Section on Human Rights

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Mission Statement

The Section on the Sociology of Human Rights seeks to promote and support scholarship, teaching, and the fostering of an interdisciplinary, international, and critical engagement in both the sociological study of human rights as well as establishing a human rights approach to the sociological enterprise. The Sociology of Human Rights is conceived broadly and inclusively as a scholarly and human pursuit of understanding the social, political, cultural, and comparative construction of human rights histories, institutions, discourses, and futures as well as the social structures, relations, and practices that will most fully support the realization of human rights in the world. The Section on the Sociology of Human Rights encourages the growth of dialogues regarding human rights as method, as epistemology, as theory, and as praxis in the sociological understanding of the world in which we live. This section will strive to bring international perspectives to the Sociology of Human Rights globally and to the United States.

The Section will facilitate these goals through the active support of and creation of structures, activities, and practices that promote: 1) the free exchange of ideas, experiences, research findings, pedagogical strategies, and best practices in the research on the sociology of human rights and the discussion of human rights within the sociological enterprise; 2) the collaborative development of resources dedicated to enhancing research, teaching, and practice of the sociology of human rights; 3) communication among members both nationally and internationally regarding events, practices, experiences, research, and teaching on the sociology of human rights; 4) the forging of linkages and relationships with sociology of human rights scholars across the globe, including community activists, grounded movements, communities, and individuals; and, 5) opportunities for the dissemination, distribution, and publication of research in the sociology of human rights across the world.

Section Officers 2011 - 2012

Chair: Bruce K. Friesen, University of Tampa
Past Chair: Judith Blau, University of North Carolina
Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Frezzo, University of Mississippi ('13)

Council:
Manisha Desai, University of Connecticut ('12)
Sara Smits, Saint Anselm College ('12)
Claudia Chaufan, University of California, San Francisco ('13)
LaDawn Haglund, Arizona State University ('13)
Brian Gran, Case Western Reserve University ('14)
Lisa Hajjar, University of California, Santa Barbara ('14)

Student Member: M. Kathleen Dingeman-Cerda ('14)

Website Directors
Katie Dingeman-Cerda, University of California, Irvine
Sara Smits Keeney, Ph.D. , Saint Anselm College