Dark and brights sides of human rights : Towards pragmatic evaluation

Dark and bright sides of human rights. Towards pragmatic evaluation Human rights are interplay between theory and practice. On the one hand human rights are conventions, rules and standards on the other hand these same conventions and standards receive their meaning in professional practice. An agreement of human rights in abstract level does not provide us with guidance as to what is needed for their implementation in practice. Human rights do not only set limits as they also create opportunities. Thus, in the service of practice, human rights can start to produce good and bad practical consequences depending on the perspective to the matter. My thesis consists of 7 articles and an introduction that complements them theoretically. The seven articles that form the substance of my thesis discuss human rights both from theoretical as well as from practical perspective. The articles can be divided into two different groups, even though they have many common themes. The first two articles analyse, on a rather theoretical level, the operation of human rights in a multicultural world. The second group of articles (3,4,5,6 and 7) discuss the use of human rights in different practical contexts. My study has two levels. On one level each individual article addresses particular research questions and provides conclusions on them (article level). In the introduction (introduction level) the articles are discussed from the theory practice perspective. The seven articles use different legal strategies and writing techniques in discussing human rights as a theory and practice. There are many ways to explore human rights, as different professional or academic contexts and situations require different strategies and languages. I use concepts, techniques and approaches that draw on traditional legal writing and legal analysis, approaches that are affected by more critical legal writing as well as concepts and approaches that are affected by discussions and methodologies in cultural anthropology. The general aim of my research is to discuss dynamics of the interaction between abstract rights and their practical realisation. The operation of rights is also examined from pragmatic perspective. The pragmatic approach to rights is concerned with the practical operation and concrete results of human rights in concrete situations, not with what human rights are claimed to be in the abstract. Pragmatic approach is interested in what kind difference do human rights make in practice, which purpose does human rights language serve and who are included and who are excluded from the protection of rights. From pragmatic perspective the abstract idea of promoting and respecting human rights emerges as overly simplistic, even clichéd, demand as in practice human rights can be invoked in support of almost any purpose or goal.Moderni maailma tuntee vetovoimaa ihmisoikeuksia kohtaan, koska niiden ajatellaan tarjoavan moniarvoiselle yhteiskunnalle humanitaarista, objektiivista ja epäpoliittista ohjausta. Usko ihmisoikeuksien voimaan on suuri, mutta ei suinkaan ongelmaton. Käytännössä ihmisoikeudet ovat avoimia ja ristiriitaisia käsitteitä, joilla voidaan edistää lähes mitä tahansa tavoitetta. Ihmisoikeudet luovat tärkeitä standardeja ja mekanismeja, mutta ihmisoikeuksia on myös arvosteltu byrokraattiseksi, länsimaiseksi ja tekopyhäksi järjestelmäksi. Ihmisoikeudet voivat tarjota suojelua kipua ja kärsimystä vastaan, mutta ne voivat edistää myös niiden etuja, joilla on valtaa. Kun teoreettiset ihmisoikeudet sulautuvat käytännöksi ne voivat tukea sekä hyviä että huonoja lopputuloksia, näkökulmasta riippuen. Väitöskirjani koostuu johdannosta ja seitsemästä artikkelista, jotka tarkastelevat ihmisoikeuksia sekä teoreettisesta että käytännön näkökulmista. Käsittelen artikkeleissani pakolaisoikeutta, Euroopan unionin turvapaikkapolitiikkaa, uskonnonvapautta, kidutuksen ja halventavan kohtelun kieltoa, sekä ihmisoikeuksien ja kulttuurin välistä suhdetta. Ihmisoikeuksia on mielenkiintoista tarkastella pragmaattisesta näkökulmasta. Tällainen lähestymistapa ei ole niinkään kiinnostunut siitä, mitä ihmisoikeuksien sanotaan olevan teoreettisella tasolla, vaan siitä mitä ihmisoikeudet käytännössä saavat aikaan ja ketä ne tietyssä kontekstissa hyödyttävät. Pragmaattinen suhtautuminen ihmisoikeuksiin tuo esiin ihmisoikeuksien poliittisuuden ja ihmisoikeuksien teorian ja käytännön välisen jännitteen

Measurement report : Characterization of uncertainties in fluxes and fuel sulfur content from ship emissions in the Baltic Sea

Fluxes of gaseous compounds and nanoparticles were studied using micrometeorological methods at Harmaja in the Baltic Sea. The measurement site was situated beside the ship route to and from the city of Helsinki. The gradient (GR) method was used to measure fluxes of SO2, NO, NO2, O3, CO2, and Ntot (the number concentration of nanoparticles). In addition, the flux of CO2 was also measured using the eddy-covariance (EC) method. Distortion of the flow field caused by obstacles around the measurement mast was studied by applying a computation fluid dynamic (CFD) model. This was used to establish the corresponding heights in the undisturbed stream. The wind speed and the turbulent parameters at each of the established heights were then recalculated for the gradient model. The effect of waves on the boundary layer was taken into consideration, as the Monin-Obukhov theory used to calculate the fluxes is not valid in the presence of swell. Uncertainty budgets for the measurement systems were constructed to judge the reliability of the results. No clear fluxes across the air-sea nor the sea-air interface were observed for SO2, NO, NO2, NOx (= NO + NO2), O3, or CO2 using the GR method. A negative flux was observed for Ntot, with a median value of -0.23×109m-2s-1 and an uncertainty range of 31%-41%. For CO2, while both positive and negative fluxes were observed, the median value was -0.081μmolm-2s-1 with an uncertainty range of 30%-60% for the EC methods. Ship emissions were responsible for the deposition of Ntot, while they had a minor effect on CO2 deposition. The fuel sulfur content (FSC) of the marine fuel used in ships passing the site was determined from the observed ratio of the SO2 and CO2 concentrations. A typical value of 0.40±0.06% was obtained for the FSC, which is in compliance with the contemporary FSC limit value of 1% in the Baltic Sea area at the time of measurements. The method to estimate the uncertainty in the FSC was found to be accurate enough for use with the latest regulations, 0.1% (Baltic Sea area) and 0.5% (global oceans).publishedVersionPeer reviewe