Level 107
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Universal Human Rights

Universal Human Rights

A survey of the international human rights system born from the 1948 Universal Declaration, tracing the treaties, regional courts, tribunals, and enduring debates that have defined the protection of human rights ever since.

Wikimedia Commons (via Flickr) · FDR Presidential Library & Museum · CC BY 2.0

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. Philosophical Roots and the Drafting of the UDHR. From Locke's natural rights through WWII's horrors, the world built the 1948 Universal Declaration.
  2. The UDHR's Content and the Two Covenants. The UDHR split into two binding Cold War-era covenants on civil-political and economic-social rights.
  3. Specialized Human Rights Treaties. Four landmark treaties extended human rights protections to women, children, torture victims, and racial minorities.
  4. Regional Human Rights Systems. Europe, the Americas, and Africa each built their own regional human rights charters and courts.
  5. Universalism, Relativism, and Cultural Debates. Universalism, cultural relativism, the Asian values debate, and religion all contest what human rights mean.
  6. Genocide, Atrocity, and International Criminal Justice. From the Genocide Convention to Rwanda, Srebrenica, and the ICC, atrocity forged international criminal justice.
  7. Transitional Justice and Civil Society. Truth commissions, NGOs, and new treaties extended rights protection to new groups and post-conflict societies.
  8. Human Rights in Practice and in the Digital Age. Business, expression, development, sanctions, politics, and AI test human rights in today's world.

This is the starting point of Universal Human Rights: you don't need any prior knowledge of this subject to begin.

Key points

Visual module map

1Philosophical Roots and the Drafting of the UDHR
2Specialized Human Rights Treaties
3Universalism, Relativism, and Cultural Debates
4Genocide, Atrocity, and International Criminal Justice
5Human Rights in Practice and in the Digital Age

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Final test

You need to review all key points to unlock the final test.

Optional mini-games

Extra practice, with no penalty, to reinforce the module's content.

Review Flashcards

Review each key point with cards that flip to reveal the summary.

Memory

Match each concept with its definition in as few attempts as possible.

Time Attack

Answer true or false statements before time runs out.

Chronological Order

Put the module's key points back in their original order.

Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Glendon, M. A. (2001). A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: Random House.
  • Moyn, S. (2010). The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Ignatieff, M. (2001). Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  • Sikkink, K. (2011). The Justice Cascade: How Human Rights Prosecutions Are Changing World Politics. New York: W. W. Norton.
  • Power, S. (2002). "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide. New York: Basic Books.
  • United Nations. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
  • United Nations. (1966). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights
  • United Nations. (1948). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide-convention.shtml