CONRICONF · Contentious Rights: A Comparative Study of International Human Rights Norms and their Effects on Domestic Social Conflict

Contentious Rights: A Comparative Study of International Human Rights Norms and their Effects on Domestic Social Conflict

Over the last 60 years, a broad set of international norms gained importance as instruments to regulate a globalising world. Enshrined in human rights conventions, these norms contribute to strengthen a platform for social mobilization and voice. The introduction of human rights standards at the domestic level, however, has also been responsible for the generation of new tensions on the interpretation and application of these norms. Yet, this type of conflict and polarization among social and political actors remain widely unexplored. This project examines how ‘human rights act in practice’ in the post-ratification phase using a multidisciplinary perspective and an empirical comparative approach. More precisely, it contributes to the discussion on the process of domestic ‘translation’ of international norms by providing a unique understating of the conditions that explain the reaction/adaptation/appropriation of social and political actors to international norms. Through a comparative approach, the project explores the implementation of international human rights norms in two countries (Bolivia and the Philippines). These cases are then situated within the broader theoretical discussion and analysed through comparative lenses. The focus is on two conventions related to the rights of vulnerable workers - ILO 182 Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999) and ILO 189 Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (2013). The project contributes to increase European competitiveness and produce long-term synergies on key strategic issues for European politics such as the implementation of a human rights agenda. In particular, it is producing relevant results that are contributing to strengthen the input and the impact of EU-based research on academic debates about human rights and domestic politics, which has been for long time dominated by scholars based in the USA. Given the ambitions of the EU to position itself as a new international actor, which mainly relies in its ‘soft power’ and in its effort to promote peace and new international standards in compliance with international human rights law, the fostering of a debate around the effects of human rights in practice at the domestic level is paramount. This is even more compelling in the moment of political change and identity crisis that the continent is facing.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз