Wolfsteller, R. (2017) The institutionalisation of human rights reconceived: the human rights state as a sociological 'ideal type'. International Journal of Human Rights, 21(3), pp. 230-251. (doi: 10.1080/13642987.2017.1298730)
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Abstract
In the contemporary political world order that continues to be structured by the principle of national sovereignty, the fate of human rights ultimately depends on states as the main guarantors and transgressors of rights. The analysis of the conditions and processes of their effective institutionalisation therefore requires a focus on the state level without losing sight of human rights’ universalistic potential. This article develops the ideal type of the human rights state as a sociological framework for the systematic qualitative study and assessment of human rights institutionalisation. To this end, it reconceptualises Benjamin Gregg’s normative political theory of the human rights state as an analytical yardstick that refers to the necessary conditions for the effective implementation of human rights as locally valid, state-based norms of universalistic scope. Based on the extrapolation of human rights’ core traits and their synthesis into a unified, coherent concept, the ideal type of the human rights state provides guidance for the empirical study of factual processes of human rights institutionalisation within states both as an analytical grid and benchmark for their critical evaluation. By integrating the divergent perspectives on legal, political and wider societal dimensions of human rights institutionalisation, this article contributes to the multidisciplinary field of human rights research as well as to the developing field of human rights sociology.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | WOLFSTELLER, Rene |
| Authors: | Wolfsteller, R. |
| College/School: | College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics |
| Journal Name: | International Journal of Human Rights |
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
| ISSN: | 1364-2987 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1744-053X |
| Published Online: | 30 March 2017 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group |
| First Published: | First published in International Journal of Human Rights 21(3):230-251 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher |
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