Universität Wien

030263 KU From the protection of persecuted co-religionists to the protection of universal human rights (2019W)

Theory and practice of humanitarian interventions in historcial perspective

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 80 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Thursday 10.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 17.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 24.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 31.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 07.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 14.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 21.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 28.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 05.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 12.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 09.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 16.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02
Thursday 23.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal B UniCampus Hof 2 2C-EG-02

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The primary target of this course is to acquire a broad and critical understanding of the history of humanitarian intervention. In order to achieve this objective the course combines three methodological tools, contextualization, longue durée and diachronic approach. Looking at the subject matter in context means that we’ll investigate the history of humanitarian intervention as history of human rights, as diplomatic and military history, as history of communication and the public, as history of sovereignty and the international community and as history of international law. This approach does not only provide a broader understandig of the history of humanitarian intervention, but also an opportunity for the critical reflection of concepts and practices that are central to our understanding of politics and law, such as the „sovereign state, the „international community“, „public opinion“ or „human rights“. Looking at the history of humanitarian intervention in the longue durée, from the 15th century to the present allows us to study different patterns of interventions on behalf of foreign persecuted citizens (or subjects) by military or alternative means. By adopting a diachronic perspective on the history of humanitarian intervention the course differs from attempts to construct a more or less linear evolution of humanitärian intervention. It rather makes use of the early modern period in order to highlight the contingency of the modern international order based on sovereign states and to provide a measure of orientation for challenges of current international law which is characterized by the conditionality or even erosion of the classical 19th and 20th century sovereign state.

Assessment and permitted materials

The grade is determined by three factors: regular attendance and active participation (students may miss not more than two sessions), participation in one of the additional classes or field trips on offer, a written exam and a brief essay or translation.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The successful completion of the course is conditional on regular attendance, the writing of a brief essay or a brief translation and the performance in the written exam. The written exam makes up for two-thirds of the final grade.

Examination topics

- cases and other subject matters as discussed in class
- reading assignments on the e-learning platform

Reading list

- Samuel Moyn, The Last Utopia. Human Rights in History, Cambridge, Massachusetts/London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.
- Stephan Wendehorst, From the protection of persecuted co-religionists to the protection of universal human rights: Theory and practice of humanitarian intervention in historical perspective. Script, Vienna: University of Vienna, Law Faculty, Institute for Legal and Constitutional History, 2019 (available as from November 2019).

Association in the course directory

MA Geschichte; APMG Neuzeit; Exkursion und transdisziplinäre Öffnung; Geschichte der Neuzeit im transdisziplinären Kontext(4 ECTS)| MA Zeitgeschichte;Disziplinäre und transdisziplinäre Kontexte; Zeitgeschichte im transdisziplinären Kontext (4 ECTS)

Last modified: Fr 06.05.2022 00:15