This thesis is about understanding the dynamics involved in the socialisation of international human rights norms. It examines the process within an analytical framework of transnational advocacy networks, the spiral model, in the context of China’s modernisation. Existing literature points to China’s economic power and potential political influence on the international arena and the Chinese state’s authoritarian regime domestically in explaining the limited achievements transnational advocacy networks have had in inducing human rights changes in China. This thesis responds with a novel perspective constructed in three steps by examining: 1) the relationship between China’s identity and political legitimacy since the beginning of China’s modernisation in the 1840s; 2) how China’s modernisation drive impacts the development of its domestic civil society; 3) the potential of human rights INGOs in inducing human rights changes with case studies of the Dui Hua Foundation and the Rights Practice. It is found that under this novel perspective, the Chinese state’s authority has been limited by rising social problems, which threaten the state’s political legitimacy to rule. Chinese civil society actors play an important role in producing solutions to these social problems, convincing the state to further relax its control. Human rights INGOs contribute to this relationship through strengthening Chinese civil society actors’ capacity in solving social problems and monitoring official institutions, while also informing government officials about reforms that could make domestic practices more compatible to international human rights norms. In this vein, despite the fact that international human rights norms have been altered by China’s power, they remain influential on China’s behaviour by the careful alignment of the human rights work of transnational advocacy networks to suit China’s interest to political legitimacy. This thesis confirms and strengthens the spiral model as a framework to understand the socialisation of international human rights norms. This thesis contributes to understanding the power of international human rights norms, i.e. the extent to which they influence the behaviour and practices of states, as well as the role of transnational advocacy networks in situations where human rights violations persist. / published_or_final_version / Modern Languages and Cultures / Master / Master of Philosophy

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Education in human rights has been grossly neglected in the South African schooling system. The far-reaching changes that are currently being worked in this country, however, compel all educators to start instructing their students not only in their own rights, but also in the rights of their fellow-citizens. This study forms part of a greater research project that has been launched by the Department of Educational Sciences of the Rand Afrikaans University. The aim of this study was to establish to what extent pupils have been made aware of their right to freedom and privacy by the time they have reached Std. 10. The following aspects of the right to freedom and privacy were identified on the basis of a literature study: the right to protection of a person's body, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association, freedom of thought, freedom of worship, freedom of movement and the right to privacy. Following the identification of the above-mentioned aspects, a questionnaire was compiled, the results of which were verified by the process of content validation. Hypotheses made on the bases of pender, age group and religious affiliation were tested and the confidence of the questionnaire was tested on the 1% and 5% level. The most important findings of the investigation are as follows: The high average values obtained in respect of all aspects of freedom and privacy indicate that the respondents attach much importance to and are well informed on their right to freedom and privacy. The fact that so many respondents attach much importance to the right to the protection of their bodies, to the right to associate with whomever they choose and to freedom of speech, shows these factors to be of vital importance to their education. It was found that female respondents were of the opinion that pupils were made more aware of their right to freedom and privacy by the time they had reached Std. 10 than their male counterparts. Significant differences of opinion were found to exist between teachers and pupils, the various age groups, language groups, religions and teachers with different teaching experiences and qualifications as regards the question to what extent schools have made children aware of their right to freedom and privacy by the time they have reached Std. 10. Respondents were of the opinion that neither media exposure (l.e. radio, television and newspapers) nor school education and guardianship had any significant influence on the extent to which pupils are informed on their right to freedom and privacy. It can be concluded, therefore, that greater awareness needs to be created at school level as far as the education of pupils as to their right to freedom and privacy is concerned. It is recommended, furthermore, that a counselling programme be launched that would enable teachers, parents and pupils to gain thorough knowledge of their right to freedom and privacy, and of their responsibility to exercise these rights.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Human rights are currently the focal point of discussion. It is an actuality which' gains prominence as the complexity of society increases. This study will focus on the rights of the individual in relation to the other members of the group and the family. The family is seen as a bond of community in which the individual is anchored. The problems which are therefore addressed in this dissertation, are: Are children sufficiently informed about the rights of the individual in his group and his family? Are there any aspects with regard to the rights of the individual in his group or family about which children have almost no knowledge? The aim of this study was to ascertain to what extent the rights of the individual in the group are communicated to the child by the school, and to determine which educational gaps exists in this respect. The nature of this study is exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory studies have as their aim the exploration of a relatively unknown area. In this project the rights of the individual in his group and family are examined; also whether, and to what extent, these rights are communicated to the child - it is a relatively unknown area in educational studies which is explored. The ways in which the research in this study was by undertaken and carried out, includes amongst others a study of the literature which contains the relevant and, where possible the youngest views of experts on the appropriate area of research. It will form the frame of reference for the empirical study which will follow. The empirical component of the investigation was based on the implementation of a questionnaire. The variables were subjected to an item analysis. The independent variables, ie., sex; character; age; language; language of instruction; religion; news value; experience in teaching; qualification; professional skill and guardianship, were used to investigate the importance of the rights of the individual in relation to the other members of the group and the family.

Public, Constitutional and International Law / LL. M.