HIST 396 - Human Rights in China: A Historical Perspective

3 Credit(s)

Although an international human rights regime has come into being since WWII, debates concerning cultural relativism versus universalism are far from settled. Is there a specifically Chinese approach to human rights? When have human rights been discussed in Chinese history? What has been the historical development of human rights concepts, concerns, and instruments in global history? Where, when, and how have concerns about human rights in China been raised, and with what historical outcomes? This course explores these and other questions by examining the global history of human rights; debates about cultural relativism and non-Western states; Chinese historical concepts and institutions that may or may not have supported human rights; and the historical development of particularly sensitive human rights issues that tend to draw international attention to China.