Counter-hegemonic Human Rights Discourses and Migrant Rights Activism in the US and Canada
- Date
2009
- Authors
Tanya Basok
- Abstract
Scholarship on the dissemination of human rights norms and principles has focused
predominantly on the socialization of nation-states into the values which have been
widely endorsed. I argue in this article that the socialization mechanisms, discussed by
such scholars as Meyer et al. (1997) and Risse and Sikkink (1999), do not capture the
complex processes of the negotiation of more controversial rights. Distinguishing between
hegemonic and counter-hegemonic human rights principles, I suggest that we need to
explore the ways in which human rights activists advance, interpret, and negotiate counterhegemonic
human rights. Focusing on migrants’ rights advocacy in the US and Canada,
I argue that pro-migrant activists draw on other human rights principles that do enjoy a
greater degree of recognition and/or on instrumental reasons to pressure nation-states to
grant more rights to migrants.- Journal title
Internatinal Journal of Comparative Sociology
- Volume
50
- Issue
2
- Page numbers
183-205
- Publisher
SAGE Publications
- Place published
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC
- File Attachments
- Links
-
http://cos.sagepub.com/content/50/2/183.abstract?rss=1 (http://cos.sagepub.com/content/50/2/183.abstract?rss=1)
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- Economic sectors
Agriculture and horticulture workers, Occupations in services - Domestic work, Sales and service occupations - general, Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations - general, Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations - general, Labourers in food, beverage and associated products processing, Dancers, and Other
- Content types
Policy analysis
- Target groups
Researchers, Unions, and NGOs/community groups/solidarity networks
- Geographical focuses
United States, Ontario, and National relevance
- Spheres of activity
Law, Political science, and Sociology
- Languages
English