SOCIOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

SOCIOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

“The American Sociological Association strives to use the full range of knowledge and skills embedded in our discipline to advance the cause of human rights worldwide, according to the highest ethical standards, with respect for the right of all people to participate in and benefit from sociology.”  ASA Statement on Human Rights and the Application and Practice of Sociology.“

A sociological approach to human rights understands that rights derive from society and the state rather than an abstract principle. There is a distinction between human rights laws, which are codified rules, and talking about human rights as aspirations or competing moral claims. In this way, human rights are a sociological as well as a legal fact. Human rights should be understood as they are practiced in social life.  Our understanding of human rights must go beyond abstract universalism and recognize that each society has its own rights culture that is socially constructed. Claims to universality confuse the way human rights are realized as a distinct social practice…Sociology can help us understand how and why human rights have emerged as a powerful social force; how rights are realized in practice; how society resolves competing rights claims; and what were the social conditions that made rights significant in a particular historical moment. In order to have social meaning, human rights must become embedded in routine practices of societal institutions such as schools, hospitals, families, courts, and government (Madsen and Verschraegen 2013). In other words, a sociological approach helps us understand the societal preconditions for the emergence and practice of human rights.”  Dominique Clement, The Sociology of Human Rights.

“Sociology and human rights are so interconnected that the principles underlying sociology are deeply rooted in the fertile soils of human rights…Sociology … According to sociology…the law is considered a social institution that may be advanced or improved by appropriate efforts…the main purpose or objective of sociology is to ensure that the work of the law is to serve and fulfil the requirement of society…The sociological approach towards human rights is that these rights have been evolved or developed through society and the state itself, not by mere principles.”  Nikhil Thakur,  Sociological Aspects of Human Rights .