Equality, Identity and Rights

By connecting law, philosophy, and key human rights cases, this course will examine one of the main dilemmas in human rights theory and practice: the balance between equality and identity in the protection of rights. What forms of equality should be recognized to assure effective rights for all? What forms of identity should be recognized? Can there be effective human rights without an intersectional approach? Should we prioritize redistribution or recognition? What can we learn from cases developed in the UN System, in regional systems of human rights, and in specific countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe? How can we be effective human rights defenders in a growingly complex field? With these questions in mind, we will address different possibilities of protecting black women in the U.S. and Brazil, Muslim immigrants in Denmark, Indigenous women in Kenya and Canada, persons with disabilities in Tanzania, mothers with HIV in South Africa, poor workers in the Amazon Forest, abducted children in Argentina, and so forth.

Learning objectives: • Overview of how equality in human rights is connected to the recognition of identities, or more specifically, to the recognition of an intersectional approach to rights • Understanding different forms of equality that can be advanced through human rights • Adopting a problem-solving approach to an increasingly complex field of human rights, in order to become more effective human rights advocates • Critically analyzing and getting acquainted with cases in the UN system, the regional systems of human rights, and domestic jurisdictions around the world