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Book Reviews by Courtney Hercus

Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism , 2013

A review of 'Peacebuilding and NGOs: state civil society interactions,' by Ryerson Christie, Lond... more A review of 'Peacebuilding and NGOs: state civil society interactions,' by Ryerson Christie,
London, Routledge, 2013, 263 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-69396-7, published in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 8:1, 89-91.

Papers by Courtney Hercus

Macquarie JBus L, 2009

The operations of the International Monetary Fund run contrary to its foundational purposes. The ... more The operations of the International Monetary Fund run contrary to its
foundational purposes. The Fund is unable to meet its mandated and
evolved objectives, and in many cases exacerbates the global
disequilibrium that it was created to correct. This situation is due, in
part, to the mutually dependent relationship between the International
Monetary Fund and private financial institutions. The Fund is reliant
upon such institutions as the key source of supplementary financing,
while the institutions rely upon the Funds ability to promote their
interests and shield them from losses. This situation has led to Fund
endorsed exploitation of developing, emerging and unstable
industrialized economies. The originally narrow monetary mandate
has been expanded to include a vast array of microeconomic issues,
encroaching upon the economic and political sovereignty of member
states. In compromising its original purposes, while expanding in a
way that is ineffective, the Fund has lost its ability to act as a credible
organization of international governance. In order to legally justify
the continued existence of the International Monetary Fund, its
relationship with international private financial institutions must be
reduced and strictly regulated.

Conference Presentations by Courtney Hercus

Australian Political Studies Association Conference - International Relations Stream , 2014

This paper will historically trace the origins of the modern human rights doctrine. Contrary to t... more This paper will historically trace the origins of the modern human rights doctrine. Contrary to the dominant narrative, it will be argued that the doctrine of 'human rights' developed and was strengthened during the colonial period. The concept of natural rights, as purported by Enlightenment philosophers and traced through the ideology of the British Empire, was defined and strengthened through a dialogue of racialised exclusion. Taking an international political economy approach and drawing on the work of Gramsci, it will be argued that the development of human rights has been inextricably bound to the development of capitalism and colonialism. APSA 2014 Conference Paper Colonialism and the Development of the Human Rights Doctrine* All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Paper presented at the British International Studies Association Conference, on panel 153 'Human Rights and Justice: Debating Achievements', 2015

This paper will explore the contribution of Jimmy Carter's presidency to the twentieth century di... more This paper will explore the contribution of Jimmy Carter's presidency to the twentieth century discourse on human rights. It will be argued that the late 1970's were crucial in producing a discipline of human rights that ineffectively engages with economic rights. This paper affirms the understanding that human rights as a concept and practice gained social hegemony in the post-Cold War period, with the preconditions emerging in the 1970's. Taking a Gramscian and Neo-Gramscian approach to hegemony, this paper will employ critical theory, which encourages interrogation of the dialectic relationship between material conditions and ideas in historic analysis. It will argue that the New International Economic Order (NIEO) was perceived as a threat to US interests. This, in part, necessitated the reinvention of the US image along human rights lines. The Carter administration's definition of civil and political rights as primary human rights, and economic rights as confined to basic needs, both supported the prevailing economic order and undercut Third World calls for more comprehensive economic rights. An understanding of the disengagement of the hegemonic human rights doctrine from issues of economic rights can enrich our understanding of current relationships between power and inequality in the global system.

Thesis Chapters by Courtney Hercus

The Lost Discourses of International Economic Rights: A Critical Approach to the Construction of Human Rights : Doctoral dissertation published by the Macquarie University Library , 2022

In the epoch of globalizing capitalism, has the exclusion of economic rights from the hegemonic d... more In the epoch of globalizing capitalism, has the exclusion of economic rights from the hegemonic definition of human rights been the natural result of the progression of liberalism, or has it been due to a more complex interaction between social forces and economic structures? Anchored by a Gramscian understanding of historical blocs, this thesis traces the history of ‘rights’ discourse from the exclusionary ‘rights of man’ of the colonial period, to the codification of ‘human rights’ under international law at the opening of Pax Americana, and the upheaval of Pax Americana’s decline. The dialectical relationship between ideas, material conditions, and institutions in the formation of historical structures, developed by Robert W Cox, provides a methodological framework for this study. Taking a historical materialist approach to historical structures, this thesis argues that the post-cold war human rights doctrine has its roots in the 1970s.

This thesis explores the challenges to material, ideological and institutional hegemony of the United States in the 1970’s, orienting human rights activism at the United Nations, including the call for the New International Economic Order and Resolution 32/130 of 1977, within this paradigm. It argues that the Carter administration, constrained by the
prevailing structures, used the agency within those constraints to transform US human rights policy. That transformation promoted civil and political rights as ‘human’ rights, and relegated economic rights to a ‘basic needs’ approach. Carter's human rights policy was shaped, in part, in response to the Non-Aligned Movement both in it diplomatic role, and its deliberate definition of human rights. This thesis works to situate the
human rights doctrine within the transition from Pax Americana to ‘hyperliberalism’, conceptualising human rights as a political and socio-cultural project, necessarily bound to the economic, and compatible with the universalising hegemony of transnational capital.

Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism , 2013

A review of 'Peacebuilding and NGOs: state civil society interactions,' by Ryerson Christie, Lond... more A review of 'Peacebuilding and NGOs: state civil society interactions,' by Ryerson Christie,
London, Routledge, 2013, 263 pp., ISBN 978-0-415-69396-7, published in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 8:1, 89-91.

Macquarie JBus L, 2009

The operations of the International Monetary Fund run contrary to its foundational purposes. The ... more The operations of the International Monetary Fund run contrary to its
foundational purposes. The Fund is unable to meet its mandated and
evolved objectives, and in many cases exacerbates the global
disequilibrium that it was created to correct. This situation is due, in
part, to the mutually dependent relationship between the International
Monetary Fund and private financial institutions. The Fund is reliant
upon such institutions as the key source of supplementary financing,
while the institutions rely upon the Funds ability to promote their
interests and shield them from losses. This situation has led to Fund
endorsed exploitation of developing, emerging and unstable
industrialized economies. The originally narrow monetary mandate
has been expanded to include a vast array of microeconomic issues,
encroaching upon the economic and political sovereignty of member
states. In compromising its original purposes, while expanding in a
way that is ineffective, the Fund has lost its ability to act as a credible
organization of international governance. In order to legally justify
the continued existence of the International Monetary Fund, its
relationship with international private financial institutions must be
reduced and strictly regulated.

Australian Political Studies Association Conference - International Relations Stream , 2014

This paper will historically trace the origins of the modern human rights doctrine. Contrary to t... more This paper will historically trace the origins of the modern human rights doctrine. Contrary to the dominant narrative, it will be argued that the doctrine of 'human rights' developed and was strengthened during the colonial period. The concept of natural rights, as purported by Enlightenment philosophers and traced through the ideology of the British Empire, was defined and strengthened through a dialogue of racialised exclusion. Taking an international political economy approach and drawing on the work of Gramsci, it will be argued that the development of human rights has been inextricably bound to the development of capitalism and colonialism. APSA 2014 Conference Paper Colonialism and the Development of the Human Rights Doctrine* All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Paper presented at the British International Studies Association Conference, on panel 153 'Human Rights and Justice: Debating Achievements', 2015

This paper will explore the contribution of Jimmy Carter's presidency to the twentieth century di... more This paper will explore the contribution of Jimmy Carter's presidency to the twentieth century discourse on human rights. It will be argued that the late 1970's were crucial in producing a discipline of human rights that ineffectively engages with economic rights. This paper affirms the understanding that human rights as a concept and practice gained social hegemony in the post-Cold War period, with the preconditions emerging in the 1970's. Taking a Gramscian and Neo-Gramscian approach to hegemony, this paper will employ critical theory, which encourages interrogation of the dialectic relationship between material conditions and ideas in historic analysis. It will argue that the New International Economic Order (NIEO) was perceived as a threat to US interests. This, in part, necessitated the reinvention of the US image along human rights lines. The Carter administration's definition of civil and political rights as primary human rights, and economic rights as confined to basic needs, both supported the prevailing economic order and undercut Third World calls for more comprehensive economic rights. An understanding of the disengagement of the hegemonic human rights doctrine from issues of economic rights can enrich our understanding of current relationships between power and inequality in the global system.

The Lost Discourses of International Economic Rights: A Critical Approach to the Construction of Human Rights : Doctoral dissertation published by the Macquarie University Library , 2022

In the epoch of globalizing capitalism, has the exclusion of economic rights from the hegemonic d... more In the epoch of globalizing capitalism, has the exclusion of economic rights from the hegemonic definition of human rights been the natural result of the progression of liberalism, or has it been due to a more complex interaction between social forces and economic structures? Anchored by a Gramscian understanding of historical blocs, this thesis traces the history of ‘rights’ discourse from the exclusionary ‘rights of man’ of the colonial period, to the codification of ‘human rights’ under international law at the opening of Pax Americana, and the upheaval of Pax Americana’s decline. The dialectical relationship between ideas, material conditions, and institutions in the formation of historical structures, developed by Robert W Cox, provides a methodological framework for this study. Taking a historical materialist approach to historical structures, this thesis argues that the post-cold war human rights doctrine has its roots in the 1970s.

This thesis explores the challenges to material, ideological and institutional hegemony of the United States in the 1970’s, orienting human rights activism at the United Nations, including the call for the New International Economic Order and Resolution 32/130 of 1977, within this paradigm. It argues that the Carter administration, constrained by the
prevailing structures, used the agency within those constraints to transform US human rights policy. That transformation promoted civil and political rights as ‘human’ rights, and relegated economic rights to a ‘basic needs’ approach. Carter's human rights policy was shaped, in part, in response to the Non-Aligned Movement both in it diplomatic role, and its deliberate definition of human rights. This thesis works to situate the
human rights doctrine within the transition from Pax Americana to ‘hyperliberalism’, conceptualising human rights as a political and socio-cultural project, necessarily bound to the economic, and compatible with the universalising hegemony of transnational capital.