PhD Title

The Power of Discourse and Transnational Advocacy Networks: Expanding the International Human Rights Regime in Southeast Asia

Supervisors

Professor Jörn Dosch

Research Study

My research focuses on the diffusion and expansion of the international human rights regime through socialization processes between transnational advocacy networks and the ASEAN political elite and secretariat, leading to the formal approval of a provision for a human rights body in the ASEAN Charter. The study looks at the control of lobbying discourse and language ("discourse technologies") as critical components of human rights and non-traditional security campaigns. The investigation furthers the research agenda based on existing literature written by scholars on the agency of individual actors and the initiatives of transnational non-governmental networks./p>

Background

Kevin HR Villanueva is a Doctoral Researcher at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds. He was Programme Manager (2003-2009) of HumanitarianNet, EU Thematic Network on Humanitarian Development Studies. He has been engaged in diplomatic work at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, the UNESCO and the European Commission. He holds graduate degrees from the Universidad de Salamanca, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques - Paris and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Email: mlkhrv@leeds.ac.uk