FEMGEN 120A: Human Rights and Gender in the MENA

Course Description

The (in)compatibility of human rights and democracy with Islam has been the subject of much scholarly debate. This course will analyze the various debates surrounding this issue, with particular emphasis on the recent political and social developments unfolding across Muslim-majority countries. It will explore the key actors and factors of institutional, political, legal, and social change across the region, with a focus on state and society relations. Rather than studying religious teachings on human rights (which vary according to diverging interpretations), the central focus of this course is how individuals and groups across the region understand and make claims about their rights from their states and societies. The main topics covered in this course will range from theoretical concepts regarding human rights discourses in international as well as non-Western contexts, to case studies of important human rights campaigns, such as women's rights, minority rights, LGBTQ rights, academic freedom, as well as the pro-democratic uprisings that continue to shape politics and society across the Muslim-majority world.