The Library

Human rights and ethical reasoning : capabilities, conventions and spheres of public action

Tools

Whiteside, Noel and Mah, Alice. (2012) Human rights and ethical reasoning : capabilities, conventions and spheres of public action. Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association, Volume 46 (Number 5). pp. 921-935. ISSN 0038-0385

Preview

PDF
WRAP_Mah_0974301-so-230814-human_rights_sociology_wrap.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (644Kb) | Preview

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038512450807

Abstract

This interdisciplinary article argues that human rights must be understood in terms of opportunities for social participation and that social and economic rights are integral to any discussion of the subject. We offer both a social constructionist and a normative framework for a sociology of human rights which reaches beyond liberal individualism, combining insights from the work of Amartya Sen and from French convention theory. Following Sen, we argue that human rights are founded on the promotion of human capabilities as ethical demands shaped by public reasoning. Using French convention theory, we show how the terms of such deliberation are shaped by different constructions of collectively held values and the compromises reached between them. We conclude by demonstrating how our approach offers a new perspective on spheres of public action and the role these should play in promoting social cohesion, individual capabilities and human rights.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Subjects:

H Social Sciences > HM Sociology

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Human rights

Journal or Publication Title:

Sociology - The Journal of the British Sociological Association

Publisher:

Sage Publications Ltd.

ISSN:

0038-0385

Official Date:

October 2012

Dates:

Date	Date Type
October 2012	Published
July 2012	Accepted
April 2012	Submitted

Volume:

Volume 46

Number:

Number 5

Page Range:

pp. 921-935

Identification Number:

10.1177/0038038512450807

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Publication Status:

Published

Access rights to Published version:

Restricted or Subscription Access

Description:

Special issue on the sociology of human rights

Funder:

Sixth Framework Programme (European Commission) (FP6)

References:

Agarwal, B., Humphries, J. and Robeyns, I. (2003) 'Exploring the Challenges of Amartya Sen's Work and
Ideas', Feminist Economics 9(2-3): 3-12.
Bessy, C. (2007)'Le libéralisme d’Amartya Sen', Economie et Institutions, n°10-11.
Boltanski, L. and Chiapello, E. (2005) The New Spirit of Capitalism, London: Verso.
Boltanski, L. & Thévenot, L., (2006 [1991]) On Justification: Economies of Worth. Translated by Catherine
Porter, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Bonvin, J.-M. and Farvaque, N. (2006) 'Promoting Capability for Work: The Role of Local Actors', in S.
Deneulin, M. Nebel and N. Sagovsky (eds) The Capability Approach: Transforming Unjust Structures,
Dordrecht: Springer.
Bonvin, J-M, (2008) ‘Activation policies, new modes of governance and issues of responsibility’ Social
Policy and Society, 7 (3): 367-77.
Burawoy, M. (2005) 'Provincializing the Social Sciences', in G. Steinmetz (ed) The Politics of Method in
the Human Sciences: Positivism and Its Epistemological Others. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University
Press.
Burchardt, T. and Vizard, P. (2011) ‘”Operationalizing” the Capability Approach as a Basis for Equality
and Human Rights Monitoring in Twenty‐first‐century Britain’, Journal of Human Development and
Capabilities 12(1): 91-119.
Byrne, D. (2005) Social Exclusion, 2nd Edition, Buckingham: Open University Press.
Calhoun, C. (1993) 'Postmodernity as Pseudohistory', Theory, Culture and Society 10(2): 75-96.
Dean, H. (2009) ‘Critiquing capabilities: The distractions of a beguiling concept’, Critical Social Policy
29(2): 261-278.
Dean, H., J-M Bonvin, P. Vielle, and N. Farvaque (2005) ‘Developing capabilities and rights in welfare-towork
policies’, European Societies, 7 (1): 3-26.
Dupuy, J-P. (1989) ‘Convention et common knowledge’, Revue Economique, No. 2 (March): 361-400
Felice, W. F. (2003) The Global New Deal: economic and social human rights in world politics, Lanham,
Md.; Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
Foucault, M. (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge, trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith. London: Tavistock
Publications.
Freeman, M. (2002) Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hynes, P., Lamb, M., Short, D. and Waites, M. (2010) 'Sociology and human rights: confrontations,
evasions and new engagements', The International Journal of Human Rights 14(6): 811-832.
Knight, F.H. (1921) Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Marshall, T. H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class. Cambridge: University Press.
Nussbaum, M. (2003) 'Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice', Feminist
Economics 9(2/3): 33-59.
Orléan, A. (ed.) (1994) Analyse économique des conventions. Paris: Presse Universitaires de France.
Pogge, T. W. (2008) World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms, 2nd
Edition, Cambridge: Polity.
Robeyns, I. (2003) 'Sen's Capability Approach and Gender Inequality: Selecting Relevant Capabilities',
Feminist Economics 9(2/3): 61-92.
Rogowski, R,, Salais, R. and Whiteside, N. (eds) (2011): Transforming European Employment Policy:
labour market transitions and the promotion of capability Cheltenham, Elgar.
Salais, R. (1999) ‘A la recherche du fondement conventionnel des institutions’ in R. Salais, E. Chatel et D.
Rivaud-Danset (eds) Institutions et Conventions: la réflexivité de l'’action économique, Paris: EHSS, 255-
91
Salais, R. (2004) 'Incorporating the Capability Approach into Social and Employment Policies', in R.
Salais and R. Villeneuve (eds) Europe and the Politics of Capabilities, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Sen, A. 1993 'Capability and Well-being', in A. Sen and M. Nussbaum (eds) The Quality of Life, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
— 2004 'Elements of a Theory of Human Rights', Philosophy and Public Affairs 32(4): 315-356.
— 2009 The Idea of Justice, London: Allen Lane.
Storper, M. and Salais, R. (1997) Worlds of Production: the Action Frameworks of the Economy,
Cambridge MA: Harvard.
Thévenot, L. (2001) ‘Organized Complexity: conventions of coordination and composition of economic
arrangements’, European Journal of Social Theory, 4(4): 405-25
Thévenot, L. (2001b) 'Pragmatic regimes governing the engagement with the world' in Knorr-Cetina, K.,
Schatzki, T. Savigny Eike, V. (eds.), The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory, London: Routledge,
2001(b): 56-74.
Turner, Bryan (2006) Vulnerability and Human Rights, University Park: Pennsylvania State University
Press.
Waters, M. (1996) 'Human Rights and the Universalisation of Interests: Towards a Social Constructionist
Approach', Sociology 30(3): 593-600.
Woodiwiss, A. (2003) Making Human Rights Work Globally, London: GlassHouse.
Zimmermann, B. (2006) 'Pragmatism and the Capability Approach: Challenges in Social Theory and
Empirical Research', European Journal of Social Theory 9(4): 467-484.
------ (2011) ‘Making Employees Pathways More Secure’ in Rogowski, Salais, and Whiteside,
Transforming European Employment Policy [see above]: 117-138