Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Area of Concentration

International and Area Studies and Political Science

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of human rights education (HRE) as a preventive and proactive mechanism of the human rights regime. Little systematic research has been conducted and the HRE literature usually focuses on rare or singular initiatives. By examining salient international programs and by grounding HRE in the human rights situations of Japan, the Philippines, and India, this study analyses whether HRE programs are effective. The study investigates whether international programs have any individual or social effect. Then, the study assesses whether HRE in the selected countries enhances acceptance and human rights values through formal schools, whether non-formal HRE programs change norms, and whether HRE has connections to policy changes. Chapter one revisits the philosophy of human rights, various layers of enforcement, and the role of human rights education in the human rights regime. Chapter two examines effectiveness of HRE through qualitative studies of programs conducted in multiple countries by the UN and Amnesty International. Chapter three analyses the role of secondary school programs and the work of NGOs toward building HRE in Japan, the Philippines, and India. Additionally, formal and non-formal human rights instruments are scrutinized for a more holistic perspective of how HRE might relate to the domestic context of a country. The findings raise questions about the interaction among various human rights mechanisms, properly measuring effectiveness, and the relationship between norms and policies.

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