The politics of liberty and security : the new human rights approach and its role in the era of the 'War on Terror'

Jackson, W

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the role of human rights in contemporary liberal democracy
and considers this role specifically in the context of the 'war on terror'. The thesis
examines the relationship between human rights and security developed in this context
and considers the processes through which this relationship has been formulated as well
as the various players involved in development and maintenance of what needs to be
understood as a liberty-security regime.
The analysis begins from a critical understanding of contemporary liberalism still
very much grounded in its classical tradition and seeks to interrogate the liberal character
of the current regime. The necessary unraveling of this regime is done in part through a
comparative analysis of the relationship between liberty and security as formulated in
state strategy in the UK, Australia and the US. However, rather than understanding this
regime as developed and sustained solely at the level of state or government action, the
crucial role of civil society actors, particularly of certain intellectual strata and of human
rights advocacy organisations, in constructing and legitimating such a regime, as well as
the interplay between these perspectives, is also at the core of this study. The thesis
demonstrates the pivotal role that liberal intellectuals and human rights organisations play
in not only legitimating the current regime but also influencing its current form.
Fundamentally, the research suggests that this legitimating function exists not in spite of
their apparently critical position but because of it.
The analysis in turn aims to establish whether the role of human rights in this
context is indicative of an inherent political functionality or whether there is the
possibility that human rights can be part of an alternative and above all emancipatory
politics. To develop this consideration, a critical review is provided of certain thinkers on
the left who utilise human rights principles as central to a critique of the current regime
and as part of their vision of an alternative, leftist politics. By demonstrating that the
effect of a human rights framework on critical interventions is not restricted to those
working within the liberal tradition, this thesis suggests that a commitment to human
rights principles in this context cannot be part of the development of a substantive
critique of both the current regime and the wider liberal-capitalist status quo.

Citation

Jackson, W. The politics of liberty and security : the new human rights approach and its role in the era of the 'War on Terror'. (Thesis). Salford: University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 9, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 9, 2016