Globalizing Human Rights: The Work of Transnational Human Rights NGOs in the 1990s

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 20, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 379-412

  Smith, Jackie ^a   Pagnucco, Ron ^b   Lopez, George A ^c  

^a STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Department of Sociology   (United States)

^c NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GLOBALISATION; HUMAN RIGHTS; NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION; TRANSNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS;

EID: 0031784865     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. This study was made possible through a generous grant from the Human Rights Program of the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation. A shorter, graphic version of this report is available online at the Human Rights Internet web page 〈http://www.hri.ca/〉 or in hard copy from the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Please address all communications to Jackie Smith, Department of Sociology, SUNY-Stony Brook; Stony Brook, NY 11794-4356; jacsmith@notes.cc.sunysb.edu.
2. See, e.g., PAUL WAPNER, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND WORLD CIVIC POLITICS (1996); NGOs, THE UN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE (Thomas G. Weiss & Leon Gordenker eds., 1996); THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD: THE INFLUENCE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE UN SYSTEM (Peter Willetts ed., 1996); MARGARET KECK & KATHRYN SIKKINK, ACTIVISTS BEYOND BORDERS: ADVOCACY NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS (1998).
3. See, e.g., PAUL WAPNER, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND WORLD CIVIC POLITICS (1996); NGOs, THE UN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE (Thomas G. Weiss & Leon Gordenker eds., 1996); THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD: THE INFLUENCE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE UN SYSTEM (Peter Willetts ed., 1996); MARGARET KECK & KATHRYN SIKKINK, ACTIVISTS BEYOND BORDERS: ADVOCACY NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS (1998).
4. See, e.g., PAUL WAPNER, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND WORLD CIVIC POLITICS (1996); NGOs, THE UN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE (Thomas G. Weiss & Leon Gordenker eds., 1996); THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD: THE INFLUENCE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE UN SYSTEM (Peter Willetts ed., 1996); MARGARET KECK & KATHRYN SIKKINK, ACTIVISTS BEYOND BORDERS: ADVOCACY NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS (1998).
5. See, e.g., PAUL WAPNER, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND WORLD CIVIC POLITICS (1996); NGOs, THE UN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE (Thomas G. Weiss & Leon Gordenker eds., 1996); THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD: THE INFLUENCE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE UN SYSTEM (Peter Willetts ed., 1996); MARGARET KECK & KATHRYN SIKKINK, ACTIVISTS BEYOND BORDERS: ADVOCACY NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS (1998).
6. See David Forsythe, The Red Cross as a Transnational Movement: Conserving and Changing the Nation-State System, 30 INT'L ORG. 607 (1976); Engelgard Mahant, Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Regime, Address at the International Studies Association Annual Meetings (1989) (on file with author); Howard Tolley, Popular Sovereignty and International Law: ICJ Strategies for Human Rights Standard- Setting, 11 HUM. RTS. Q. 561 (1989).
7. See David Forsythe, The Red Cross as a Transnational Movement: Conserving and Changing the Nation-State System, 30 INT'L ORG. 607 (1976); Engelgard Mahant, Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Regime, Address at the International Studies Association Annual Meetings (1989) (on file with author); Howard Tolley, Popular Sovereignty and International Law: ICJ Strategies for Human Rights Standard- Setting, 11 HUM. RTS. Q. 561 (1989).
8. See David Forsythe, The Red Cross as a Transnational Movement: Conserving and Changing the Nation-State System, 30 INT'L ORG. 607 (1976); Engelgard Mahant, Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Regime, Address at the International Studies Association Annual Meetings (1989) (on file with author); Howard Tolley, Popular Sovereignty and International Law: ICJ Strategies for Human Rights Standard-Setting, 11 HUM. RTS. Q. 561 (1989).
9. See Harry Scoble & Laurie Wiseberg, Human Rights NGOs: Notes Towards Comparative Analysis, REVUE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME 611 (1976).
10. See IAIN GUEST, BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCES: ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UNITED NATIONS (1990); Ron Pagnucco & John D. McCarthy, Advocating Nonviolent Direct Action in Latin America: The Antecedents and Emergence of SERPAJ, in RELIGION AND POLITICS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: REVIVAL 125 (Bronislaw Misztal & Anson Shupe eds., 1992); Kathryn Sikkink, Human Rights, Principled Issue-Networks, and Sovereignty in Latin America, 47 INT'L ORG. 411 (1993).
11. See IAIN GUEST, BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCES: ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UNITED NATIONS (1990); Ron Pagnucco & John D. McCarthy, Advocating Nonviolent Direct Action in Latin America: The Antecedents and Emergence of SERPAJ, in RELIGION AND POLITICS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: REVIVAL 125 (Bronislaw Misztal & Anson Shupe eds., 1992); Kathryn Sikkink, Human Rights, Principled Issue-Networks, and Sovereignty in Latin America, 47 INT'L ORG. 411 (1993).
12. See IAIN GUEST, BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCES: ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE UNITED NATIONS (1990); Ron Pagnucco & John D. McCarthy, Advocating Nonviolent Direct Action in Latin America: The Antecedents and Emergence of SERPAJ, in RELIGION AND POLITICS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: REVIVAL 125 (Bronislaw Misztal & Anson Shupe eds., 1992); Kathryn Sikkink, Human Rights, Principled Issue-Networks, and Sovereignty in Latin America, 47 INT'L ORG. 411 (1993).
13. See Jack Donnelly, International Human Rights: A Regime Analysis, 40 INT'L ORG. 599 (1986); DAVID FORSYTHE, THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1991); Jackie Smith, Transnational Political Processes and the Human Rights Movement, 18 RES. IN SOC. MOVEMENTS, CONFLICTS & CHANGE 185 (1995).
14. See Jack Donnelly, International Human Rights: A Regime Analysis, 40 INT'L ORG. 599 (1986); DAVID FORSYTHE, THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1991); Jackie Smith, Transnational Political Processes and the Human Rights Movement, 18 RES. IN SOC. MOVEMENTS, CONFLICTS & CHANGE 185 (1995).
15. See Jack Donnelly, International Human Rights: A Regime Analysis, 40 INT'L ORG. 599 (1986); DAVID FORSYTHE, THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1991); Jackie Smith, Transnational Political Processes and the Human Rights Movement, 18 RES. IN SOC. MOVEMENTS, CONFLICTS & CHANGE 185 (1995).
16. We are especially grateful to John D. McCarthy, Laurie Wiseberg, Dinah Shelton, Bernard Hamilton, Juan Mendez, and Garth Meintjes for taking time to review and to consult with us about the questionnaire. Thanks also go to many others - especially human rights leaders with whom we met in Geneva in the summer of 1995 - who assisted us during the course of the study.
17. John D. McCarthy, Activists, Authorities, and Media Framing of Drunk Driving, in NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: FROM IDEOLOGY TO IDENTITY 133 (Enrique Larana et al. eds., 1994); John D. McCarthy & Mark Wolfson, Resource Mobilization by Local Social Movement Organizations: Agency, Strategy, and Organization in the Movement Against Drinking and Driving, 61 AM. SOC. REV. 1070 (1996).
18. John D. McCarthy, Activists, Authorities, and Media Framing of Drunk Driving, in NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: FROM IDEOLOGY TO IDENTITY 133 (Enrique Larana et al. eds., 1994); John D. McCarthy & Mark Wolfson, Resource Mobilization by Local Social Movement Organizations: Agency, Strategy, and Organization in the Movement Against Drinking and Driving, 61 AM. SOC. REV. 1070 (1996).
19. John McCarthy et al., The American Catholic Bishops and the Empowerment of the Poor Through Community Development, in SOCIAL JUSTICE PHILANTHROPY 97 (John H. Stansfield II ed., 1997).
20. See Mary Anna Colwell, Organizational and Management Characteristics of Peace Groups (Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management, Working Paper No. 8, 1989).
21. Dennis R. Young & Darlyne Baily, Survey of Structure in National Nonprofit Associations (Mendel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Case Western Reserve University 1993).
22. We are grateful to a number of people who helped us with the many logistical aspects of carrying out an international survey, especially Faye Kolly, Mimi Conradi, A. Betts Fetherston, Kevin Warnes, and Colleen McGrath.
23. UNION OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (1993-94) [hereinafter 1993-94 YEARBOOK]; UNION OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (1995-96) [hereinafter 1995-96 YEARBOOK].
24. UNION OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (1993-94) [hereinafter 1993-94 YEARBOOK]; UNION OF INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (1995-96) [hereinafter 1995-96 YEARBOOK].
25. 1993-94 YEARBOOK, supra note 13; 1995-96 YEARBOOK, supra note 13.
26. 1993-94 YEARBOOK, supra note 13; 1995-96 YEARBOOK, supra note 13.
27. Conference registrant list from 1995 UN Conference on the Status of Women (on file with author).
28. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, NGO DIRECTORY (1994) (on file with author).
29. List of participants at regional meetings in preparation for the 1993 UN Second World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (on file with author).
30. NGO Directory produced by Human Rights Internet, available on 〈http://www.hri.ca〉.
31. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASSOCIATIONS (Gale Research Co., 1996).
32. 1995-96 YEARBOOK, supra note 13.
33. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASSOCIATIONS, supra note 19.
34. Approximately six weeks after the original mailing, a letter was sent to nonrespondents urging them to complete the survey. After another eight weeks, a second copy of the questionnaire was sent to remaining nonrespondents. The final follow-up mailings consisted of a four-page, shortened version of the questionnaire that solicited some of the more crucial information sought in this study. The survey strategy was modified for international application from Dillman and from John McCarthy's adaptation of that method. See DON A. DILLMAN, MAIL AND TELEPHONE SURVEYS: THE TOTAL METHOD (1978); Jackie Smith, Nonresponse Bias in Organizational Surveys: Evidence From a Survey of Groups and Organizations Working for Peace, 26 NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR Q. 359 (1997).
35. Approximately six weeks after the original mailing, a letter was sent to nonrespondents urging them to complete the survey. After another eight weeks, a second copy of the questionnaire was sent to remaining nonrespondents. The final follow-up mailings consisted of a four-page, shortened version of the questionnaire that solicited some of the more crucial information sought in this study. The survey strategy was modified for international application from Dillman and from John McCarthy's adaptation of that method. See DON A. DILLMAN, MAIL AND TELEPHONE SURVEYS: THE TOTAL METHOD (1978); Jackie Smith, Nonresponse Bias in Organizational Surveys: Evidence From a Survey of Groups and Organizations Working for Peace, 26 NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR Q. 359 (1997).
36. This decision was based on the assumption that poorer communication infrastructures in these areas would mean that surveys and reminders were less likely to reach their addressee than would have been true for Northern groups, especially those in cities like London, Geneva, New York, and Brussels.
37. Fifty-seven percent of all completed surveys were answered by the equivalent of the organization's executive director. An additional 19 percent were completed by someone serving in a management or head of committee position.
38. See Smith, supra note 22; Donald Tomaskovic-Devey et al., Organizational Survey Nonresponse, 39 ADMIN. SCIENCE Q. 439 (1994).
39. An additional effort to limit nonresponse included providing sufficient international postal reply coupons to cover - in most cases - the costs of returning the questionnaire along with additional organizational literature.
40. This figure is respectable for organizational surveys. See Tomaskovic-Devey et al., supra note 25.
41. See Frank J. Weed, Grass-Roots Activism and the Drunk Driving Issue: A Survey of MADD Chapters, 9 LAW & POL'Y 259 (1987).
42. 1995-96 YEARBOOK, supra note 13.
43. Additional survey analysis being conducted by Smith suggests that organizational surveys may tend to overrepresent the more active voluntary associations in a population. See JACKIE SMITH, REPORT ON EARTHACTION PARTNER SURVEYS 1994 (1996) (on file with author).
44. See Jackie Smith, Characteristics of the Modern Transnational Social Movement Sector, in TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND GLOBAL POLITICS: SOLIDARITY BEYOND THE STATE (Jackie Smith et al. eds., 1997).
45. In future analyses the meaning of these trends will be discussed, and more importantly, the relationship between the characteristics will be examined in light of social movement theory and the human rights and NGO literatures in their respective social science fields.
46. See David Weissbrodt, The Contribution of International Nongovernmental Organizations to the Protection of Human Rights, 2 HUM. RTS. INT'L L. 403 (1984); Laurie S. Wiseberg & Harry M. Scoble, Recent Trends in the Expanding Universe of NGOs Dedicated to the Protection of Human Rights, in GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS: PUBLIC POLICIES, COMPARATIVE MEASURES, AND NGO STRATEGIES 229 (Ved P. Nanda et al. eds., 1981).
47. See David Weissbrodt, The Contribution of International Nongovernmental Organizations to the Protection of Human Rights, 2 HUM. RTS. INT'L L. 403 (1984); Laurie S. Wiseberg & Harry M. Scoble, Recent Trends in the Expanding Universe of NGOs Dedicated to the Protection of Human Rights, in GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS: PUBLIC POLICIES, COMPARATIVE MEASURES, AND NGO STRATEGIES 229 (Ved P. Nanda et al. eds., 1981).
48. T-test statistic approached statistical significance (p < .20). The T-test statistic tests whether the comparisons of the mean scores on a particular item for two different groups (e.g., nonrespondents vs. respondents; Northern vs. Southern NGOs) is substantially different from zero. In other words, given the sample size and the variation in responses, is there enough information to believe that there is some systematic difference between the two groups? A larger t-value represents greater likelihood that a statistically significant difference exists.
49. T-statistic was significant at the .01 level.
50. See generally HENRY J. STEINER, DIVERSE PARTNERS: NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT (1991).
51. See JACK L. WALKER, MOBILIZING INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICA: PATRONS, PROFESSIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (1991); Ron Pagnucco, Tactical Choice in the U.S. Peace Movement: The Ruly/Unruly Divide (1992) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of America) (on file with the Catholic University of America Library).
52. See JACK L. WALKER, MOBILIZING INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICA: PATRONS, PROFESSIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS (1991); Ron Pagnucco, Tactical Choice in the U.S. Peace Movement: The Ruly/Unruly Divide (1992) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of America) (on file with the Catholic University of America Library).
53. The difference between Northern and Southern groups was significant at the .05 level.
54. The difference between Northern and Southern groups approached statistical significance (p = .11).
55. See High Commissioner for the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, G.A. Res. 48/141, U.N. GAOR, 48th Sess., U.N. Doc. A/Res/48/141 (1993).
56. See Andrew Clapham, Creating the High Commissioner for Human Rights: The Outside Story, 3 J. INT'L LAW 556 (1994) (discussing the political debates surrounding the formation of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights).
57. The difference between Northern and Southern groups was statistically significant at the .05 level.
58. STEINER, supra note 36.
59. Id.
60. See e.g., John D. McCarthy, Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Mobilization: Infrastructure Deficits and New Technologies, in SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIETY: COLLECTED ESSAYS 49, 49-66 (Mayer N. Zald & John D. McCarthy eds., 1987).
61. The difference between Northern and Southern groups approached statistical significance (p < .15). The "p" statistic refers to the probability of observing a particular pattern in the data if there was no systematic relationship between the variables tested. For example, "p < .05" means that there is a 5% probability (a low probability) of seeing a particular distribution of observations by chance alone.
62. See Scoble & Wiseberg, supra note 4, at 611.
63. The difference between Northern and Southern groups approached statistical significance (p < .10).
64. The average of responses to the question on group solidarity was 4.2 for Southern groups, compared with 3.8 for Northern groups, and this difference was significant at the .10 level. The average of responses to the question on whether cultural differences affect joint action was 2.3 for Southern groups, compared with 1.9 for Northern groups, significant at the .10 level.
65. See Smith, supra note 31, at 42-58.