Human Rights

  • Humans rights not even the products of modernity (17th century)
  • Three architects of Human Rights:   (their beliefs about childhood)
    • Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Each embrace a different tradition of thought about childhood (top down, bottom-up, developmental)
      • These connections should be deconstructed for fully humanized human rights
    • Locke (Late 18th century) 
      • Property of humanity & natural rights ; liberty, sense of life, estate(belongings)- But children don’t have property.
      • Children start out life as white pages that need to be gradually molded over time toward enlightened social reason.
      • Children-have not reached to the age of reason to exercise social freedom without doing themselves and others harm.
      • Children have no right to their own property but also are temporary properties of their parents.
      • Human Rights are for developed capability for social reasoning (adults).
      • Children only demonstrate potential for social rights (which is a view still prevalant today).
    • Rousseau (18th century)- Over protection: leads to exclusion from social rights??
  • More child friendly account of Human Rights
  • Still excludes children explicitly.
  • Childhood as the very origin of goodness  in society and source of resistance to social corruption.
  • So they must be carefully sheltered from public life.
  • They need to be nurtured as long as possible in the private sanctity of home (Mother & wise Tutor) until God given goodness  may be able to stand up for itself.
  • Similar to Women & Minorities- Over protection leads to exclusion from social rights??
  • Kant (Late 18th Century)
    • Animals lacking rationalism and captive to irrationalism and wants and desires.
    •  Children deserve to be treated as objects of dignity any respect and parents’ can not regard them as their own property. 
    • BUT Only adults can be expected to be able to subordinate their animal instincts to higher moral law.
    • Children are not property of parents (Unlike Locke). 
    • Should not be placed in a private sphere (Unlike Rousseau)
  • Why was Anderson should not heard in court?
    •  ( 13 years old boy living in foster care & mentally ill mother -termination of parental rights – despite anderson’s will)
    • Lockean Assumption; He lacks the maturity to comprehend and decide for his best interest. Those interest must be determined by adults 
    • Rousseauian Thinking; Child- pure & natural goodness- may know best for himself  BUT he is ignorant of the  larger ways of the world. Someone older and more experienced, who has been tested and strengthened by participation in public life, must protect him from the dangers he cannot understand.
    • Kantian Perspective; He deserves to be treated with a modicum of human dignity. BUT, he can not control or act against his wants and desires. And he lacks the moral discipline to make choices by himself.
  • Human rights in the light of childhood
    • Human rights were not originally developed to apply to the children. 
    • Instead it is formulated over against childhood. 
    • Their application to childhood is deeply problematic. 
    • 1989 United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child today are one of the most important ways to think about and improve children’s lives.
    • Children’s views about the termination of their parents’ parenting rights not heard. They cannot decide for their own best interest. Only judge can rule for children and their lives. 
    • According to Hannah Arendt…Children lack the right to have rights in the first place…As long as human rights are understood as expressions of social independence children will remain as second class citizens.
  • Three Major Ethical Theories about Human Rights
  • Will Theory  ( Herbert. L.A Hart) Donelly, John Rawls vs.
    • Will theory = choice theory ; allows rights-holders free choice to insist upon their rights or, to waive them.
    • Kant & Locke ( AĞIRLIKLIK OLARAKA KANTIAN PERSPECTIVE)
    • Human rights exist to protect individuals’ social freedoms, liberty or autonomy.
    • “the equal right of every men to be free” (john rawls)
    • Include women but not children!!!
    • A right-holder is anyone who has the capacity to place their own personal interests behind a veil of ignorance that ensures their objective impartially toward others.
    • In accordance with same reasoning in Kant, only adults have rational capacities to express their wills or choices in society for themselves.
    • Children as human right objects & not full human right subjects. 
    • BUT children too can be granted basic set of human rights to be treated without violence and with dignity and respect.
    • “Equal basic liberties” requires extensive capacities for understanding larger societal contexts and consequences.
    • A child (whether 2 or 12) cannot justify his rights through procedures of public discourse. In a sense, therefore, they should be provided to him whether he can give public reasons for them or not.
    • Importance of cognitive capacities.
  • Interest Theory
    • Interest theory = benefit theory
    • Human Rights grounded not in autonomy but in furthering basic human interests, need or goods
    • Human Rights exist to advance basic form of human good.
      • Life
      • Acquisition of knowledge
      • Play
      • Aesthetic expression
      • Sociability
      • Practical reasonableness
      • Religion
    • Human rights means for basic human development.
    • Interest theory is arguably more open to children’s right than will theory.
    • Children are not yet developed adults.Their interests are defined by others.
  • Civil Rights Approach
    • Human Rights to free entire social groups from economic, racial, gender and other large scale systematic oppressions.
    • Inclusion of social power.
    • All rights are based on fundamental civil right to a public voice, agency and participation.
    • Children as distinctly marginalized group and deserves to have a right to participation on their own behalf just like other oppressed minorities
    • BUT They need to gain power to take political action, express public view or have activists fighting for them to make their voices hearable as in Tony Anderson’s Case etc.
  • Children’s Right – There is more to add and discuss here 

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