Many studies have been carried out throughout the world on how street-connected children relate to the streets, but not enough of these studies are seen through a gender perspective. Hence, the general conception of street-connected children is in some manner still mainstreamed, which casts an image claiming all children in the same category. This demonstrates that there is currently a missing gap of knowledge. This study covers whether the role of gender could affect the lives of the children that live and work on the streets, through a qualitative research in the field with 28 interviewees. These interviews were largely conducted in Brikama, Serekunda, Topkunda, Farafenni, Madina Salaam and Bakau in The Gambia, where the majority of the Gambian NGOs and street-connected children is located. The results from analysing these interviews pointed towards the same pattern: that there were a few similarities in the livelihoods of the street-connected boys and girls. However, the differences concerning their livelihoods on the streets were greater since the findings demonstrated that their challenges and opportunities of achieving the Ten Central Human Capabilities were different. Street-connected boys and street-connected girls were both exposed to child labour. The main difference was, street-connected boys, who lived in groups, worked in car garages, fish industries and for shop owners, while the few girls who permanently lived on the streets, were alone and sexual exploited. This research is thus not merely a contribution to the studies of street-connected children, but how gender is relating to the streets. Furthermore, a contribution to improve these vulnerable children’s livelihoods and also increase the awareness through the perspective of humanities, which might be crucial in future policy recommendations and research.

Poderiam os direitos humanos, em vista das limitações que envolvem tanto a sua titularidade como o seu fundamento nuclear - a dignidade humana e dos desafios que permeiam a sua implementação, se valer de linguagens alternativas que contribuam para o seu avanço? Com fundamento nos estudos de Martha Nussbaum, o presente trabalho explora a viabilidade de aplicação da abordagem das capacidades como ferramenta para qualificação do discurso dos direitos humanos. / Could it be possible for human rights, in view of the limitations regarding the idea of being entitled to and its foundation the human dignity and also the challenges that surround its implementation, to make use of alternative languages that contribute to its achievement? Based upon Martha Nussbaums studies, the present work explores the possibility of using the capabilities approach as a tool to qualify human rights discourse.

<p>The aim with this study was to increase the knowledge about as well as shed light on hidden refugees’ living conditions by compiling research about hidden refugees’ living conditions and complete this research by doing a field survey with people with different knowledge and experience of hidden refugees’ living conditions. The result was analyzed on the basis of Nussbaum’s list of ten human abilities and the convention of human rights. The study showed that hidden refugees' living conditions are experienced as very critical, and characterized by lack of human rights as well as means to utilize and develop their abilities. The conclusion of the study is that hidden refugees’ living conditions could not be considered humane and that there is a need for ethics when treating hidden refugees.</p>

The aim with this study was to increase the knowledge about as well as shed light on hidden refugees’ living conditions by compiling research about hidden refugees’ living conditions and complete this research by doing a field survey with people with different knowledge and experience of hidden refugees’ living conditions. The result was analyzed on the basis of Nussbaum’s list of ten human abilities and the convention of human rights. The study showed that hidden refugees' living conditions are experienced as very critical, and characterized by lack of human rights as well as means to utilize and develop their abilities. The conclusion of the study is that hidden refugees’ living conditions could not be considered humane and that there is a need for ethics when treating hidden refugees.

This essay aims to examine Martha Nussbaum's proposal for a classical defense of reform in liberal education and her critique of utility thinking in higher education. I want to explore how Nussbaum uses history to create an ethical alternative that cultivates both moral and intellectual virtues, which she considers to be crucial for the survival of democracy. In examining Nussbaum's use of Aristotle, I focus on her work as a proposal for institutional implementation of an Aristotelian epistemology and the cultivation of the individual as an ethical political subject. This study highlights the epistemological, educational and political ideas that form the basis of Nussbaum's ideals. I intend, however, to go beyond a contextualizing reading and thus establish a dialogue with a radical intersubjectivity to respond to Nussbaum's ambitions to recognize human vulnerabilities as assets for reason. From this perspective, I problematise Nussbaum's aspirations for reform and argue that she maintains a loyalty to an ideal that stands in contrast to the possibilities for epistemological and thus ethical political change.

The emergence of Human Rights NGOs continue to influence the practice of human rights domestically and internationally. In connection with this development, as scrutinizers of human rights and human rights violations, the Human Rights NGOs must in turn be scrutinized. Guided by a theoretical framework consisted of theories of justification by Rainer Forst, Martha Nussbaum and Michael Ignatieff, a critical analysis of how Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reveal the state of human rights in the respective annual report of 2017 is carried out. The aim is to scrutinize how the Human Rights NGOs interpretation, prioritization and justification of human rights affect the validity of human rights. The validity of human rights in turn, argues the thesis, presupposes that we must assess whether these strategies are reasonable. The thesis finds that human rights are understood as universal claims for the respect and protection of the underpinning values of human rights: dignity, freedom and equality. Human rights, interpreted in this sense, must have an abiding effect and protect human rights, but also to hold human rights violations accountable through means of justice. Accordingly, justice has a double meaning for the purpose of human rights in the sense that it firstly set out conditions for when human rights are protected and secondly, make this task possible. / I ljuset av framväxten av icke-statliga människorättsorganisationer och deras betydande inflytande på de mänskliga rättigheterna, syftar denna uppsats till att studera deras förståelse och tolkning av dessa rättigheter. Med hjälp av ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av teorier om rättfärdigande av mänskliga rättigheter av Rainer Forst, Martha Nussbaum och Michael Ignatieff, genomförs en kritisk analys av hur Amnesty International och Human Rights Watch årliga rapporter om de mänskliga rättigheternas status ser ut. Syftet med denna analys är att kritisk granska hur organisationernas tolkning, prioritering och rättfärdigande av mänskliga rättigheter påverkar rättigheternas validitet. Validiteten i sin tur, förutsätter att en kritisk analys av dessa strategier förhåller sig till huruvida dessa är förnuftiga och godtagbara. Uppsatsen kommer fram till att mänskliga rättigheter förstås som universella anspråk vars syfte är att respektera och skydda de underliggande normerna av mänsklig värdighet, frihet och jämlikhet. Mänskliga rättigheter måste således ha en varaktig effekt för att skydda människor, men även för att kunna ställa brott mot mänskliga rättigheter inför rättvisa. Följaktligen har rättvisa mer än ett syfte, nämligen att först staka ut de förutsättningar som krävs för att respektera och skydda mänskliga rättigheter, och för det andra att göra detta möjligt.

Poderiam os direitos humanos, em vista das limitações que envolvem tanto a sua titularidade como o seu fundamento nuclear - a dignidade humana e dos desafios que permeiam a sua implementação, se valer de linguagens alternativas que contribuam para o seu avanço? Com fundamento nos estudos de Martha Nussbaum, o presente trabalho explora a viabilidade de aplicação da abordagem das capacidades como ferramenta para qualificação do discurso dos direitos humanos. / Could it be possible for human rights, in view of the limitations regarding the idea of being entitled to and its foundation the human dignity and also the challenges that surround its implementation, to make use of alternative languages that contribute to its achievement? Based upon Martha Nussbaums studies, the present work explores the possibility of using the capabilities approach as a tool to qualify human rights discourse.

Comment peut-on concilier le respect des droits à la liberté des membres des générations futures et présentes ? Agir en faveur des premiers ne doit pas se faire aux dépens des seconds. Selon nous, la garantie pour tous de pouvoir développer et concevoir une conception spécifique de la vie bonne suppose de privilégier l'objectif d'une justice sociale globale dans le temps présent pour ainsi transmettre à la postérité un monde plus juste. Nous indiquons en premier lieu en quoi les générations qui se succèdent sur Terre ont des devoirs envers celles qui les suivront dans le temps, mais également pourquoi nos actes ne reflètent pas la reconnaissance de tels devoirs. Nous nous interrogeons ensuite sur le contenu du monde à transmettre en conformité avec ces devoirs. Il incombe aux générations de préserver autant que possible l'environnement naturel et d'édifier un environnement politique et social suffisant. Cela requiert la constitution d'une épargne intergénérationnelle au cours d'une phase limitée, suivie d'une phase de croisière dans laquelle l'accumulation doit être stoppée. Mais les efforts pour cette épargne et les ressources générées par celle-ci sont à répartir équitablement au sein et entre les générations : ce point est l'objet de notre troisième partie. Nous montrons que les efforts demandés à chacun au sein de la phase d'accumulation devraient dépendre de l'environnement dont disposent les individus, tandis que les ressources produites sont à redistribuer en priorité aux contemporains les plus démunis. Une telle préférence sociale pour le présent ne va pas à l'encontre des droits des individus futurs : elle permet au contraire de limiter la perpétuation, de génération en génération, des inégalités intragénérationnelles et de favoriser le respect de leurs droits par les individus qui vivent dans le temps présent. / How can we reconcile the respect to liberty rights of members of future and current generations? Act in favour of the former should not be at the expense of the latter. According to us, the guaranty for all to be able to develop and conceive a specific conception of the good life involves favouring the objective of global social justice in the present time, and so transmitting to posterity a fairer world. We show first how the succeeding generations on Earth have duties to those who follow in time, but also why our acts do not reflect the recognition of such duties. Then we wonder about the content of the World to transmit in compliance with these duties. Generations bear the responsibility to preserve as much as possible the natural environment and to edify a sufficient political and social environment. This requires the constitution of an intergenerational savings during a limited phase, followed by a steady-state phase in which the accumulation must be stopped. But efforts to the savings and resources generated by it have to be distributed fairly within and between generations: this is the subject of our third part. We show that efforts required to everyone during the accumulation phase should depend on the environment available to individuals, while produced resources have to be redistributed primarily to the most disadvantaged contemporaries. Such a social time preference does not run counter the rights of future individuals: it allows instead to limit the perpetuation of intra-generational inequalities from generation to generation and to promote the respect of their rights by individuals living at the present time.

The Capability Approach was initially developed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with the first basic articulation presented in his 1979 ‘Equality of What?’ Tanner Lecture. Since then, the approach has gained a huge amount of attention as a conceptual framework which offers a clear and insightful way to measure well-being and development. Most recently, the approach has been refined and extended by Martha Nussbaum to issues of disability, nationality, and species membership in political philosophy. This project is about the foundations of the capability approach. More specifically, this project asks whether we can, and whether there are good reasons to, strengthen those foundations. The conclusions drawn here are that we ought to think seriously about the way that the capability approach develops as a theory that responds to real world challenges and change. More importantly, this project contends – in light of the challenges of future people and indigenous peoples – that there is good reason to think of new ways to ground the approach. This project takes up this challenge and grounds the approach in a modified version of Tim Mulgan’s approach to well-being. This project demonstrates that this alternative enriches the capability approach by providing us with a way of making sense of important problems, and with options for moving forward. Overall, this project asks important questions about how the capability approach could evolve based on challenges that remain relatively under-explored in the current literature. This project contributes to this literature by demonstrating that we can and ought to strengthen the capability approach and its ability to understand, take on board, and resolve these challenges.

This thesis proposes a theory of literature's human relevance in literary terms, developing hints in the critical practice of twentieth century literary critic F.R. Leavis. It examines how literary texts can be humanly relevant in a manner that depends on their literary merit, and does so in three stages, interrogating: the way literary texts operate; the role literary language plays in thinking; and the interaction of literature and morality. The thesis has two, related, aims: to reconceptualise literature's relation to human living, and to offer a recharacterisation of Leavis's literary criticism, with the investigation of aspects of Leavis's practice forming part of the more fundamental enquiry regarding the nature of literature's human significance. In the first stage, the thesis argues that Leavis's critical practice in his works of the 1930s (his first major decade of critical output) provides fruitful ways for conceptualising the interaction between form and meaning in literature, with important consequences for present-day understandings of how literature functions and how it matters. It focuses on an untheorised (by him or others) achievement in Leavis's criticism, the introduction of the term 'attitude' into literary analysis and judgement, and argues that the term enables a different mode of attention to the question of how literature relates to the human world. The second stage first interrogates the role that language in general plays in understanding, constructing a hypothesis from arguments by philosophers R.G. Collingwood and Charles Taylor, and then turns to literary language, arguing that it enables a mode of relating to experience not otherwise possible, and forms a process of thinking, for reader and writer alike. The final stage focuses on arguments in aesthetics against literature's cognitive value, and in moral philosophy for its empathic and moral value. Building on earlier arguments about the operation of literary language and language's relation to thought, the thesis claims that literary language is humanly meaningful in a way that is both cognitively and morally significant. Throughout, the thesis argues for the inescapable link between well-written literature and the morally resonant, such that good literature forms what Taylor calls 'moral sources'. The crucial query is how literature functions, which will help us better to answer why it is humanly important. This thesis engages with literary criticism, philosophical aesthetics and moral philosophy, as well as offering close readings of literature itself.