Rights & Justice: Vocabulary List (Global Politics DP1)

Equality

The idea that all people have the same rights and opportunities, regardless of their background or status. (ex. All citizens over 18 have one equal vote in elections)

Equity

The idea of ensuring fair access to resources, opportunities, and justice for all peoples, correcting systemic disadvantages to achieve equal outcomes. (ex. Needs-based scholarships so underprivileged kids can attend expensive colleges)

Negative Liberty

Freedom from interference and coercion (ex. Freedom of speech)

Positive Liberty

Freedom to act upon one’s free will which may require support from the state (ex. Affordable Care Act allowing more people to receive healthcare)

Justice

People being treated fairly and getting what they deserve. (ex. Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada)

Rights

Fundamental rules that govern how individuals and groups should be treated by states and other actors based on what society considers essential for a decent life. (ex. Right to vote)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

A UN document detailing the human rights that are universal, inalienable, indivisible, and interdependent, based on human nature not on the law/culture of a state. (ex. UDHR used to criticize China’s treatment of Uyghur muslims)

Collective Rights

The rights of groups of people or communities, especially groups that share a cultural or ethnic identity (ex. Right of self-determination)

Cultural Relativism

The idea that rights should be interpreted within cultural and social contexts rather than universally imposed. (ex. Iran’s refusal to abolish the death penalty because of its ties to the Islamic religion and the Qu’ran)

Codification of rights

The process of making human rights laws, such as those in treaties and covenants, legitimate and enforceable within the legal systems of states. (ex. EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR))

Social Justice

Justice view focused on fairness in access to resources, opportunities, and outcomes.(ex. Having equal access to food, water, and other necessities or life)

Political Justice

Justice view concerned with fairness within political systems and decision-making. (ex. North Korean citizens can’t share in the decision-making process of the state which is a lack of political justice)

Egalitarian Justice

Justice view that all individuals in a society should have access to equal freedoms, opportunities, and treatment of equal respect. Human beings are moral and understand right and wrong.(ex. claim that spending public money on the most talented is morally wrong, in a just society, everybody should have the same opportunities)

Cosmopolitan Justice

Justice view that extends egalitarian justice to a global scale in which IGOs are obligated to act, humanitarian intervention can be justifiable, even when violating state sovereignty if a state is structurally unjust, the intervention will succeed, and all other methods have been attempted with no success. (ex. claim that all are morally obligated to help migrants and refugees)

Ecological Justice

Justice view that all living beings should be considered when taking action to address environmental concerns. (ex. Juliana v. United States lawsuit)

Zulu Ubuntu

The philosophy emphasizing shared humanity and community, often expressed as "I am because we are." (ex. South African community initiatives like the Umbumbulu Community Center)

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

UN’s court that settles legal disputes between states (ex. Nicargua v. Colombia case 2013-22)

International Criminal Court (ICC)

A court that prosecutes individuals for serious international crimes such as genocide and war crimes. (ex. arrest warrant for Putin because of alleged war crimes)

Civil Rights

Rights of individuals or groups to political and social freedom and equality (ex. BLM movement)

Civil Liberties

Freedom protected by law acting as essential checks against governmental power (ex. Freedom from slavery)

Legal Rights

Rights of individuals or groups regarding their treatment under the law (ex. right to a fair trial)

Social Rights

Rights of individuals or groups regarding standards of human well-being and security (ex. Maine’s paid parental leave)

Economic Rights

Rights of individuals or groups regarding earning a living, acquiring and transferring property, goods/services. (ex. Minimum wage laws)

Political Rights

Rights of individuals or groups regarding a citizens ability to participate in politics and society (ex. Right to vote)

Cultural and Solidarity Rights

Right of individuals or groups regarding group identity and the collective well-being of humanity (ex. The right to self-determination)

Non-binding international law

Agreements that contain political or moral commitments but are not legally enforceable. (ex. UN General Assembly Resolutions)

Natural Rights

Idea of rights that all humans are born with, not dependent on the laws culture or beliefs of a government. (ex. right to clean water.)

Negative Rights

Rights that require others to abstain from interfering with an individual’s actions. (ex. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure)

Positive Rights

Rights that require provision and intervention from others, often the state, in order to be fulfilled. (ex. Right to an education)

First Generation Rights

Civil and political rights, generally negative. (ex. Right to a fair trial)

Second generation rights

Economic, cultural and social rights, generally positive (ex. right to fair and safe working conditions)

Third Generation Rights

Collective rights for all communities, societies, and nations (ex. The right for all people to live in a clean environment)

Universality of Rights

All people regardless of their background have the same rights (ex. The lack of rights for the Uyghurs in China due to their ethnicity)

UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

UN forum with the purpose of ensuring all people know their rights and can use them (ex. decision to investigate human rights violations in Ukraine in 2022)

Regional Human Rights Tribunals

IGOs founded that attempt to address the protection and enforcement of human rights within specific geographical regions (ex. The European Court of Human Rights)

Human Rights Civil Society Organizations

Groups or organizations voluntarily formed by people in order to advocate for human rights (ex. Amnesty International)

Marginalized Populations

A population of people perceived as different by the wider society because of their identities who are often denied their basic rights and access to justice (ex. The Rohingya people in Myanmar)

Vulnerable Populations

A population at greater risk of rights violations due to circumstances such as poverty, age, or displacement. (ex. children in Ukraine)

International Humanitarian Law

Laws that regulate armed conflict and aim to protect civilians and non-combatants. (ex. Monitoring by the ICRC on the conduct of armed conflicts)

Human Rights Treaties

Laws regarding human rights created by IGOs and agreed to by states that are legally binding and enforced. (ex. The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD))

Human Rights Monitoring

The process of observing and evaluating states' compliance with human rights standards. (ex. Walk Free's Global Slavery Index)

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

The responsibility of states to intervene in a state in order to protect a populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. (ex. The international response to crisis in Darfur)

Humanitarian Intervention

The use of military force to protect human rights (ex. The NATO military intervention in Libya)

Sanctions

A form of hard power by a state or IGO used to force a state, group, or individual to change their behavior (ex. US economic sanctions on Russia)

Indigenous Rights

Rights of native groups who have a long history on the land they live (ex. Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission'a "Calls to Action")

Sharia Law

The Islamic law that guides the personal religious practices of Muslims.(ex. Sharia-based family law in the legal system of Saudi Arabia)

UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)

An organization designed to protect refugees, people forcibly displaced within their own states, and those denied a nationality (ex. The UNHCRs assistance of refugee camps in Bangladesh for the Rohingya)