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Seeing Double

Human Rights Impact through Qualitative and Quantitative Eyes

Bibliographic Data

ID6411577
AuthorsEmilie M Hafner-Burton, Emilie M Hafner‐burton (0000-0002-7315-4110), James Ron (0000-0002-3497-6920, Carleton University)
Year2009
Volume61
Issue2
Pages360-401
Publication date2009-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-8871 • E-ISSN: 1086-3338
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0043887109000136
OpenAlexW1601135641
LanguageEN
Citations received95
References cited83

Over the past two decades, human rights language has spread like wildfire across international policy arenas. The activists who sparked this fire are engaged in two different campaigns. The first is comparatively modest, involving the persuasion of tens of thousands of global elites such as journalists, UN officials, donors, and national political leaders. The second is broader and more complex: to have a real impact on the behavior of tens of millions of state agents worldwide. While most international relations scholars agree that the first campaign has made real gains, opinions are split on the success—past, present, and future—of the second. In part, these divisions fall along methodological lines. With some exceptions, qualitative scholars working in the empirical international relations tradition express more optimism than their quantitative counterparts, whose contributions to the subfield are relatively new. This article reviews several new books on human rights and shows how their insights engage with these ongoing methodological debates. The authors argue that both qualitative and quantitative approaches offer important strengths and that neither has a monopoly on truth. Still, the human rights discourse may be thriving, at least in part, for reasons unrelated to impact. The authors conclude with suggestions for a more systematic and multimethod research, along with a plea for scholarly attention to the potential downsides of international human rights promotion

Human rights · International relations · Persuasion · Plea · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Promotion (chess · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Thriving · Human Rights and Development · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works95
Citations per year5,28
Citation span2008 - 2026 (19)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 94

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