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Title |
Efficient passions: justice and care ethics in international human rights advocacy |
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Author |
Gray, Christina M. |
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Author email |
grayc@usc.edu;christinadances@gmail.com |
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Degree |
Doctor of Philosophy |
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Document type |
Dissertation |
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Degree program |
Politics and International Relations |
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School |
College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
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Date defended/completed |
2011-09-27 |
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Date submitted |
2011-10-25 |
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Date approved |
2011-10-25 |
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Restricted until |
2013-10-25 |
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Date published |
2013-10-25 |
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Advisor (committee chair) |
Tickner, Judith Ann |
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Advisor (committee member) |
Wiseman, Geoffrey
Eliasoph, Nina S. |
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Abstract |
Founded on moral and knowledge authority, NGO activities influence state behavior and international politics more broadly. NGO authority is understood to be composed of moral and knowledge claims and practices that are (often implicitly) founded in justice ethics. Justice ethics is founded on universal, abstract rules and principles, assumes all humans are autonomous and equal, and values impartial, rational decision-making. Knowledge authority is based on expert knowledge, on a reputation for “rigorous, objective” research. Moral authority is based on apolitical representation of human beings across the globe, codified by international law. This foundation on justice ethics is implicit, but it is the dominant frame in which NGOs exercise authority in public. I find that the above definition of moral and knowledge authority is incomplete, because these definitions of moral and knowledge authority do not accurately explain all of the moral and knowledge authority that is evident in human rights advocacy. I argue that care ethics is a foundational, yet often undervalued element in the deployment of NGO knowledge and moral authority. ❧ In addition, understanding that NGO work depends on care ethics in addition to justice ethics helps explain the gendered and complex relationship between moral and knowledge authority in practice. For example, it helps us understand why certain types of work and certain styles of arguing, particularly those that depend on care and the feminine, are carefully managed in public, and are viewed with more ambivalence than other more typically masculine roles and arguments. Tensions emerge between the need to motivate people to action—to mobilize shame, empathy and outrage on one hand, and the need to argue for objective, dispassionate, rational policies and legal findings on the other. While elements of care may often be feminized and devalued, it does not follow that women only practice care or that care is relatively unimportant or ineffectual, however. ❧ Using a critical feminist methodology to examine NGO authority, I argue that moral and knowledge authorities depend on both justice and care ethics, ethics that are differently valued and deeply gendered in practice. This makes care ethics hard to see, particularly in public practices of NGOs, but while it may often be hidden from view, care ethics is fundamental to human rights advocacy and NGO authority. I show how care ethics apply in the everyday work of NGOs, in the theoretical foundations of NGO authority, and in the deployment of that authority in arguments against torture. To accomplish this, I develop a framework of care ethics based on concepts of mature care, reciprocity and co-feeling and apply this framework to the human rights advocacy. I show how this care ethics framework fills in theoretical gaps in our understanding of ethics in international politics, and how human rights advocacy can be improved through the application of a care ethical framework. |
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Keyword |
care ethics; feminist ethics; human rights; international politics |
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Language |
English |
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Part of collection |
University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
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Publisher (of the original version) |
University of Southern California |
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Place of publication (of the original version) |
Los Angeles, California |
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Publisher (of the digital version) |
University of Southern California. Libraries |
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Provenance |
Electronically uploaded by the author |
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Type |
texts |
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Legacy record ID |
usctheses-m |
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Contributing entity |
University of Southern California |
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Rights |
Gray, Christina M. |
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Physical access |
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
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Repository name |
University of Southern California Digital Library |
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Repository address |
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
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Repository email |
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
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Archival file |
uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-GrayChrist-357.pdf |
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
