International Human Rights Law has been one of the most powerful legal and political instruments of our time. However, they have also faced criticism for their cultural bias imposed by the global north, their perceived irrelevance in the context of inequality, environmental degradation, as well as the challenges posed by armed conflict and other contemporary issues.

The course questions the main assumptions of normative international human rights law to better understand its limitations and possibilities across the world. It explores a diverse range of theoretical and methodological approaches to international law, such as Third World Approaches to International Law, Feminist, Marxist, and Realist scholarship, to examine current human rights-related challenges in public international law, including humanitarian intervention and international human rights law (such as international human rights courts adjudication, poverty, and violence).

The course provides a complementary perspective to standard international human rights law for students from various disciplines (such as law, international studies, philosophy, etc.) who are interested in gaining in-depth understanding of critical legal perspectives on human rights and its institutions, as well as analytical tools for addressing contemporary human rights issues.

Main contents

• Introduction: International Human Rights Law Today
• Third World Approaches to International Law and human rights
• Legal Marxism and human rights
• Realism and human rights
• Feminism and human rights
• Case analysis
  
  • Responsibility to protect
  • Economic and social rights
  • International Human Rights Courts case-law

• Futures of Human Rights?