Hostname: page-component-8678677fb7-q5qzn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-10-09T19:19:22.056Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The challenge of human rights for peace research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2017

Andreas H. Hvidsten  and
Kjersti Skarstad
Andreas H. Hvidsten*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Kjersti Skarstad
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
*
E-mail: a.h.hvidsten@stv.uio.no
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Human rights law posits a close, almost self-evident, relation between human rights and peace. Peace researchers, however, see this relation as an unsettled empirical question. In this essay, we consider the peace researchers’ (implicit) critique of human rights law. We argue that seeing the relation between human rights and peace as an empirical question rests on a largely unexamined conceptual separation of justice and peace. Re-investigating this conceptual relation reveals two positions that have different implications for human rights and peace: (1) a ‘negative’ understanding of peace as stability, and (2) a ‘positive’ understanding of peace as a working social contract. On the negative understanding, human rights may or may not be instrumentally effective in maintaining stability, which is rightly seen as an empirical question. On the positive understanding of peace, on the other hand, human rights are potentially conceptually related to peace, and the relation cannot be reduced to an empirical question. We argue that (2) is a better understanding of peace – at least the kind of peace envisioned in human rights philosophy – and provides a potential bridge between human rights scholarship and peace research.

Keywords

human rightspeace researchnegative peacepositive peacejusticestability

Information

Type
Original Papers
Information
International Theory , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 98 - 121
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adcock, Robert, and Collier, David. 2001. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” American Political Science Review 95(3):529–546.Google Scholar
Addison, Tony, and Murshed, S. Mansoob. 2001. “From Conflict to Reconstruction: Reviving the Social Contract.” WIDER Discussion Papers//World Institute for Development Economics (UNU-WIDER). Helsinki, Finland.Google Scholar
Anonymous. 1996. “Human Rights in Peace Negotiations.” Human Rights Quarterly 18(2):249–258.Google Scholar
Bailliet, Cecilia M. 2015. “Normative Foundations of the International Law of Peace.” In Promoting Peace Through International Law, edited by C. M. Bailliet, and K. M. Larsen, 43–66. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bailliet, Cecilia M., and Larsen, Kjetil Mujezinović. 2013. “Nordic Expert Consultation on the Right to Peace: Summary and Recommendations.” Nordic Journal of Human Rights 31(2):262–278.Google Scholar
Bell, Christine. 2003. Peace Agreements and Human Rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Boulding, Kenneth E. 1977. “Twelve Friendly Quarrels with Johan Galtung.” Journal of Peace Research 14(1):75–86.Google Scholar
Bull, Hedley. 2002. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics, 4th ed., New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Buzan, Barry. 2014. An Introduction to the English School of International Relations: The Societal Approach. Cambridge: Polity press.Google Scholar
Collier, Paul, Elliot, Lani, Hegre, Håvard, Hoeffler, Anke, Reynal-Querol, Marta, and Sambanis, Nicholas. 2003. “Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War and Development Policy.” World Bank Policy Research Report 56793. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Collier, Paul, and Hoeffler, Anke. 2004. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War.” Oxford Economic Papers 56(4):563–595.Google Scholar
Donnelly, Jack. 2007. “The relative universality of human rights.” Human Rights Quarterly 29(2):281–306.Google Scholar
Donnelly, Jack. 2013. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. Itacha: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Euben, Roxanne Leslie, and Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. 2009. Princeton readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts From al-Banna to Bin Laden. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Evans, Matthew. 2016. “Structural Violence, Socioeconomic Rights, and Transformative Justice.” Journal of Human Rights 15(1):1–20.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D., and Laitin, David D.. 2003. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.” American Political Science Review 97(1):75–90.Google Scholar
Forsythe, David P. 1993. Human Rights and Peace. International and National Dimensions. Madison: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, Michael. 2001. “Is a Political Science of Human Rights Possible?” Netherland Quarterly of Human Rights 19(2):123–139.Google Scholar
Freeman, Michael. 2011. Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Cambridge: Politi Press.Google Scholar
Galtung, Johan. 1964. “An Editorial.” Journal of Peace Research 1(1):1–4.Google Scholar
Galtung, Johan. 1969. “Violence, Peace and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research 6(3):167–191.Google Scholar
Galtung, Johan. 1985. “Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research: Ten Challenges and Some Responses.” Journal of Peace Research 22(2):141–158.Google Scholar
Gates, Scott. 2002. “Empirically Assessing the Causes of Civil War”. Paper presented at the 43rd Annual International Studies Association, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, Wallensteen, Peter, Eriksson, Mikael, Sollenberg, Margareta, and Strand, Håvard. 2002. “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New Dataset” Journal of Peace Research 39(5):615–637.Google Scholar
Gleditsch, Nils Petter, Nordkvelle, Jonas, and Strand, Håvard. 2014. “Peace Research–Just the Study of War?” Journal of Peace Research 51(2):145–158.Google Scholar
Glendon, Mary Ann. 2002. A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Goertz, Gary. 2006. Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Gready, Paul, and Robins, Simon. 2014. “From Transitional to Transformative Justice: A New Agenda for Practice.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 8(3):339–361.Google Scholar
Henkin, Louis. 1995. “Human Rights and State Sovereignty.” Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law 25:31.Google Scholar
Hobbes, Thomas. 1969. Leviathan. Saarbrücken: Scolar Press.Google Scholar
Human Rights Council. 2012. “Action on Resolution on the Promotion of the Right to Peace”. Resolution A/HRC/35/L.4.Google Scholar
Jackson, Patrick T. 2011. The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations: Philosophy of Science and its Implications for the Study of World Politics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jakobsen, Tor G., and de Soysa, Indra. 2009. “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death! State Repression, Ethnic Grievance and Civil War, 1981–2004.” Civil Wars 11(2):137–157.Google Scholar
Kacowicz, Arie M. 1997. “‘Negative’ International Peace and Domestic Conflicts, West Africa, 1957–96.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 35(3):367–385.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. 1996a. “On the Common Saying: That May Be Correct in Theory, But It Is of No Use in Practice.” In Practical Philosophy, edited by M. J. Gregor, 273–310. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kant, Immanuel. 1996b. “Toward Perpetual Peace.” In Practical Philosophy, edited by M. J. Gregor, 311–352. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Klein, James P., Goertz, Gary, and Diehl, Paul F.. 2008. “The Peace Scale: Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Non-Rivalry and Peace.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 25(1):67–80.Google Scholar
Locke, John. 2009. Two Treaties of Government. Kansas: Digireads.Google Scholar
Mack, Andrew. 2002. “Civil War: Academic Research and the Policy Community.” Journal of Peace Research 39(5):515–525.Google Scholar
Millar, Gearoid, and Lecy, Jesse. 2016. “Disciplinary Divides in Post-Conflict Justice and Peace: Tracking If and How we Share Ideas.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 10(3):302–320.Google Scholar
Murshed, S. Mansoob. 2002. “Conflict, Civil War and Underdevelopment: An Introduction.” Journal of Peace Research 39(4):387–393.Google Scholar
Nickel, James W. 2007. Making Sense of Human Rights. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Opotow, Susan. 1990. “Moral Exclusion and Injustice: An Introduction.” Journal of Social Issues 46(1):1–20.Google Scholar
Opotow, Susan, Gerson, Janet, and Woodside, Sarah. 2005. “From Moral Exclusion to Moral Inclusion: Theory for Teaching Peace.” Theory into Practice 44(4):303–318.Google Scholar
Østby, Gudrun. 2013. “Inequality and Political Violence: A Review of the Literature.” International Area Studies Review 16(2):206–231.Google Scholar
Philpott, Daniel. 2012. Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 2005. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Regan, Patrick M. 2014. “Bringing Peace Back In: Presidential Address to the Peace Science Society, 2013.” Conflict Management and Peace Science 31(4):345–356.Google Scholar
Reus-Smit, Christian. 1997. “The Constitutional Structure of International Society and the Nature of Fundamental Institutions.” International Organization 51(4):555–589.Google Scholar
Reus-Smit, Christian. 2011. “‘Struggles for Individual Rights and the Expansion of the International System’.” International Organization 65(02):207–242.Google Scholar
Reus-Smit, Christian. 2013. Individual Rights and the Making of the International System. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rummel, Rudolph Joseph. 1981. The Just Peace. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Sambanis, Nicholas. 2002. “A Review of Recent Advances and Future Directions in the Quantitative Literature on Civil War.” Defence and Peace Economics 13(3):215–243.Google Scholar
Seth, Sanjay. 2013. “Postcolonial Theory and the Critique of International Relations.” In Postcolonial Theory and International Relations: A Critical Introduction, edited by Sanjay Seth, 15–31. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sharp, Gene. 1973. The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Manchester: Porter Sargent Publishers.Google Scholar
Siedentop, Larry. 2014. Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism. Boston: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth A. 2009. Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Skarstad, Kjersti. 2015. “Human Rights Violations and Conflict Risk—A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment.” In Promoting Peace Through International Law, edited by C. M. Bailliet, and K. M. Larsen, 133–148. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Skarstad, Kjersti, and Strand, Håvard. 2016. “Do Human Rights Violations Increase the Risk of Civil War?” International Area Studies Review 19(2):107–130.Google Scholar
Snyder, Jack, and Leslie, Vinjamuri. 2006. “Trials and errors: principle and pragmatism in strategies of international justice.” International Security 28(3):5–44.Google Scholar
Steiner, Henry J., Alston, Philip, and Goodman, Ryan. 2008. International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals: Text and Materials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). 2012. “Human Rights Council Establishes Working Group to Negotiate a Draft Declaration on the Right to Peace.” Accessed November 29, 2017. http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/741DF607AF802BAAC1257A320053916E?OpenDocument.Google Scholar
Themnér, Lotta, and Wallensteen, Peter. 2012. “Armed Conflicts, 1946–2011.” Journal of Peace Research 49(4):565–575.Google Scholar
Thoms, Oskar N. T., and Ron, James. 2007. “Do Human Rights Violations Cause Internal Conflict?” Human Rights Quarterly 29(3):674–705.Google Scholar
Tuck, Richard. 1999. The Rights of War and Peace: Political Thought and the International Order from Grotius to Kant. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
UN General Assembly. 1948. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948).Google Scholar
Vasquez, John A. 1993. The War Puzzle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Walzer, Michael. 2006. Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, Elisabeth Jean. 2003. Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar