Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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DRHO2122 - Sociology of Human Rights



Credits : 4

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
First term
Monday from 17:30 to 20:30 at 119 Marais 2100

Language of instruction :
French

Learning outcomes :
- Familiarise students with the sociological approach and its methodological characteristics.
- Approach the historical sociology of the underlying politics and put into context the emergence of human rights.
- Go beyond the logic of the legal apprehension of human rights to identify them as "social practices" incarnated in speeches, militant actions, claims, etc.

Prerequisites :
None

Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
The course is composed of three parts. In the first part, sociology and sociology of law will be presented in a general manner, and those notions will be applied to the topic of human rights. The objectives of this first part are, on the one hand, to familiarise students with the sociological approach and to its methodological characteristics and, on the other hand, to constitute, based on the presentation of several "renowned authors" in the field of sociology, a toolbox of concepts and hypotheses that aid in developing this type of approach. In part two of the course, we will turn our attention to the school of historical sociology and will apply its premises to the topic of human rights because of the need to put this phenomenon in its historical context, to trace the process of its emergence and how it took shape. In particular, we will discover to which extent human rights are linked to the legitimacy of the exercise of power. In the third part of this course, we will consider human rights as being "social practices" which contribute to shape or transform reality. The conceptions of human rights have their roots in particular contexts and become integral parts of certain practices, speeches, writings, claims, association charters, etc.
We will begin with the sociology of mobilisations as well as that of organisations to apprehend, on the one hand, the manner in which human rights can be sources of militancy or public engagement and, on the other hand, logics which typify the organisations fighting for the defence of human rights.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Lecture, readings to be prepared by the students, intervention of guest speakers.

Assessment methods and criteria :
Written examination

Recommended or required reading :
AKOUN, A., ANSART, P., Dictionnaire de Sociologie, Paris, Le Robert/Seuil, 1999.
BECKER, H. S., Le travail sociologique. Méthode et substance, Fribourg, Academic Press Fribourg, 2006
BRAUD, P., Sociologie politique, Paris, LGDJ, 2004 (7ème édition).
COMMAILLE, J., L'esprit sociologique des lois. Essai de sociologie politique du droit, Paris, PUF, 1994.
ION, J., FRANGUIADAKIS, S., VIOT, P., Militer aujourd'hui, Paris, Autrement, 2005.
ION, J., PERONI, M., Engagement public et exposition de la personne, La Tour d'Aigues, Editions de l'Aube, 1997.
LAFAYE, C., Sociologie des organisations, Paris, Armand Colin, 2005.
LAVILLE, J.-L., CAILLE, A., CHANIAL, P., DACHEUX, E., EME, B., LATOUCHE, S., Association, démocratie, société civile, Paris, La Découverte, 2001.
LOCHARD, Y., SIMONET-CUSSET, M., L'expert associatif, le savant et le politique, Paris, Editions Syllepse, 2003.
NEVEU, E., Sociologie des mouvements sociaux, Paris, La Découverte, 2011.
SERVERIN, E., Sociologie du droit, Paris, La Découverte, 2000.
WEBER, M., Economie et société. Les catégories de la sociologie, Paris, Pocket, 1995.
WEBER, M., Sociologie du droit, Paris, PUF, 2007.

Other information :
Materials: PowerPoint presentations and a reading portfolio.