Criação, difusão e localização das normas do Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos: um estudo do caso dos empregados da fábrica de fogos de artifício de Santo Antônio de Jesus

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the construction and the localization of human rights norms through the judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in the case of the Work of the Santo Antônio de Jesus Fireworks Factory. Based on case study strategies and the contextualization of the findings in the discussions promoted by the literature on normative diffusion in constructivist approaches to International Relations, it is argued that the construction and localization of human rights norms takes place through the active interaction between transnational actors and sub-national state actors with the Inter-American Human Rights System (IASHR). In this sense, the research problem is addressed in two dimensions of the case analyzed: the creation of a paradigmatic precedent on structural and intersectional discrimination through the IACHR’s ruling; and the localization of the norm arising from the ruling at the stage of supervising compliance with the ruling, especially in relation to the creation and execution of a socio-economic development program in Santo Antônio de Jesus. The research carried out is methodologically related to the empirical approach of International Relations through the positioning of structures of meaning and determination of the social context and the importance of the processes of creation, dissemination, and localization of the norms of IASHR. To this end, the case study method was used to reconstruct the path of the petition filed by the workers of the fireworks factory before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights through documentary research in judicial and administrative files, with a special emphasis on video-recorded testimonies during the public hearing of the case in 2020. This research is relevant because it opens space for understanding the dichotomies and contradictions in international normative dynamics by considering the diversity of actors involved in these processes and the ways in which international norms are used depending on the domestic context, using an empirical analysis of the use of the individual petition mechanism of the IASHR in the case analyzed.