Jones, Melinda --- "The Transformative Potential of Human Rights" [1999] AUJlHRights 18; (1999) 5(1) Australian Journal of Human Rights 1

[*] Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the UN Workshop on Human Rights Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. I would like to thank Matthew Zagor for his invaluable research assistance, and the Law Foundation of NSW for supporting this project.

[1] General Assembly and Economic and Social Council: A/49/261/Add.1; E/110/Add.1 14th November 1994.

[2] Also significant is the age and educational level of the learners: see Wolf-Wasserman M and Hutchinson Teaching Human Dignity: Social Change Lessons for Every Teacher, 1978.

[3] On issues relating to the rights of people with disabilities see Jones M and Marks L A Disability Diversability and Legal Change Kluwer, Dordrecht (forthcoming 1999); Swain J, Finkelstein V, French S and Oliver M (eds) Disabling Barriers -- Enabling Environments Sage, London (1993); Morris J (ed) Encounters with Strangers: Feminism and Disability The Women's Press, London (1996); Brown H and Smith H Normalisation Routledge, London (1992).

[4] As reported in [1996] AUJlHRights 19; (1996) 3 Australian Journal of Human Rights 121.

[5] Post R `Community and the 1st Amendment'(1997) 29 Arizona State Law Journal 437 at 479.

[6] S Benn `Human Rights and Human Nature' in Tay, AE-S (ed) Teaching Human Rights, AGPS Canberra 1981.

[7] See Asmal K, Asmal L and Roberts RS Reconciliation Through Truth Creda Press, Cape Town 1996.

[8] Brown v Board of Education 347 US 438 (1954).

[9] Including Children who Challenge Us Most (1993) PLEDG Project.

[10] See L v Minister for Education for the State of Queensland [1996] EOC 92-78; P v Director-General Department of Education [1996] EOC 92-795; and Cook S and Slee R `Struggling With the Fabric of Disablement: Picking Up the threads of the Law and Education' in Jones M and Marks LA. Despite the optimism of many people with disabilities, it would appear that the current activity surrounding the introduction of education standards under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is not likely to change this situation.

[11] See Pij l S J, Meijer C J W and Hegarty S Inclusive Education: A Global Agenda, Routledge, London 1997.

[12] See Minow M Making All the Difference, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1990.

[13] McCarthy C `Multicultural Discourses and Curriculum Reform: A Critical Perspective' (1980) 44 Educational Theory 81.

[14] McCarthy C ibid at 94; see generally Kanpol B and McLaren P (eds) Critical Multiculturalism: Uncommon Voices in a Common Struggle, Bergin and Garvey, Westpoint, 1995.

[15] See Connell R W, Making the Difference: Schools, Families and Social Division, Allen and Unwin, Sydney 1982. Giroux Border Crossing: Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education Routledge, New York, 1992.

[16] Shapiro H Between Capitalism and Democracy: Educational Policy and the Crisis of the Welfare State, Bergin and Garvey, New York 1990.

[17] Stefanou-Haag S `Anti-Racism: From Legislation to Education' in [1994] AUJlHRights 12; (1994) 1 Australian Journal of Human Rights 185 at 189.

[18] The resources on Work and Violence were prepared by Reg Graycar and Jenny Morgan; that on Gender and Citizenship by Sandra Berns, Paula Baron and Marcia Neave.

[19] See Mari Matsuda. See also Frug M J Postmodern Legal Feminism Routledge New York, 1992.

[20] Mattingly C No Guns for Asmir, Puffin, Ringwood 1993.

[21] Gleitzman, M Blabbermouth Piper, Sydney, 1992.

[22] Kidd D The Fat & Juicy Place Angus & Robinson, Sydney (1992).

[23] Kagan S Co-operative Learning 1996; Johnson DW Learning Together and Alone: Co-operative, Competitive and Individualistic Learning 4th ed, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 1994; Stahl R, \t`Co-operative Learning' (1994) The Social Educator 41-3; McGrath H and Noble T Different Kids, Same Classroom Longman Sydney 1993.

[24] Sapon-Shevin M `Co-operative Learning, Co-operative Visions' in (1991) Holistic Education Review 25.

[25] Ibid at 27.

[26] Ibid at 28.

[27] Williams P The Alchemy of Race and Rights (1993) Virago Press, London p 164.

[28] Mabo v Queensland [No 2] (1992) 175 CLR 1.

[29] Wik Peoples and Thayorre People v Queensland (1996) 187 CLR 1.

[30] East Timor (Portugal v Australia) [1995] ICJ Reports, 90.

[31] Habermas J Knowledge and Human Interests Heineman, London, 1972.

[32] Dias C `Towards Liberation, Distraction or Deconscientisation: Tasks for the UN Decade of Human Rights Education in the Asia-Pacific Region' [1996] AUJlHRights 13; (1996) 3 Australian Journal of Human Rights 9 at 12.

[33] Mezirow J Fostering Critical reflection in Adulthood: A Guide to Transformative and Emancipatory Learning Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1990.

[34] Mezirow J ibid Preface xvi.

[35] For the text of international instruments relating to human rights see The United Nations and Human Rights 1945-1995 UN Blue Book Series, Vol VII United Nations 1995. For a discussion of the sources of international law see Steiner H J and Alston P International Human Rights in Context Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996.

[36] There is, of course, some dispute about the universality of these principles. It is argued that they are oppressive of certain groups and amount to a form of imperialism known as cultural relativism. It is argued that the hierarchies of rights which refer to civil and political rights as first generation and collective and indigenous rights as fourth generation is objectionable as a mere reflection of capitalism. It is not my intention to enter into these debates here, but simply to note that such disputes occur whenever new moral codes attempt to displace existing ones.