Rights in divided societies
By: edited by Colin Harvey and Alex Schwartz
Series: Human rights law in perspective -- v. 17; Human rights law in perspective -- v. 17.
Publisher: Hart Pub.
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Oxford; Portland, Or
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
ISBN-13: 9781849461009
Subjects: Civil rights; Cultural pluralism
Description: "This collection examines the role and value of domestic rights instruments in divided and post-conflict societies, approaching the subject from a comparative and theoretical perspective. Societies emerging from violent conflict often opt for a bill of rights as part of a wider package of constitutional reform. Where conflict is fuelled by long-standing ethno-national divisions, these divisions are often addressed through group-differentiated rights. Recent constitutional settlements have highlighted the difficulties in drafting a bill of rights in divided/post-conflict societies, where the aim of promoting unity is frequently in tension with the need to accommodate difference. Similar controversies continue to play out in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Ireland. In such cases, a bill of rights might be a rallying point around which both minorities and the majority can articulate a common vision for a shared society. Conversely, a bill of rights might provide merely another venue in which to play out familiar conflicts, further dividing an already divided society. The central questions that animate the collection are: (1) Can constitutional rights provide a basis for unity and a common 'human rights culture' in divided societies? If so, how? (2) To what are extent should divided societies opt for a universalistic package of rights protections, or should the rights be tailored to the specific circumstances of a divided society, providing for special group-sensitive protections for minorities? (3) How does the judiciary figure in the management or resolution of ethno-national conflict? (4) What are the general theoretical and philosophical issues at stake in a rights-based approach to the management or resolution of ethno-national conflict?--P. [i].
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Rights versus democracy? : The Bill of Rights in plurinational states / Stephen Tierney; title: Managing conflict through democracy / Samuel Issacharoff; title: Ethnicity and competing nations of rights / Yash Ghai; title: Independent or dependent? : Constitutional courts in divided societies / Sujit Choudhry and Richard Stacey; title: Judicial empowerment in divided societies : the Northern Ireland bill of rights process in comparative perspective / Alex Schwartz and Colin Harvey; title: The nature and effects of constitutional rights in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina / David Feldman; title: Constitutional change and the quest for legal inclusion in Nepal / Mara Malagodi; title: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian unity / Daniel Weinstock; title: Education, crucifixes and headscarves : the appropriation of meanings and the content of rights in divided societies / Ruth Rubio-Marin and Leonardo Álvarez-Álvarez; title: Forcing consensus : challenges for rights-based constitutionalism in Chile / Amaya Alvez Marin.