Anthropology E-1660
Spring 2015
Anthropology and Human Rights
Instructor: Theodore Macdonald
Social Studies
William James Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
tmacdon@fas.harvard.edu >
Time: Wed 7:40-9:40 pm
Room: William James 105
Teaching Assistant:
TBD
Description
Anthropology and Human Rights combines a theoretical and legal introduction to human
rights with examples of ethnographic methods and analyses of contemporary case studies.
The course’s aim is pragmatic, asking what’s going on and what can be done about it. In
some cases the approach is simple and straightforward: perpetrators must simply stop
their rights violations and be held accountable. In an increasing number of cases,
however, the practice of human rights requires ethnographic analysis, sensitive
negotiation, and compromise more than strict application of formal national and
international “rules.”
The course begins with a historical, theoretical, and institutional introduction to human
rights concepts and debates. Then the course contextualizes broad principles and
violations—i.e., "puts faces" on issues such as genocide, ethnic conflict, minority rights,
cultural relativism, and corporate social responsibility. The case studies – beginning with
the tragedies of Rwanda and Bosnia and then moving to cases drawn from the instructor’s
practitioner work in Latin America – focus largely on ethnic groups and national
minorities (particularly indigenous peoples), intrastate conflict, and land/natural resource
disputes. The course also reviews current citizenship claims and related participatory
processes (consultation, negotiation, non-violence, dialogue, and other forms of
discursive/deliberative politics) in Latin America, where proactive movements now stand
out. The final section of the course considers minority/immigrant debates through the
lens of Muslim headscarves in French schools. In addition, over the course of the
semester, we will follow –through print and internet news stories- one or more human
rights case as it evolves in “real time.” We will interpret the case(s) –legally and
ethnographically—in the final class and during the final exam. The course, in brief,
demonstrates the need to frame human rights practice within formal structures --- i.e.,
national and international law-- while also illustrating how current practice also requires
social science research, ethnographic methods, and pragmatic attitudes..
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Readings
The required books have been ordered at the Coop. The readings are also on reserve in
the Grossman Library (Sever Hall), with the exception of papers available from the web
(marked [W] in the syllabus). The Electronic [W] resources are posted on the course
website to provide you with easy access. .
Required Texts:


Bowen, John, Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves. Princeton, Princeton U
Press, 2008
,
Donnelly, Jack, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Ithaca: Cornell
U. Press, 2013 (3rd Edition).

Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities. New York: Verso, 1991

Anaya, S. James, Indigenous Peoples in International Law (2nd Edition). Oxford
U. Press, 2004


Recommended: Gourevitch, Philip, We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will
be killed with our families. New York: Picador, 1998
Course Requirements
 One mid-term exam
 One final exam
 One 8-10 page research paper (12-14 pages for Grad Students in degree
programs)
 Class participation
Grading
Mid-term exam ---------- 25%
Final Exam –------------- 35%
Paper ---------------------- 25%
Class Participation------- 15%
2
Readings listed for each class should be completed before class. This will allow students
to understand the lectures more easily and to participate more effectively in class
discussions.
Anthropology and Human Rights
Anthropology E-1660
Week 1 (Jan 28)
Introduction: Rights and Culture

Course overview

Anthropology: Course approach

An historical view of “rights”
o From the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
o Post-1948, role of NGOs
 Readings: READ BEFORE FIRST CLASS
o Culture: Geertz “Thick Description” [W]
o Human Rights: Donnelly, pp 75-92.
o Universal Declaration of Human Rights [W]
o Statement on Human Rights (Amer. Anth. Assoc. 1947) [W]
o Declaration on Anthropology and Human Rights (Amer. Anth.
Assoc. 1999) [W]
Week 2 (Feb.4)
 Human Rights: The Liberal/Individual Focus
 Anthropology: Ethnicity
Readings:

Donnelly: pp. 7-71, 121-132

Sen, Amartya. Human Rights and Capabilities [W]

Barth, Fredrick “Introduction,” Ethnic Groups and Boundaries [W]

Amina Lawal Case [W]
Week 3 (Feb. 118
Case Study: Ethnic Conflict: Rwanda
Readings:
 Donnelly, pp. 254-273
 Block, Robert. The Tragedy of Rwanda NY Review of Books 1994
[W]
 Amnesty International Review of the Gacaca tribunals [W]
 Recommended: Gourevitch, Philip, We wish to inform you that
tomorrow we will be killed with our families. (pp. 5-274, or entire
if you have time).
(Class Review of Film: Gacaca—Community-based human rights Tribunals in Rwanda)
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Week 4 (Feb 19)
Case Study: Ethnicity and Nationalism Bosnia
Readings:

Anderson, Benedict Imagined Communities, pp.1-46; 67-140.

Bringa, Tone, ‘Averted Gaze: Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina’ [W]

‘The Balkans’ NY Review [W]
(Class review of Film: Bosnia We are all Neighbors)
Week 5 (Feb 25)
The Formal Sector: International Institutions–Reporting, Monitoring, and Judging
International systems

United Nations

International Labor Organization

European System

Inter-American System

African System

International Tribunals

International Criminal Court
Limits of International Law:
 The Primacy of local courts
 Critique of the ICC
Readings:
 Donnelly: pp.161-196.
 UN Structure [W]
Week 6 (March 4)
The Informal Sector--NGOs: The delicate line between “rights” and “partisan politics.”
Readings:

Cavallaro, James and Stephanie Brewer, ‘Re-Evaluating…InterAmerican Court ‘ [W]

Keck, M, E., and K. Sikkink, ‘Human Rights Advocacy Networks in
Latin America’ [W]

Bob. Clifford, ‘Political Process Theory and Transnational
Movements: Dialectics of Protest among Nigeria’s Ogoni Minority’
[W]

Recommended: Fisher, “NGOs” [W]
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Week 7 (Mar 11)
Universalism or Cultural Relativism: An Asian Challenge to Human Rights
Readings:
o Donnelly pp: 121-158
o Tatsuo, Inoue, ‘Liberal Democracy and Asian Orientalism.’ [W]
o Chan, Joseph, ‘A Confucian Perspective on Human Rights for
Contemporary China’ [W]
Week 8 (Mar 18) NO CLASS ----SPRING BREAK
Week 9 (Mar. 25) – Hour Exam (one hour, lecture will follow)
Universalism or Cultural Relativism: Anthropological Debates
Readings:

Geertz, Clifford, “Anti Anti-Relativism” in Geertz, Clifford [W]

Turner, T, Universal Human Rights and Cultural Relativism [W]
Week 10 (Apr. 1)
Indigenous Rights: Exception or Bellwether?
Readings:

Anaya pp. 1-96

Kymlicka, Will ‘The Good, the Bad and the Intolerable: Minority Group
Rights” [W]

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [W]
Week 11 (Apr.8)
Case Study: Colombia: National Development, Indigenous Rights, and Corporate Social
Responsibility
The U’wa/Samoré Case
Readings:

Donnelly, 217-234

Macdonald, Theodore, S. James Anaya, and Yadira Soto. The Samoré Case:
Final Report of the Harvard/OAS Project in Colombia. Washington:
Organization of American States, 1997) [W]

International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention # 169 [W]

Guide to: International Labor Organization Convention # 169 [W]

Human Rights and Corporate Non-State Actors [W]
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Week 12 (Apr 15)
Case Study: Nicaragua: Land and Natural Resources-- Awas Tingni
Readings:

Anaya S. James and Scott Cridder, “Indigenous Peoples, The Environment,
and Commercial Forestry in Developing Countries: The Case of Awas Tingni,
Nicaragua”. Human Rights Quarterly [W]

Macdonald, Theodore… Inter-American Court of Human Rights Rules in
Favor of Nicaraguan Indians [W]

Macdonald, Theodore Awas Tingni: An Ethnography of a Community [W]

Compliance Updates [W]
Week 13 (Apr.22)
Case study: Ethnic Groups and Nationalist States: Muslims in France and Burma
Burma: The State, Ethnic Groups, and “Immigrants”
France: Public Schools and Headscarves
Readings:
Bowen, John. Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves.(pages TBD)
Charney, Michael, A History of Modern Burma. (pages TBD)
Week 14 (April 29) Muslims and Immigrant Rights
Readings:
Bowen, John. Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves.(pages TBD)
Burma (news articles TBD)
Week 15 (May 6)
Thinking About Cultures and Human Rights in the 21st Century
Readings;
TBD—based on current events during the course of the semester
Week 16 (May 13) FINAL EXAM
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