Bounded Rights: Citizenship in Non-Ideal Settings

Abstract

Enforcing rights under non-ideal settings poses moral challenges. When, if ever, is a society justified in circumventing the ordinary enforcement of human and civil rights, to address problems, especially those that undermine some citizens’ ability to exercise their rights? My dissertation addresses three variations of this question in three independent papers. I examine the normative implications of the right to freedom of speech in digital contexts where informational silos are pervasive; I defend a view of truth commissions as institutions that are capable of restoring the human and civil dignity of the victims of human rights violations through the enablement of politically significant illocutions; and I develop a normative framework for the assessment of transitional justice institutions.