Field:
    Political Theory

Dissertation Title:
    A Systematic Critique of Multiculturalism and Human Rights

Committee:
    Carole Pateman (Chair), Edmond J. Keller, Lynn Hunt, and Giulia Sissa

Date of Completion: June 2010

Contact Information:
    Steve On
    UCLA Political Science Department
    4289 Bunche Hall
    Los Angeles, California 90095-1472
    Phone: 310-825-4331
    Fax: 310-825-0778

 Curriculum Vitae:
    Download PDF

Articles:
    Feature Article "Brian Barry and the Headscarf Case in France", Contemporary Political Theory 5(2):176-192, 2006
    "The 'Relative Universality' of Human Rights: An Assessment.", Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 4(3-4):577-601, 2005.

Dissertation Summary:
    Focusing on the phenomenon of violence against women in the private sphere, my dissertation aims to combine the two literatures of multiculturalism and human rights. In these two genres of literature, the same critiques of cultural rights and human rights are being made but have yet to be brought together. According to feminist scholars’ insights into the private realm, cultural rights that provide special protections to ethnic groups, and human rights that supposedly provide universal protections often do not apply to women in practice. These special and universalistic rights can be used – and in fact have been used – as legal shields to cover up acts that harm women’s interests and well-being, thus exacerbating violence against women at home. By studying this phenomenon systematically, my dissertation breaks new ground.

Research Interests:
    Human Rights, Universalism, Freedom

Teaching Interests:
    Political Theory, American Politics, International Relations; Human Rights, Multiculturalism