A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO MEMBERSHIP AND BELONGING

This chapter explores the challenges that Nordic States have faced in realizing human rights education through the lens of membership. One reason implementing human rights education is challenging is because it is premised on a broader conception of membership than most States utilize. Citizenship is the membership model utilized in most States, and it premises membership on specific types of connections to the State. The human rights approach to membership is based on personhood and extends rights regardless of citizenship status. While Nordic nations have been pivotal in the establishment of human rights treaties and fervent advocates of human rights on the global stage, ensuring the rights of all within their borders remains challenging. This paradox underlines the chapter’s emphasis on legal literacy as a vital tool to address this dynamic. Legal literacy refers to knowledge about the substantive rights protected within the human rights regime, the acceptable approaches for protecting human rights, and the processes available to vindicate rights violations. Increasing teachers’ and students’ legal literacy provides the knowledge necessary to effectively teach about human rights, through human rights, and for human rights.