Human rights as performance: a discourse analysis of the Western-led intervention in Libya (2011)

The Western-led military intervention in Libya of 2011 was carried out in response to the violent uprisings taking place, and on the basis that the Libyan government was denying the Libyan people their basic human rights. Nevertheless, the continued violence, instability and widespread human rights...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Robson, Matthew
Formato: tesis doctoral
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/16312
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/16312
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:342.7(043.2)
Human rights
Military intervention in Libya of 2011
Derechos humanos
Intervención militar en Libia de 2011
Guerra
5103.05 Guerra
5906.01 Derechos Humanos
Descrição
Resumo:The Western-led military intervention in Libya of 2011 was carried out in response to the violent uprisings taking place, and on the basis that the Libyan government was denying the Libyan people their basic human rights. Nevertheless, the continued violence, instability and widespread human rights abuses which has followed the toppling of ex-leader Gaddafi has raised questions about the legitimacy and the wisdom of Western actions. This thesis has sought to investigate the military intervention, with primary focus on the discourses used to give meaning to the events in Libya and the actions carried out by Western governments. This involves an analysis of how the key identities were constituted, and also, crucially, an assessment of the consequences of using one particular discourse-identity-policy cluster as opposed to another. One of the key theoretical premises assumed is that it is ‘performativity’ which best explains how the state constitutes its own identity, and thus the concrete actions taken by it. Finally, in analysing these facets of the intervention, it will become possible to reach conclusions as to what extent Western actions correspond with what David Slater has called the ‘imperiality of power’ (Slater, 2013)...