About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

40 Hum. Rts. Q. 932 (2018)
Decoupling International Agreements from Domestic Policy: The State and Soft Repression

handle is hein.journals/hurq40 and id is 954 raw text is: 



HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY







Decoupling International Agreements

from Domestic Policy:

The State and Soft Repression





Kathleen M. Fallon, Anna-Liisa Aunio, & Jessica Kim



                                  ABSTRACT

     Despite a dramatic expansion in states' adoption of UN agreements to
     protect human rights, these efforts often fail to deliver on the full promise
     of compliance within national contexts. In this paper, we examine the
     process and mechanisms behind this hypocrisy paradox-when states sign
     onto yet fail to comply with international agreements. Borrowing from
     repression and social movement literature, we identify one central process
     that states draw on to avoid garnering international condemnation while
     maintaining non-compliance nationally: soft repression. We highlight two
     mechanisms of soft repression: the mobilization of state resources (work-
     ing at the macro-level to silence activists) and counterframing techniques
     (working at the meso-level to stigmatize activists and their goals). Using



  Kathleen M. Fallon, Professor, Department of Sociology, Stony Brook University, studies
  political sociology, international development, and gender studies. Specifically, she focuses
  on women's social movements, women's rights, women's health, and democracy within
  sub-Saharan Africa, as well as across developing countries. She has done in-depth field
  research within Ghana, examining the influence of democratization on women's rights and
  the emergence of the women's movement. Through comparative analyses across developing
  countries, she has also researched topics tied to democratic transitions, women's political
  representation, women's activism, and maternity leave policies. She received her Ph.D. at
  Indiana University.
  Anna-Liisa Aunio, Department of Sociology, Dawson College; Loyola Sustainability Research
  Centre, Concordia University, studies political sociology, social movements, social and en-
  vironmental policy, and NGOs. Her current work focuses on multilateral governance and
  policy in food systems. She received her Ph.D. at McGill University.
  Jessica Kim, Department of Sociology, Stony Brook University, is a political sociologist
  studying issues of democratization, global norm diffusion, and public opinion. Her current
  work examines the emergence of democracy and democracy assistance as a global norm
  and its impact on governance.

  Human Rights Quarterly 40 (2018) 932-961 © 2018 by Johns Hopkins University Press

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most