Human Rights Research Papers organizational theory

Human rights are nothing else but the 20th century term for Natural Rights, a concept designed by John Locke, who listed three: life, liberty and property. These three natural rights were changed by Thomas Jefferson to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a characteristically ambiguous American ideal. Whereas Locke’s natural rights can be limited to the elite class, Jefferson’s rights open up the possibilities to all classes of the society. In the 19th century, the concept of Natural Rights was left unchanged. Hegel turned Locke’s theories around and claimed that rights belonged not to individuals but to communities. Later, Marx used the doctrine of natural rights in developing his theories of communism. Numerous rights of citizens were identified in The United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. During the 19th century, the understanding of human rights altered, mostly due to the introduction of international laws banning the trafficking of blacks, women and children. Humanitarian law emerged after the Geneva Convention of 1864.