DMHR6357 | DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GLOBALIZATION

An examination of how democracy and human rights acquired new dimensions in the present age of globalism. The course will track transformations in the concept and practice of democracy and human rights, as well political and organizational structures, local and global, in the light of their origins, purposes, and effects. The course will also seek to understand these transformations in the light changes in the world system, such as the present unipolarity of international politics, increased dependence on information technology, neoliberalism, and the universal concern for security. The course will take time to examine different ideas about: the need to develop democratic systems in respect of mechanisms and forms of representation; the use of information technology; developing new international and regional organizations to be part of the present system for protecting human rights; the place of democracy and human rights at the level of international organizations, and the consequences of this for countries of the South, with special emphasis on the Arab world and Palestine.