The concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to...Show moreThe concept of Gay Pride Parade goes back many years, the first parades took place in 1970s United States. Since then, the concept of Gay Pride Parade has travelled not only from New York City to other cities in the US, but also to cities all over the world. Both the Netherlands and Brazil are countries where Gay Pride Parades have been organized, although both in their own form with their own identity. However, realism, as an international relations theory, argues that non-state actors are not in a position to influence human rights policy as this can be done solely by states. This would mean that either Gay Pride Parade is not a multifunctional tool influencing legal emancipation, at the most only social emancipation, or that gay rights cannot be seen as human rights in this scenario. A link of causality between Gay Pride Parade and LGBT emancipation cannot be proven because of the lack of measurability of LGBT emancipation in its totality. However, to write the influence of such non-state actors of completely because of this, would not be correct either. Thus: when analyzing Gay Pride Parades and LGBT emancipation in the Netherlands and Brazil from 1970 onwards, how do Gay Pride Parades affect LGBT emancipation?Show less
In August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the...Show moreIn August 2010, The European Union (EU) withdrew its preferential trade agreement GSP+ from the island nation of Sri Lanka that was recovering from a long drawn civil war. The grounds for the withdrawal was cited to be Sri Lankan Government's poor human rights record in the latter stages of the war which had garnered international outcry. The ad hoc withdrawal of the scheme which was yoked to the Sri Lankan economy was damaging to the Sri Lankan economy and in particular its Ready-Made-Garment (RMG) industry that is central to povery alleviation in rural sectors of the country. In addition to the Sri Lankan Government was defiant of the EU's verdict and is believed to have made very little change. It is for this reason scholars argue that while the Human Rights concerns of the conflict were pressing, the objective of the EU withdrawal was unclear granted it achieved very little of its desired effect. Other writers have described it as 'democracy building' and 'economic terrorism' on the part of the EU. The objective of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the EU's withdrawal of GSP+ from the Sri Lankan economy and draw a conclusion on which side of the scholarly debate is more plausible.Show less
