Tools, Gaps and False Myths in Comparative Legal Research on Human Rights
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/tahrj.n13.2Keywords:
methodology, comparative analysis, legal comparison, human rights, critical function, SWOTAbstract
In recent years, the comparative perspective has become increasingly used as a methodological approach to human rights research in the scientific literature. This paper is not intended to summarise the virtues and shortcomings that can be attributed to comparative legal research in the specific field of human rights. Rather, its aim is to critically reconsider its interdisciplinary role and, in particular, to reflect on two of the most popular methods in this field of research: legal comparison and the case study method. Firstly, this paper reviews the method in question, including its typologies and grounds for use. Secondly, it outlines the techniques that determine what and how to compare. Finally, a SWOT evaluation of comparative legal research on human rights is provided, identifying its strengths and weaknesses in order to dispel false myths.
References
Alchourron, C.E., Bulygin, E. (1971) Introducción a la metodología de las ciencias jurídicas y sociales, Buenos Aires, Astrea.
Andreasaean, B. A. (2017) “Comparative analyses of human rights performance” in Andreassen, B. A. Research Methods in Human Rights. A Handbook, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway, Hans-Otto Sano, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark and Siobhán McInerney-Lankford, The World Bank, US. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793
Arango, J. (2012), ‘Early starters and latecomers’, in Okolski M. (ed.), European Immigrations, Amsterdam, Amsterdam UP, pp. 45-63. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048517275-003
Aymerich Ojea, I., (2001), Sociología de los derechos humanos: un modelo weberiano contrastado con investigaciones empíricas, Universitat de Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch.
Bauböck R., Iseult, H., Huddleston Th., Hutcheson D., Shaw J., Vink. Maarten, P. (2013), Access to citizenship and its impact on immigrant integration, Florence, EUI.
Bertossi, Ch. Duyvendak J. W. (2012), “National models of immigrant integration. The costs for comparative research”, Comparative European politics, 10 (3), pp. 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2012.10
Bonjour, S. (2014), “The Transfer of Pre-departure Integration Requirements for Family Migrants Among Member States of the European Union”, Comparative Migration Studies, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 203-226.
https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2014.2.BONJ
Brubaker, R. (2003), “The Return of Assimilation? Changing Perspectives on Immigration and its Sequels in France, Germany, and the United States”, en Joppke, CH. y Morawska, E., (eds.), Toward Assimilation and Citizenship. Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 39-58. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230554795_2
Cappeletti, M. (1994) “Metodo e finalità degli studi comparativi sulla giustizia”, en Cappelletti, M. (coord). Dimensioni della giustizia nelle società contemporanee, Bologna, Il Mulino, pp. 11-37.
Constantinesco, L. J. (1981) Tratado de derecho comparado, Volumen I, Barcelona, Tecnos.
Crul, M., Schneider, J., & Lelie, F. (Eds.) (2012), The European second generation compared: Does the integration context matter? IMISCOE Research, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048516926
De Cruz, P. (1999), Comparative Law in a changing world, 2 ed. London, Cavendish Publishing Limited.
De la Sierra, S. (2004), Una metodología para el Derecho comparado europeo. Derecho Público comparado y Derecho administrativo Europeo, Madrid, Cuadernos Civitas.
Della Porta, D. (2013), “Análisis comparativo: la investigación basada en casos frente a la investigación basada en variables”; Della Porta, D., Keating, M. Enfoques y metodologías de las ciencias sociales. Una perspectiva pluralista, Madrid, Akal, pp. 211-235.
Etzioni, A. Dubow, F. L. (1970) Comparative perspectives. Theories and Methods, Boston, Little, Brown and Company.
Favell, A. (2001), “Integration policy and integration research in Europe: A review and critique”, in Aleinikoff A. & Klusmeyer D., (eds.) Citizenship today: Global perspectives and practices, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institute.
Fideli, R. (1998) La Comparazione, Milano, Angeli.
Fitzgerald, D. (2012), “A Comparativist Manifesto for International Migration Studies”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol.35 number 10, pp. 1725-1740.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2012.659269
Freeman, G. (1995), “Models of Immigrant Politics in Liberal Democratic States”. International Migration Review, 29 (4), pp. 881-902.
https://doi.org/10.1177/019791839502900401
Gerring, J. (2001) Social science methodology. A criterial framework, Cambridge, Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815492
Heckmann, F., Schnapper, D. (2003), The integration of Immigrants in European societies. National differences and trends of convergence. Stuttgart, Lucius. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110507324
Jabine, Thomas B. and Richard P. Claude (eds.) (1992). Human rights and statistics: getting the record straight. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512802863
Jacobs, D. and Rea, A. (2007) “The end of national models? Integration courses and citizenship trajectories in Europe” International Journal on Multicultural societies, 9, pp. 264-283.
Joppke, CH. (2007) “Transformation of immigrant integration in Western Europe: Civic integration and antidiscrimination in the Netherlands, France, and Germany”, World Politics, 59(2), pp. 243–273.
https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2007.0022
Joppke, CH., Seidle, L (2012)., Immigrant integration in Federal Countries, Quebec, McGill-Queen’s University Press.
King, R.; Lazardis G., Tsardanidis, Ch. (2000), Eldorado or fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333982525
Kohn, M. (1987) “Cross-national research and analytic strategy”, American Sociological Review, 52, 6, pp. 713-751. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095831
Koopmans, R. (2010), “Trade-offs between equality and difference: Immigrant, integration, multiculturalism and the Welfare State in cross-national perspective”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 36, nº 1, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830903250881
Landman, T. (2002). “Comparative politics and Human Rights”, Human Rights Quaterly, 24, pp. 890-923. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2002.0050
Legrand, P. Munday, R. (2003), Comparative Legal Studies: traditions and Transitions, Cambridge, Cambridge University press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511522260
Lijphart. A. (1971), “Comparative Politics and Comparative method”, American Political Science Review, LXV, pp. 158-177. https://doi.org/10.2307/1955513
Losano, M-G. (2002) I grandi sistemi giuridici: introduzione ai diritti europei ed extraeuropei, Roma, Laterza.
Martiniello, M. (2013), “Comparisons in migration studies”, Comparative Migration Studies, pp. 7-22 https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2013.1.MART
Merryman, J. H. (1999), The Loneliness of the Comparative Lawyer, The Hague, London, Boston, Kluwer law International.
Morán, G. (2002) “El Derecho comparado como disciplina jurídica: la importancia de la investigación y la docencia del derecho comparado y la utilidad del método comparado en el ámbito jurídico”, Anuario Faculdade de Dereito, 6, pp. 501-530.
Moreno Cruz, P. (2017), "Comparar las comparaciones jurídicas: observaciones al margen de la Introducción al derecho comparado de Alessandro Somma", Revista de Derecho Privado, Universidad Externado de Colombia, n.° 32, 491-512. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0123-43662017000100491
Morlino, L. (2005). Introducción a la investigación comparada, Madrid, Alianza editorial.
Örücü, E. (2004), The enigma of Comparative Law. Variations on a Theme for the Twenty-first Century, Netherlands, Martinuus Nijhoff Publishers.
Piovani, J.J:, Krawczy, N. ( 2017) “Los estudios comparativos, algunas notas históricas, espistemológicas y metodológicas”, Educaçao y realidade, 42, 3, pp. 821-840. https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-623667609
Sacco, R. (1994), Introduzione al Diritto comparato, Torino, Utet.
Sartori, G. (1991) “Comparing and Miscomparing”, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 3,3, pp. 243-257.
Sartori, G. Morlino, L. Eds. (1994). La comparación en las ciencias sociales. Madrid, Alianza editorial. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951692891003003001
Schain, M. H. (2012), The politics of Immigration in France, Britain and the United States, New York, Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137047892
Somma, A (2015)., Introduzione al diritto comparato, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2014, trad. esp. Conde Naranjo, Introducción al derecho compartido, Madrid, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/id/92578/introduccion_somma_hd34_2015.pdf
Spirer, Herbert S. and Spirer, L. (2001). Intermediate data analysis for human rights. New York: Columbia University. Available on the Datasets/Text page at http://www.columbia.edu/itc/sipa/U8 l 65/
Stanfield II, J. H. (1993), Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods, Newbury Park, London and New Delhi, Sage Publications.
Triadafilopoulos, T. (2011), “Illiberal means to liberal ends? Understanding recent immigrant integration policies in Europe”, Journal of Ethnic and migration Studies, vol. 37, nº 6, pp. 861-880. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2011.576189
Van Hoecke, M. (2015) “Methodology of comparative legal research”, Law and Methods, https://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/RENM-D-14-00001.pdf
Van Oers R., Ersboll E., Kostakopoulou, D. (2010), A Definition of belonging: Language and integration tests in Europe, Leiden, Martinuus Nijhoff. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004175068.i-332
Witker, J. (2017) “Los Derechos Humanos: Nuevo escenario de la investigación jurídica”, Boletín Mexicano de Derecho comparado, XIX, núm. 149, pp. 979-1005. https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24484873e.2017.149.11363
Andreasaean, B. A. (2017) “Comparative analyses of human rights performance” in Andreassen, B. A. Research Methods in Human Rights. A Handbook, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway, Hans-Otto Sano, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark and Siobhán McInerney-Lankford, The World Bank, US. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785367793
Arango, J. (2012), ‘Early starters and latecomers’, in Okolski M. (ed.), European Immigrations, Amsterdam, Amsterdam UP, pp. 45-63. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048517275-003
Aymerich Ojea, I., (2001), Sociología de los derechos humanos: un modelo weberiano contrastado con investigaciones empíricas, Universitat de Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch.
Bauböck R., Iseult, H., Huddleston Th., Hutcheson D., Shaw J., Vink. Maarten, P. (2013), Access to citizenship and its impact on immigrant integration, Florence, EUI.
Bertossi, Ch. Duyvendak J. W. (2012), “National models of immigrant integration. The costs for comparative research”, Comparative European politics, 10 (3), pp. 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2012.10
Bonjour, S. (2014), “The Transfer of Pre-departure Integration Requirements for Family Migrants Among Member States of the European Union”, Comparative Migration Studies, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 203-226.
https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2014.2.BONJ
Brubaker, R. (2003), “The Return of Assimilation? Changing Perspectives on Immigration and its Sequels in France, Germany, and the United States”, en Joppke, CH. y Morawska, E., (eds.), Toward Assimilation and Citizenship. Immigrants in Liberal Nation-States, London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 39-58. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230554795_2
Cappeletti, M. (1994) “Metodo e finalità degli studi comparativi sulla giustizia”, en Cappelletti, M. (coord). Dimensioni della giustizia nelle società contemporanee, Bologna, Il Mulino, pp. 11-37.
Constantinesco, L. J. (1981) Tratado de derecho comparado, Volumen I, Barcelona, Tecnos.
Crul, M., Schneider, J., & Lelie, F. (Eds.) (2012), The European second generation compared: Does the integration context matter? IMISCOE Research, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048516926
De Cruz, P. (1999), Comparative Law in a changing world, 2 ed. London, Cavendish Publishing Limited.
De la Sierra, S. (2004), Una metodología para el Derecho comparado europeo. Derecho Público comparado y Derecho administrativo Europeo, Madrid, Cuadernos Civitas.
Della Porta, D. (2013), “Análisis comparativo: la investigación basada en casos frente a la investigación basada en variables”; Della Porta, D., Keating, M. Enfoques y metodologías de las ciencias sociales. Una perspectiva pluralista, Madrid, Akal, pp. 211-235.
Etzioni, A. Dubow, F. L. (1970) Comparative perspectives. Theories and Methods, Boston, Little, Brown and Company.
Favell, A. (2001), “Integration policy and integration research in Europe: A review and critique”, in Aleinikoff A. & Klusmeyer D., (eds.) Citizenship today: Global perspectives and practices, Washington, D.C. Brookings Institute.
Fideli, R. (1998) La Comparazione, Milano, Angeli.
Fitzgerald, D. (2012), “A Comparativist Manifesto for International Migration Studies”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol.35 number 10, pp. 1725-1740.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2012.659269
Freeman, G. (1995), “Models of Immigrant Politics in Liberal Democratic States”. International Migration Review, 29 (4), pp. 881-902.
https://doi.org/10.1177/019791839502900401
Gerring, J. (2001) Social science methodology. A criterial framework, Cambridge, Cambridge university press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815492
Heckmann, F., Schnapper, D. (2003), The integration of Immigrants in European societies. National differences and trends of convergence. Stuttgart, Lucius. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110507324
Jabine, Thomas B. and Richard P. Claude (eds.) (1992). Human rights and statistics: getting the record straight. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512802863
Jacobs, D. and Rea, A. (2007) “The end of national models? Integration courses and citizenship trajectories in Europe” International Journal on Multicultural societies, 9, pp. 264-283.
Joppke, CH. (2007) “Transformation of immigrant integration in Western Europe: Civic integration and antidiscrimination in the Netherlands, France, and Germany”, World Politics, 59(2), pp. 243–273.
https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2007.0022
Joppke, CH., Seidle, L (2012)., Immigrant integration in Federal Countries, Quebec, McGill-Queen’s University Press.
King, R.; Lazardis G., Tsardanidis, Ch. (2000), Eldorado or fortress? Migration in Southern Europe, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333982525
Kohn, M. (1987) “Cross-national research and analytic strategy”, American Sociological Review, 52, 6, pp. 713-751. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095831
Koopmans, R. (2010), “Trade-offs between equality and difference: Immigrant, integration, multiculturalism and the Welfare State in cross-national perspective”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 36, nº 1, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830903250881
Landman, T. (2002). “Comparative politics and Human Rights”, Human Rights Quaterly, 24, pp. 890-923. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2002.0050
Legrand, P. Munday, R. (2003), Comparative Legal Studies: traditions and Transitions, Cambridge, Cambridge University press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511522260
Lijphart. A. (1971), “Comparative Politics and Comparative method”, American Political Science Review, LXV, pp. 158-177. https://doi.org/10.2307/1955513
Losano, M-G. (2002) I grandi sistemi giuridici: introduzione ai diritti europei ed extraeuropei, Roma, Laterza.
Martiniello, M. (2013), “Comparisons in migration studies”, Comparative Migration Studies, pp. 7-22 https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2013.1.MART
Merryman, J. H. (1999), The Loneliness of the Comparative Lawyer, The Hague, London, Boston, Kluwer law International.
Morán, G. (2002) “El Derecho comparado como disciplina jurídica: la importancia de la investigación y la docencia del derecho comparado y la utilidad del método comparado en el ámbito jurídico”, Anuario Faculdade de Dereito, 6, pp. 501-530.
Moreno Cruz, P. (2017), "Comparar las comparaciones jurídicas: observaciones al margen de la Introducción al derecho comparado de Alessandro Somma", Revista de Derecho Privado, Universidad Externado de Colombia, n.° 32, 491-512. http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0123-43662017000100491
Morlino, L. (2005). Introducción a la investigación comparada, Madrid, Alianza editorial.
Örücü, E. (2004), The enigma of Comparative Law. Variations on a Theme for the Twenty-first Century, Netherlands, Martinuus Nijhoff Publishers.
Piovani, J.J:, Krawczy, N. ( 2017) “Los estudios comparativos, algunas notas históricas, espistemológicas y metodológicas”, Educaçao y realidade, 42, 3, pp. 821-840. https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-623667609
Sacco, R. (1994), Introduzione al Diritto comparato, Torino, Utet.
Sartori, G. (1991) “Comparing and Miscomparing”, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 3,3, pp. 243-257.
Sartori, G. Morlino, L. Eds. (1994). La comparación en las ciencias sociales. Madrid, Alianza editorial. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951692891003003001
Schain, M. H. (2012), The politics of Immigration in France, Britain and the United States, New York, Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137047892
Somma, A (2015)., Introduzione al diritto comparato, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2014, trad. esp. Conde Naranjo, Introducción al derecho compartido, Madrid, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/id/92578/introduccion_somma_hd34_2015.pdf
Spirer, Herbert S. and Spirer, L. (2001). Intermediate data analysis for human rights. New York: Columbia University. Available on the Datasets/Text page at http://www.columbia.edu/itc/sipa/U8 l 65/
Stanfield II, J. H. (1993), Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods, Newbury Park, London and New Delhi, Sage Publications.
Triadafilopoulos, T. (2011), “Illiberal means to liberal ends? Understanding recent immigrant integration policies in Europe”, Journal of Ethnic and migration Studies, vol. 37, nº 6, pp. 861-880. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2011.576189
Van Hoecke, M. (2015) “Methodology of comparative legal research”, Law and Methods, https://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/RENM-D-14-00001.pdf
Van Oers R., Ersboll E., Kostakopoulou, D. (2010), A Definition of belonging: Language and integration tests in Europe, Leiden, Martinuus Nijhoff. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004175068.i-332
Witker, J. (2017) “Los Derechos Humanos: Nuevo escenario de la investigación jurídica”, Boletín Mexicano de Derecho comparado, XIX, núm. 149, pp. 979-1005. https://doi.org/10.22201/iij.24484873e.2017.149.11363
Downloads
Published
2019-12-05
Issue
Section
ARTICLES
How to Cite
Tools, Gaps and False Myths in Comparative Legal Research on Human Rights. (2019). The Age of Human Rights Journal, 13, 21-43. https://doi.org/10.17561/tahrj.n13.2
