IB MYP Individuals and Societies – Rights and social protest Revision Notes

These revision notes condense rights and social protest for IB MYP Individuals and Societies, aligned to the International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Individuals and societies, from 2014. They suit MYP years 4 and 5 (no SL/HL split). “Rights and social protest” is a topic the brief lists for the on-screen examinations; MYP has no prescribed content list, so schools choose their own case studies, and these notes give you a reliable core.

For full explanations and worked examples, read the rights and social protest study guide first. Test yourself afterwards with the practice questions. Course links: course hub and printable checklist.

Key terms

Term	Definition to learn
Human rights	Rights every person has because they are human; universal, inalienable, indivisible
Civil rights	Rights a state guarantees its citizens in law (equal treatment, fair trial, the vote)
De jure / de facto	In law / in practice
Segregation	Enforced separation of groups, e.g. in schools, transport, housing
Apartheid	South Africa’s system of racial separation and white minority rule, built from 1948
Suffrage	The right to vote; universal suffrage means all adults can vote
Suffragist / suffragette	Lawful campaigner (NUWSS) / militant campaigner (WSPU)
Boycott	Refusing to buy, use or take part in something to apply pressure
Sit-in	Occupying a place and refusing to leave to challenge a rule
Civil disobedience	Openly breaking an unjust law and accepting the penalty
Direct action	Acting to cause change directly rather than asking authorities
Sanctions / embargo	Economic or trade penalties / a ban on trade in certain goods

UDHR facts

Item	Fact
Adopted	10 December 1948, UN General Assembly, Paris
Vote	48 for, 0 against, 8 abstentions (58 UN members)
Abstainers included	USSR and five other Eastern European members, South Africa, Saudi Arabia
Drafting	Commission chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt
Length	30 articles
Status	A declaration, not a binding treaty
Binding follow-up	ICCPR and ICESCR, adopted 1966, in force 1976
Together called	The International Bill of Human Rights

Articles to quote: 2 non-discrimination; 3 life, liberty, security; 7 equality before the law; 9 no arbitrary arrest; 13 freedom of movement; 19 expression; 20 peaceful assembly; 21 take part in government and vote; 23 work and equal pay; 26 education.

Timelines to know

US civil rights

Date	Event
1865 / 1868 / 1870	13th (slavery ended), 14th (equal protection), 15th (vote regardless of race) Amendments
1896	Plessy v. Ferguson accepts “separate but equal”
17 May 1954	Brown v. Board of Education: school segregation unconstitutional
1 Dec 1955	Rosa Parks arrested; boycott lasts 381 days
1 Feb 1960	Greensboro sit-in
1961	Freedom Rides
Spring 1963	Birmingham: hoses and dogs used on marchers
28 Aug 1963	March on Washington
2 July 1964	Civil Rights Act
7 Mar 1965	“Bloody Sunday” at Selma
6 Aug 1965	Voting Rights Act

Anti-apartheid

Date	Event
1912	ANC founded
1948	National Party wins; apartheid laws follow (Population Registration and Group Areas Acts, 1950)
1952	Defiance Campaign
26 June 1955	Freedom Charter, Kliptown
21 Mar 1960	Sharpeville: 69 killed; ANC and PAC banned
1961	Umkhonto we Sizwe formed; armed struggle begins
1964	Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment
16 June 1976	Soweto uprising
1977	Biko dies in custody; UN mandatory arms embargo
1986	US Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act
11 Feb 1990	Mandela released
27 Apr 1994	First election open to all races

Women’s suffrage (Britain)

Date	Event
1897	NUWSS formed (Millicent Fawcett)
1903	WSPU founded (Emmeline Pankhurst), “Deeds not words”
1909	Hunger strikes begin; force-feeding follows
1913	“Cat and Mouse” Act; Emily Wilding Davison dies after the Derby
Aug 1914	WSPU suspends campaign for the war
1918	Women over 30 with a property qualification gain the vote
1928	Equal Franchise Act: women vote at 21, same as men

Methods: one example each

Method	Example
Legal challenge	Brown v. Board, 1954
Economic boycott	Montgomery, 1955–56; international boycotts of South Africa
Sit-in	Greensboro, 1960
Mass march	March on Washington, 1963
Petitions and lobbying	NUWSS
Militant action	WSPU window-smashing and arson
Armed struggle	Umkhonto we Sizwe, from 1961
International pressure	UN arms embargo, 1977

Gene Sharp (1973) listed 198 non-violent methods in three groups: protest and persuasion, non-cooperation, non-violent intervention.

Method in steps

Judging whether a movement was effective

1. State its aims.
2. Test de jure change: which laws changed, and when?
3. Test de facto change: did daily life change?
4. Separate short-term from long-term results.
5. Weigh the factors: methods, leadership, unity, media, economic pressure, government response, international pressure, outside events.
6. Reach a judgement that answers the question’s wording (“to what extent”, “how far”).

Evaluating a source on protest

1. Origin: who produced it, when, and were they involved?
2. Purpose: to inform, persuade, justify or record?
3. Value: what can it reliably show for this inquiry?
4. Limitation: what can it not show, and why? Use the same origin or purpose fact.

Worked reminders

A fictional petition needs 120,000 signatures and has 84,000.

84,000 ÷ 120,000 × 100 = 70% of the target

A fictional march grew from 2,500 to 11,000 people.

(11,000 − 2,500) ÷ 2,500 × 100 = 340% increase

Divide by the starting value. For rates already in percent, a change from 25% to 65% is 40 percentage points.

Must-know distinctions

• Human rights vs civil rights. Everyone’s by being human vs guaranteed by a state’s law.
• De jure vs de facto. The 15th Amendment (1870) gave a legal right to vote; the Voting Rights Act (1965) tackled the practice.
• Declaration vs treaty. The UDHR (1948) is not binding; the 1966 covenants bind states that ratify them.
• Suffragists vs suffragettes. NUWSS lawful methods vs WSPU militancy.
• Non-violent vs violent. The ANC used non-violent mass action until 1960, then added armed struggle from 1961.
• Boycott vs strike. Consumers withhold spending vs workers withhold labour.

Linking to concepts

• Key concept: change; global context: fairness and development.
• Related concept: causality for “why did it succeed?” questions.
• Identities and relationships fits how movements build group identity.
• Orientation in space and time fits turning points such as 1948, 1964 and 1994.

For how the tasks and criteria fit together, see the assessment revision notes and the criteria in practice revision notes. For source skills, use the source-evaluation exam preparation page.

Quick self-test

1. Distinguish human rights from civil rights.
2. When, where and by which body was the UDHR adopted?
3. What percentage of the 58 UN members voted in favour of the UDHR? Give 3 significant figures.
4. Why is the UDHR not legally binding, and which two treaties followed in 1966?
5. Which UDHR article protects peaceful assembly?
6. What did Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decide?
7. How long did the Montgomery Bus Boycott last, and who led it?
8. What happened at Sharpeville on 21 March 1960, and how did the government respond?
9. Why did students protest in Soweto on 16 June 1976?
10. Which women gained the vote in Britain in 1918, and what changed in 1928?
11. Name Gene Sharp’s three groups of non-violent methods.
12. Registration rose from 25% to 65%. Give the change correctly.

Answers

1. Human rights belong to every person by being human; civil rights are guaranteed to citizens by a state’s law.
2. 10 December 1948, in Paris, by the UN General Assembly.
3. 48 ÷ 58 × 100 = 82.8%.
4. It is a General Assembly declaration, not a treaty; the ICCPR and ICESCR.
5. Article 20.
6. Segregated public schools were unconstitutional.
7. 381 days; Martin Luther King Jr.
8. Police killed 69 people protesting against the pass laws; the ANC and PAC were banned.
9. Against Afrikaans being imposed as a language of teaching.
10. Women over 30 with a property qualification; in 1928 women got the vote at 21, on equal terms with men.
11. Protest and persuasion; non-cooperation; non-violent intervention.
12. A rise of 40 percentage points.

Where marks are usually lost

• Calling the UDHR international law or a treaty.
• Writing “all women got the vote in 1918”.
• Confusing suffragists and suffragettes, or treating the WSPU as non-violent.
• Describing the anti-apartheid struggle as only non-violent, or forgetting the role of international pressure.
• Saying a law “ended discrimination” without testing whether practice changed.
• Judging success without stating the movement’s aims first.
• Generic source comments (“it is biased”) not tied to the author’s origin or purpose.
• Saying “a 40% rise” when a rate went from 25% to 65%.
• Vague dates (“in the 1960s”) where a precise, well-known date exists, such as 2 July 1964.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Middle Years Programme Subject Brief – Individuals and societies, from 2014. The brief lists “rights and social protest” among the topics explored in the on-screen examinations; the cases and dates here are standard examples chosen for revision.