink, the editors introduce a "Spiral Model" of human rights change, which shows in greater detail the intersection of norms and interests, domestic and international actors. Again, many case studies are examined, including cases of success and failure.
More recently, Risse, Ropp and Sikkink edited The Persistent Power of Human Rights, which updates their views.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:05 PM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
In the book, Activists Beyond Borders, Keck and Sikkink examine the ways in which NGOs and other civil society actors can work collaboratively across national borders to effect change in a non-rights respecting country. They introduce a "boomerang pattern" showing how domestic actors in a non-rights respecting country attempt to internationalize their struggle, which in turn may induce foreign actors/states to pressure their home state for change. Several case studies are examined.
In the book, The Power of Human Rights, edited by Risse, Ropp and Sikkink, the editors introduce a "Spiral Model" of human rights change, which shows in greater detail the intersection of norms and interests, domestic and international actors. Again, many case studies are examined, including cases of success and failure.
More recently, Risse, Ropp and Sikkink edited The Persistent Power of Human Rights, which updates their views.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 12:05 PM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: These are all incredible answers, I knew I would get good recommendations here. I'm not marking this resolved because I would welcome more, but this is seriously great and exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you all so much!
posted by Susan PG at 5:21 AM on July 8, 2020
posted by Susan PG at 5:21 AM on July 8, 2020
Another issue that fascinates me are the social conflicts around birth control. Technological changes have changed issues and attitudes around these issues dramatically. For example, lots of protest and legislation around abortion clinics make it all over the news, but most pregnancies are prevented and probably terminated nowadays by pharmaceuticals. This would allow a lot of people who don't care about or oppose the issue paradoxically taking advantage of the option when convenient for them.
posted by effluvia at 11:44 AM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 11:44 AM on July 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by sallybrown at 6:59 AM on July 7, 2020 [3 favorites]