Students explore the history, nature, and scope of the concept of rights: legal rights, civil rights, political rights and human rights, both as these pertain to individuals and as they pertain to groups and collectivities. Students trace the history of rights theory from early social contract theories (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau) to contemporary theories of rights and justice. Students examine the relation between rights, conceptions of justice and power relations, and the law; how conceptions of rights may promote or inhibit the social advancement of particular groups; and how rights have been connected to people from equity-seeking groups in theory and in practice.
Students explore the history, nature, and scope of the concept of rights: legal rights, civil rights, political rights and human rights, both as these pertain to individuals and as they pertain to groups and collectivities. Students trace the history of rights theory from early social contract theories (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau) to contemporary theories of rights and justice. Students examine the relation between rights, conceptions of justice and power relations, and the law; how conceptions of rights may promote or inhibit the social advancement of particular groups; and how rights have been connected to people from equity-seeking groups in theory and in practice.
