Pheng Cheah (Rhetoric)
(Rhetoric 189)

This course builds on a philosophical understanding of human rights to address practical questions of human rights violations. Students examine the philosophical tradition beginning with Kant that discusses the use of human beings merely as means to other ends, taking this tradition as the foundation of our understanding of human rights. In the second portion of the course, students bring this understanding to an examination of case studies of human rights abuse, specifically with regard to female migrant labor and sex trafficking in globalizing Asia. Instrumental rationalities are pervasive on every level of these industries. How does this complicate the philosophical understanding of human rights? How can understanding the philosophical underpinnings of human rights provide possible new outcomes for these bleak scenarios? Guest speakers—both academic experts and activists working with NGOs specializing in these areas—address these questions from their own perspectives. Students are expected to undertake independent case studies of their own on the effectiveness of human rights instruments in a particular area of transnational traffic in women’s labor.