European Civil Society and Human Rights Advocacy

European Civil Society and Human Rights Advocacy
Author: Markus Thiel
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0812249364

Examining the interaction between hundreds of civil society organizations and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, Markus Thiel explores the role and impact of transnational civil society in EU human rights advocacy through a political sociology perspective and reflects critically on the legitimacy of EU human rights norms.

Indonesian Civil Society and Human Rights Advocacy in ASEAN

Indonesian Civil Society and Human Rights Advocacy in ASEAN
Author: Randy W. Nandyatama
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-08-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789811630958

This book focuses on how Indonesian civil society organisations interact with ASEAN to shape human rights institutionalisation in the region. Using Bourdieu-inspired constructivist IR as an analytical lens, the book argues that there are pre-reflexive norms that dominate the field of interaction in the region that shape the way civil society organisations operate. This has resulted in the diverging advocacy practices, thus complicating human rights institutionalisation process in ASEAN.

Beyond Networks - Interlocutory Coalitions, the European and Global Legal Orders

Beyond Networks - Interlocutory Coalitions, the European and Global Legal Orders
Author: Gianluca Sgueo
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2016-04-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 331928875X

This book explores the activism promoted by organised networks of civil society actors in opening up possibilities for more democratic supranational governance. It examines the positive and negative impact that such networks of civil society actors – named “interlocutory coalitions” – may have on the convergence of principles of administrative governance across the European legal system and other supranational legal systems. The book takes two main controversial aspects into account: the first relates to the convergence between administrative rules pertaining to different supranational regulatory systems. Traditionally, the spread of methods of administrative governance has been depicted primarily against the background of the interactions between the domestic and the supranational arena, both from a top-down and bottom-up perspective. However, the exploration of interactions occurring at the supranational level between legal regimes is still not grounded on adequate empirical evidence. The second controversial aspect considered in this book consists of the role of civil society actors operating at the supranational level. In its discussion of the first aspect, the book focuses on the relations between the European administrative law and the administrative principles of law pertaining to other supranational regulatory regimes and regulators, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the Council of Europe. The examination of the second aspect involves the exploration of the still little examined, but crucial, role of civil society organised networks in shaping global administrative law. These “interlocutory coalitions” include NGOs, think tanks, foundations, universities, and occasionally activists with no formal connections to civil society organisations. The book describes such interlocutory coalitions as drivers of harmonized principles of participatory democracy at the European and global levels. However, interlocutory coalitions show a number of tensions (e.g. the governability of coalitions, the competition among them) that may hamper the impact they have on the reconfiguration of individuals’ rights, entitlements and responsibilities in the global arena.

Civil Society and International Governance

Civil Society and International Governance
Author: David Armstrong
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2010-11-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136888934

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. Structures and processes occurring within and between states are no longer the only – or even the most important - determinants of those political, economic and social developments and dynamics that shape the modern world. Many issues, including the environment, health, crime, drugs, migration and terrorism, can no longer be contained within national boundaries. As a result, it is not always possible to identify the loci for authority and legitimacy, and the role of governments has been called into question. Civil Society anf International Governance critically analyses the increasing impact of nongovernmental organisations and civil society on global and regional governance. Written from the standpoint of advocates of civil society and addressing the role of civil society in relation to the UN, the IMF, the G8 and the WTO, this volume assess the role of various non-state actors from three perspectives: theoretical aspects, civil society interaction with the European Union and civil society and regional governance outside Europe, specifically Africa, East Asia and the Middle East. It demonstrates that civil society’s role has been more complex than one defined in terms, essentially, of resistance and includes actual participation in governance as well as multi-facetted contributions to legitimising and democratising global and regional governance. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, international relations, civil society, sociology, European politics and global governance.

Minority Rights Advocacy in the EU

Minority Rights Advocacy in the EU
Author: Zsófia Farkas
Publisher:
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2015
Genre: Human rights advocacy
ISBN:

"Over recent years, the European Union (EU) has become the most influential player in the Eastern Partnership countries (EaP). It is both a prominent development actor and a relevant political force in the region. For EaP countries' minorities this is a particularly hopeful process; with some EaP countries successfully signing Association Agreements with the EU, this relationship provides both the carrot and the stick for the states to put their international commitments into practice and effectively improve the situation of their minorities. In the course of Minority Rights Group International's (MRG's) work with partner minority and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the need was articulated for the publication of a guide to the EU for minorities. This was explained by the lack of a minority-specific tool for approaching the EU, and the fact that both general and NGO-specific knowledge on the EU is lacking among NGO practitioners as the EU still remains a distant and complex entity. In response to this need, this publication, Minority Rights Advocacy in the EU: A Guide for NGOs in the Eastern Partnership Countries was conceived, with the aim of empowering minority and human rights activists from EaP countries to advocate successfully in the EU for the effective inclusion of minority issues in their country, and the protection and promotion of minority rights in the region"--Publisher's web site.

Critical Perspectives on the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Critical Perspectives on the Security and Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Author: Karen Bennett
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2018-04-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1134828756

Human rights defenders – who by peaceful means advocate, mobilise and often put their lives at risk to defend the most fundamental freedoms of their fellow citizens – are key agents of change in their own societies and make a significant contribution to the international community's efforts to support democracy and human rights. Defenders often face serious threats and can experience harm by state and non-state actors. Since the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998, there has been considerable effort to recognise and protect the right of individuals, groups and communities to promote and protect their own rights and the rights of others. Over time, a multi-level, multi-actor international protection regime for the rights of human rights defenders has emerged, which is based on existing rights derived from the international human rights regime. The authors in this book reflect on the positive developments that have emerged over time to strengthen the protection of defenders, as well as the debates, tensions and contestations in such practices. This collection provides a critical appraisal of the construction, function, ethical boundaries, and evolution of this protection regime, as well as its multi-scalar social and political effects. In particular, the authors consider the effectiveness of particular international and regional protection mechanisms for the protection of defenders, and examine the relationship between repression, activism, and tactics for managing risks in the face of danger. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights.

Transnational Activism in the UN and the EU

Transnational Activism in the UN and the EU
Author: Jutta Joachim
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008-11-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134063873

Comparing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United Nations and the European Union across a range of different issue areas, this volume examines how the choice of venue and institution affects the strategies of NGOs. Despite significant differences with respect to their scope, membership as well as their institutional rules, the authors find that the UN and the EU have surprisingly similar effects on civil society organizations and regulate access in such a way that it significantly constrains the agency of NGOs. Highlights include: A comprehensive outline of the volume’s main research questions, situated within the existing literature on the topic Eight case studies of NGO involvement in the UN and the EU across a range of different areas, including human rights, the environment, socio-economic and security issues A theoretically grounded summary of case study findings, challenging the findings of previous studies regarding the power of NGOs A discussion of the finding’s implications for the broader literature, as well as for studies relating to the EU and the UN in particular Transnational Activism in the UN and the EU will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, European Studies, and Global Politics. Jutta Joachim is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Hannover, Germany. Birgit Locher is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

Advocating for Refugees in the European Union

Advocating for Refugees in the European Union
Author: Melissa Schnyder
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2020-05-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1793600252

The crisis of forced displacement is compounded by the politicization of asylum and refugee protection, which have become polarizing issues in many countries in Europe and in the United States. It has animated efforts by pro-refugee civil society groups to engage in advocacy efforts that respond to the securitization of the issue, reframe it as a human rights and humanitarian issue, and bring about policies that are favorable to refugee protection. The contrasting points of view surrounding refugee and asylum policy reveal a fundamental normative difference in what is considered the most appropriate standard of behavior to guide actions and policies in the wake of the European refugee crisis. This normative difference, and the contestation that it entails, represents the starting point for this study of specific strategies of norm-based change. The study focuses on civil society organizations (CSOs) and the deliberate ways they incorporate and use norms in framing and responding to the issue of refugee protection. It seeks to understand and explain how and why pro-refugee advocacy groups choose to use specific norm-based strategies of advocacy in their effort to shift public opinion on the issues of asylum and refugee protection and ultimately bring about policy change.

Contesting Human Rights

Contesting Human Rights
Author: Alison Brysk
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 1788972864

Illustrated with case studies from across the globe, Contesting Human Rights provides an innovative approach to human rights, and examines the barriers and changing pathways to the full realisation of these rights. Presenting a thorough proposal for the reframing of human rights, the volume suggests that new opportunities at, and below, the state level, and creative pathways of global governance can help reconstruct human rights in the face of modern challenges.