Civil rights

Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all citizens by law. Civil rights are distinguished from "human rights" or "natural rights"; civil rights are rights that persons do have, while natural or human rights are rights that many scholars think that people should have. For example, the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty, and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued that people acquire rights as an inalieanble rights gift from God or at a time of nature before governments were formed.

Civil rights movement

Historically, the process of moving toward equality under the law was long and tenuous. But after a status had been reached where every citizen has the same rights by law, practical issues of discrimination remain. Even if every person is treated equally by the state, there may not be equality because of discrimination within society, such as in the workplace, which may hinder civil liberties in everyday life. During the second half of the 20th century Western societies have therefore introduced legislation that tries to remove discrimination on the basis of race, gender or disability.

Related Topics:
Process - Equality - Discrimination - Legislation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Civil Rights Movement in the United States

Main article: American Civil Rights Movement

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Civil rights campaigns in the U.S. have been dominated by racial politics. Although slavery was abolished and freed slaves were given the right to vote in 1865, southern states used laws and vigilantism to maintain black Americans as a non-voting lower class of citizen subject to repressive rules of conduct. The federal government, while aware of the situation, had limited jurisdiction over these matters and feared the political effects of provoking the South. A breakthrough came when president Harry S. Truman integrated the armed forces by executive order in 1948. This action prompted a broad movement throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s to secure and enforce the civil rights of all black Americans.

Related Topics:
Racial - 1865 - Southern states - Vigilantism - Black Americans - Harry S. Truman - Executive order - 1948 - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other legal and political issues in the United States are often described as pertaining to the protection of civil rights, such as interpretations of the Bill of Rights (regarding, for example, freedom of speech and gun politics), labor laws, business regulations, property rights and eminent domain, and the questions of abortion and same sex marriage. Social discrimination is being reliefed by the protection of laborers from abuse by employers.

Related Topics:
Bill of Rights - Freedom of speech - Gun politics - Labor - Business - Property rights - Eminent domain - Abortion - Same sex marriage - Laborer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also, since the terrorist attacks in New York City issues other than racial, sexual or social discrimination move into the center of attention. The controversial Patriot Act has served as a spearhead for this issue wherein citizen's right to privacy is restricted for the safety of the nation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland saw the formation of the Campaign for Social Justice in Belfast in 1964, followed by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in 1967. It consciously modelled itself on the civil rights movement in the United States. The largely Catholic membership demanded the repeal of the Special Powers Acts of 1922, 1933, and 1943, and an end to the discrimination by Ulster Unionist Party government, especially the gerrymandering of local electoral districts to ensure the victory of unionist candidates in areas with nationalist majorities (most blatantly in the city of Derry), in the awarding of local authority housing and in employment. Tentative steps to address these issues by Prime Minister Terence O'Neill was met with vehement opposition from hardline Protestant politicans, most notably Ian Paisley. Frustration at the resistance to reform and the heavy-handed tactics of the RUC and the British army, first caught on film on Duke Street in Derry on 5th October 1968, pushed many Catholics towards supporting the IRA. The British government responded with a policy of internment without trial of suspected republicans which provoked a civil disobedience campaign. For more than three hundred people, the internment lasted several years. In 1978, in a case brought by the government of the Republic of Ireland against the government of the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the interrogation techniques approved for use by the British army on internees in 1971 amounted to "inhuman and degrading" treatment. In an attempt to break the escalating cycle of violence including Bloody Sunday in Derry, the British Government introduced direct rule from London in 1972, proroguing the Northern Ireland Parliament. But, following the ending of an IRA ceasefire in 1976, there was a resumption of the political violence that has long been a feature of life in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement introduced power-sharing but the devolved assembly at Stormont has been suspended since October 2002 and the British Parliamentary Election in 2005 produced a polarised result, diminishing the power of the more moderate parties.

Related Topics:
Northern Ireland - Belfast - Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association - United States - Catholic - Ulster Unionist Party - Government - Gerrymander - Nationalist - Derry - Terence O'Neill - Protestant - Ian Paisley - RUC - British army - IRA - British government - Internment - Civil disobedience - Republic of Ireland - United Kingdom - European Court of Human Rights - Bloody Sunday - Direct rule - Northern Ireland Parliament - Good Friday Agreement - Stormont - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the leaders of NICRA was future Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, another, Austin Currie, a candidate for President of Ireland in 1990. Hume's co-Nobel Laureate, David Trimble, was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in the 1990s and 2000s, and had campaigned against sharing power with Catholics in the 1970s. Although some progress has been made, there is a political vacuum in Northern Ireland, caused by the breakdown of the peace process, and many of the issues in policing, housing, and employment first raised by the Campaign for Social Justice in 1964 have yet to be resolved. Joan Harbison, head of Northern Ireland's Equality Commission, noted in her Annual Report in 2000 that, "while this Report reveals that the overall composition of Catholics in the civil service, at 38%, continues to move closer to the figure for labour availability, major under-representation continues to exist within the most senior grades." At present, senior civil servants in Northern Ireland are required to hold a British passport, ruling out those who hold Irish citizenship. In the more recent Monitoring Report No. 14 A Profile of the Northern Ireland Workforce published by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in November, 2004, Roman Catholics comprise 42.7% of those of working age available for work. "Comparing only those sections of the fulltime workforce which were monitored in 1990, the overall Roman Catholic share has increased by 5.9 percentage points, from 34.9% in 1990 to 40.8% in 2003." (2004, at p9) But, despite the improvement in the overall pattern of employment, there are causes for concern. For example, in the Security Related Occupations, which include the Police Service, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Prison Service, etc. "The composition was 85.6% Protestant. 9.9% Roman Catholic, and 4.5% undetermined." (2004 at p27).

Related Topics:
NICRA - Nobel Peace Prize - John Hume - Austin Currie - President of Ireland - 1990 - David Trimble - Ulster Unionist Party - 1990s - 2000s - Police Service - Royal Irish Regiment

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• See the debate of the Northern Ireland Assembly at http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/000628.htm
• and the pdf of the Fair Employment Monitoring Report No 14 - A Profile of the Northern Ireland Workforce at http://www.equalityni.org/publications/recentpubdetails.cfm?id=2
• John Whyte: How much discrimination was there under the unionist regime, 1921–68?

Liberal feminism

Main article: Liberal feminism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Whereas radical feminists believe that an improvement of the situation for women can only be achieved through a revolutionary change, liberal feminism suggests a more practical approach. Liberal feminists try to achieve equality for women through social reforms by changing institutions and law so as to accommodate gender equality. This approach proved successful. It was liberal feminism that initiated changes in European institutions and that brought about legislature against the discrimination of women. In some European countries (f. i. Austria) job adverts may not be worded in such a way so as to exclude female applicants. Public institutions often try to increase the number of females and encourage women to apply.

Related Topics:
Radical feminists - Revolution - Social reform - Europe - Job advert

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Feminist writers associated with this tradition are amongst others Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill and second wave feminist Betty Friedan.

Related Topics:
Tradition - Mary Wollstonecraft - John Stuart Mill - Betty Friedan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One major step in the civil rights of women was the movement for the right to vote for women in the early 20th century.

Related Topics:
Right to vote - 20th century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~