Making Rights Claims: A Practice of Democratic Citizenship

171 Pages·2011·1.368 MB·English

by  Karen Zivi

Making Rights Claims
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MAKING RIGHTS
CLAIMS
A Practice of Democratic
Citizenship
KAREN ZIVI

1
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Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zivi, Karen.
Making rights claims: a practice of democratic citizenship /Karen Zivi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-982640-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-19-982641-4 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Human rights. 2. Civil rights. I. Title.
JC571.Z58 2011
323—dc22 2011009251
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my mother and father, Sue and Lou Zivi. For all their
patience and support.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. From Rights to Rights Claiming 3
2. Rights as Trumps and the Quest for Certainty 24
3. Rights Claiming as a Practice of Persuasion 43
4. Claiming Rights and Performing Citizenship 68
5. Making Rights Claims in the Age of AIDS 90
6. Practicing Democracy 113
Notes 123
References 1 41
Index 1 53
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Acknowledgments
TO WRITE A book is to make a claim in and upon the world. And like the
claims to rights that I explore in the pages to come, it is an activity that is
only made possible and given meaning by and through the relationships
and networks in which we are embedded. I owe an enormous debt of grat-
itude to many people and institutions for making both possible and mean-
ingful the activity of which these pages are but a small manifestation.
They have been more generous with their time and resources than anyone
has—dare I say—a r ight to expect.
This book began in the lively graduate seminars that made the Rutgers
University program in political science such a special place to study po-
litical theory and women and politics. It was inspired and nurtured by a
faculty and graduate student cohort that embraced and encouraged dispa-
rate approaches to the study of political thought, with an ongoing commit-
ment to bringing theory to bear on political practice and a willingness to
take questions of gender seriously. My deepest thanks go to the members
of my dissertation committee who helped shepherd an early incarnation
of this project. Linda Zerilli taught me to read widely and think broadly, to
take intellectual risks and to be bold. She set a standard for excellence that
I continue to aspire to today. Mary Hawkesworth brought a fresh perspec-
tive on and an enthusiasm for this project at precisely the time I needed it
most, and she remains an exemplary scholar, teacher, and mentor. Gordon
Schochet talked to me for hours about everything and anything, remind-
ing me to see connections between ideas and practices where one might
not usually look. And Timothy Kaufman-Osborn, though not a Rutgers
professor, had such a profound impact on the make-up of the graduate
student population there that I wanted my own piece of his legacy. I thank
him for his guidance and his students.