On the Margins: The Disenfranchisement of Communities in International Human Rights Law as Portrayed by Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks and Ratna Kapur by Christina Yuen

Abstract

This article conducts a comparative review of the perspectives presented in Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks' "Feminism and International Law: An Opportunity for Transformation" and Ratna Kapur's "The (Im)Possibility of Queering International Human Rights Law”.  It examines the similarities in the authors' overarching understandings of the nature of the contemporary human rights system, on the one hand, and their converging views on the effectiveness of dialogue, the theoretical lenses they adopt, and their verdicts on the role of the West, on the other. Ultimately, it concludes that despite their differences in argumentation, the insights of both authors reveal that the current human rights framework does not adequately fulfil the needs and interests of women and queer individuals, serving as a stepping stone for future research as to how the system can be transformed to better serve all the individuals and groups it claims to serve.