Amnesty International, Brazil, and the Incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) into the Global Human Rights Frame

This article looks into Amnesty International's most controversial issue expansion, the incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in its mission statement. It starts with a discussion on global frames drawing from the sociology of transnational movements to reflect on the weight of the North-South dichotomy in AI's understanding of human rights as expressed in its most relevant documents. To this end, we reviewed the annual reports published by the organization from 2001 to 2018 using issue-oriented category-based content analysis, focusing on the parts of the reports dedicated to Brazil every year. We observed that, while national contexts and local sections do matter, the issues AI's traditional northern sections identify as top priorities remain a structuring aspect in how Amnesty International frames human rights. We therefore observe how relevant international dichotomies are in international non-governmental organizations.

Amnesty International, Brazil, and the Incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) into the Global Human Rights Frame (2023) 17 (2) e0006 -2/35 mnesty International (AI) is a transnational actor focused on promoting and strengthening human rights.It was founded in 1961, and many experts argue that it should be considered the world's largest international organization (Clark, 2003).As it achieved legitimacy, AI was granted consultative status by the United Nations (UN) as of 1964 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.It may be understood as an advocacy NGO or as a transnational advocacy network -that is, an international non-governmental organization involved in processes that aim to expand global or transnational governance while mobilizing activists across the globe (KECK and SIKKINK, 1998).
It currently operates around the globe with offices across hundreds of countries.It represents a phenomenon that has marked the international stage in recent decades: the growing number of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) focused on humanitarian action.Understanding INGOs' role at the international and national levels implies understanding how globally coherent common discourses, goals, and practices are built.This is an important part of the international division of labor, especially for INGOs that are "engaged in social change".There can be conflicts in such processes, as these organizations are "perpetually torn between the principles established here and the necessary accommodations experienced there" 1 (DAUVIN and SIMÉANT-GERMANOS, 2002, p.207 and p.337).
We wondered if these conflicts that are part of INGOs' division of labor express the dichotomies that define the positions of actors in international relations.
The theoretical debate on dichotomies in the international system seldom considers the normative dimension of international relations and is usually based on international economic tools, seeing the world in terms of center-periphery (dependency theory) or even periphery-semi-periphery-core ('world-systems' theory).The studies that have recently gained momentum take into account both This article aims to understand how the dichotomies of the international system are expressed in normative discourse in International Relations, by looking into how AI's understanding of the meanings assigned to Human Rights (HR) has evolved.In this sense, the 1993 Vienna Convention is a milestone that globally expanded the understanding about human rights as an issue and about Amnesty International itself, as AI worked as a consultant at the II UN World Conference on Human Rights (Hernandez, 2014).Hernandez and Vreche argue that AI's participation in the conference and even in the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights set it as a major human rights promoters (Hernandez and Vreche, 2016).Meanwhile, after the Cold War, AI expanded its operations to southern countries, especially Latin American and African countries.
However, expanding its geographical reach and the meanings assigned to human rights have led new challenges for the organization.One of its main challenges was the demands presented by sections of underdeveloped or developing countries, called global south countries.Southern activists considered that AI's focus on civil and political rights, which had guided it in its first 40 years in operation, was limiting its role in their countries and drawing a distinction between rights deemed indivisible after the Vienna Convention.On the other hand, activists in the more traditional European sections considered that including economic, social, and cultural issues would impact the characteristics of AI's work (Crémieu and Lefait, 2011, pp.197-198).
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) were effectively incorporated into the statute of the organization in 2001.While this expansion of mandate is regarded as the 21 st century's major change for such a high-profile organization in the international scenario, Political Science and International Relations scholars have not properly investigated the way in which it was incorporated.Overall, little research has been done on the work performed by non-governmental organizations in the international arena (Hernandez and Vreche, 2016, p. 66).Little attention has ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Amnesty International, Brazil, and the Incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) into the Global Human Rights Frame (2023) 17 (2) e0006 -4/35 been paid particularly to understanding the internal dimension and the role of "domestic politics" for international non-governmental organizations (Orenstein and Schmitz, 2006, p. 497).The relationship between multiple levels also requires further investigation, especially in order to understand the dimension of normative discourse in the international scenario.
This article therefore aims to add to the interesting studies being conducted about AI in Brazil and abroad 3 , but using theoretical tools of the 'sociology of transnational movements'.While this approach has offered relevant contributions to the field by including the domestic dimension in its analyses, most of these studies have focused on understanding the role of INGOs in developed countries, especially in Europe and North America (SIMÈANT-GERMANOS, Pommerolle, and Sommier, 2015).There is, therefore, a lack of investigations on the work performed by transnational organizations in countries in Asia, Africa, or Latin America (Orenstein and Schmitz, 2006, p. 487).
The argument between northern and southern activists shows that specific aspects can be seen in the issues selected to be addressed in the documents these organizations produce.We may therefore hypothesize that, when INGOs produce and assign meaning to information, they express battles that reflect international dichotomies, which are clear when they choose to highlight or disregard certain violations of rights.
Reflecting about transnational organizations' work and their approaches to HR seems even more reasonable when it comes to Latin America, where they have been attacked in different moments throughout history, both in terms of their universal character 4 and in terms of understanding the indivisibility of rights (Caldeira, 1991;Krause, 2020).Regarding the discussion about including Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in the understanding of HR, the Brazilian case is ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 There are excellent studies on the AI's work during the military regime in Brazil.See: Vreche, 2017; Meirelles, 2014.The pioneering work conducted by Bovo is worth mentioning, as it includes the transition period.See: Bovo, 2002.On a global view of AI, see: Buchanan, 2002.  The critique of universality comprises different interpretations, from those that take on the perspective that certain social hierarchies are legitimate to relativistic perspectives that argue that the desire for universality ignores cultural specificities (MERRY, 2006, p. 40).
(2023) 17 (2) e0006 -5/35 even more interesting, as it is a country marked by profound inequalities and which has experienced major economic and social changes in recent decades 5 .
This article thus aims to present a contribution to the understanding of the role of international dichotomies in the evolution of the frames defined by INGOs, by looking into AI's understanding about HR in Brazil as presented in its annual report.Considering that the production of knowledge is relevant for building up these organizations' moral authority in the international scenario (BARNETT and FINNEMORE, 2004, p. 29), reflecting on this issue can contribute to studies that aim to understand INGOs as a growing phenomenon in contemporary societies.
To this end, we used the theoretical contributions provided by the sociology of transnational movements, more specifically the concept of 'frame' (DELLA PORTA and TARROW, 2005;Snow et al., 1986;TARROW, 2005).The theoretical debate on frame is in a middle ground between rationalists and constructivists.While it does consider that ideas matter, it does disregard the central role of the state as a generator of opportunity and political restrictions.It therefore allows us to look into the battles behind the framing process.
The goal here is to investigate the process of including ESCR into the HR frame in AI's annual reports on Brazil, assuming that including and/or excluding topics in its annual reports carries meaning.Methodologically, this article starts with an issue-oriented category-based content analysis of the organization's annual reports, which are its the most significant and regular documents, focusing on the parts dedicated every year to Brazil in the reports published from 2001 to 2018 6 .While AI's annual reports do not summarize the domestic work it carries out in the country, they are its most symbolic and globally consequential documents, and, therefore, may be considered one of its most internationally impactful actions, receiving the highest transnational exposure.The initial focus here was defined based on the incorporation of ESCR by the organization, while the final focus is ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 "Reduction of class inequalities" stands out among these changes, especially from 2002 to 2013 (SALATA, 2018, p. 90).This was a time of economic growth and income distribution public policies implemented by the Workers' Party administrations in the country.An image Brazil has built abroad, of a "consolidated democracy" that was willing to be a "global player," also marked the period (SWEIG, 2010). 6The final report included in our 'corpus' is the '2017 Report', published in 2018.Each report covers the year before its publication date.AI did not published a report about 2018.See: ˂https://www.amnesty.org/en/annual-report-archive/˃.related to the end of a period of time characterized by the expansion of rights in Brazil 7 .
Our research results are presented in three parts.The first part looks into the concept of frame and the discussion around HR as a global multi-issue frame.In the second part, we review the relationship between the issues Amnesty International chooses to include in its frame throughout its history.Finally, we will present the methodology and our findings from our review of the organization's annual reports on Brazil in the period of time defined by the research that originated this article.

Human rights, a global multi-issue frame
The use of the concept of frame by research on political battles draws from the conceptualization introduced in a 1986 article by David Snow, E. Rocheford, Steven Wonder, and Robert Benford.The authors draw from contributions by Erwin Goffman to turn the concept of frame into a theoretical tool to understand the interpretive dimension of collective action (Snow et al., 1986, p. 466).Also known as "interpretive framing", this concept allows us to understand how the connection process between individuals and organizations takes place.Studies on transnational activisms, called "new transnationalism" or "sociology of transnational movements," started to elaborate on the concept, as they aimed to understand frames with global reach, such as global justice (DELLA PORTA, 2005;MERRY, 2006;TARROW, 2005).
We are thus aligned with the understanding that such studies provided a comprehension of the strategic dimension of collective action, which cannot be considered as being opposed to the normative dimension of global humanitarian action, as more skeptical approaches to the role of ideas in international relations propose (HERNANDEZ and VRECHE, 2016;FINNEMORE et al., 2014).Frame here is thus regarded as a condition for activist engagement, including on a transnational level.It concerns the interpretive and cultural dimensions of engagement.While the field has neglected such a dimension for decades, it is a key aspect to mobilize those ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 After 2013, especially after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016, there has been a serious political-institutional crisis that jeopardized many social achievements built up over the years during the Workers' Party administrations.Meanwhile, the election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018 represented the promotion of inequality by the state (VARGAS and SANTOS, 2022).
The concept attributes organizations' ability to gain support and generate mobilization to the construction of meanings.This is possible because the notion of framing assumes that interpretations have a dynamic, adaptable character, while also having an operational aspect to them.This operational aspect becomes apparent in the 'core framing tasks'.They are: diagnostic framing, prognostic framing, and motivational framing (Silva, Cotanda and Pereira, 2017, p. 154).The first task fulfills the interpretive role-it identifies the problem and its victims and defines the 'target' to be held accountable.The second task, in turn, is about the joint efforts devoted to devising a proposal to solve the problem.Finally, the third task revolves around building messages to bring more supporters to the movement.The operative character of the concept allows us to understand frames as an interpretation of reality by a limited number of organizations (Ricoldi, 2012).Global frames are key to understand this disposition for global thinking observed in transnational activists.It is about being able to fulfill the three stages of the framing process targeting a much broader and diverse audience.Global frames therefore satisfy the formulations of a larger number of organizations and enhance their ability to operate as normative entrepreneurs.They also help them adapt to different realities, as transnational activists desire.Keck and Sikkink argue that such actors seek the so-called "boomerang effect", as they transnationalize agendas that face restrictions at the national level (Keck and Sikkink, 1998).Effectiveness in this sense is crucial for transnational activists and transnational advocacy networks, as they desire to operate in multiple territories, aiming at broader social change.
Tarrow writes that, when global frames are used to guide local or national demands, they can drive qualitative change in the political battle between activists and the forces they oppose, whether it is the state, international organizations, or even society: When it works, it can dignify, generalize, and energize activists whose claims are predominantly local, linking them symbolically to people they have never met and to causes that are distantly related to their own, But most activists are embedded within the power structures of their own countries, where their fellow citizens need persuasion to adopt such global thinking (TARROW, 2005, p. 60).
Building global frames is therefore a key aspect of a complex process of "adaptation of the local dimension to transnational collective action" (Bringel and Echart, 2008, pp. 463-464).Overall, changing a frame requires a connection with the "struggle for global justice" and, before that, with globalization.As a global frame, there is something specific about human rights: its multi-issue character.This term was coined by Jackie Smith (SMITH, 2014apud TARROW, 2005) to address the frames that connect several issues around a master frame.Tarrow points out that the number of organizations using frames like this has doubled in 2000 over 1993, especially in countries of the global south (TARROW, 2005, p. 73).
"Multi-issue frames" are successful examples of frame changing processes, as they bring together different objectives, allowing the emergence of "tolerant collective identities" (Bringel and Echart, 2008, p. 464).This process is crucial to build and expand transnational collective action.How HR are framed can therefore Teresa Cristina Schneider Marques (2023) 17 (2)  e0006 -9/35 be understood as a global multi-issue frame: it is global as it has a universal character-which can be used in different countries-and multi-issue as it allows including different issues.For non-state actors, framing a problem as a "violation of human rights" guarantees legitimacy and encourages new endorsements to political movements and organizations (MccanN, 1994).
At the international level, INGOs such as AI have helped to ensure that human rights could circulate by mobilizing activists and public opinion across the globe (VRECHE, 2017).Its global character does not disconnect it from the national level, even though this pro-HR language first emerged in the West.According to Sarry Merry, different groups, including women, Indigenous and ethnic minorities, and others, adopt a HR language in their struggles for justice.This highlights how human rights circulate globally and the fact that they are "extracted from the universal and adapted to local and national communities" (MERRY, 2006, p. 39).
Therefore, it seems pertinent to consider that adapting frames can express international battles or even international dichotomies.Moreover, the way they are described can be limited by both political actors and time.Global frames, like all others, are not static.Keeping movements' initial frames may not always be strategic for an organization.They may no longer be strategic as society and its values change over time, replacing existing categories and socially accepted interpretations, and also when values and categories related to the expansion of an area of work vary.
The so-called "social movement entrepreneurs" may change these interpretations over time (Silva, Cotanda and Pereira, 2017, pp. 150-151).Therefore, the practical and interpretive dimensions of life may take time to change, even in organizations such as AI, which has emerged aiming to be global.We will now look into the changes Amnesty International has experienced.

Amnesty International and different human rights frames
AI was arguably a trailblazing NGO in adopting human rights as a global frame.Unlike actors who seek strategies to align with global frames, AI has adopted from its inception a global or multi-issue frame.As mentioned earlier, it is a transnational advocacy network that chose to take a more professional approach to its activities.To do so, as of 1963, it began to build a bureaucratic and highly skilled organizational structure, with groups operating in different countries.While its structure is centralized in its London office-its international dimension-, it is connected to national groups (BOVO, 2002;VRECHE, 2017).
Since 1962, the year when it was officially established, AI has been denouncing human rights violations, focusing on attacks on freedom of thought and opinion.The organization has established the principle of nonviolence to guide its denunciation actions (MEIRELLES, 2014).As this principle has a humanitarian character to it and these claims-made possible due to its increasingly professional activities-are grounded in solid research based on life stories, the organization was able to establish exceptional credibility.
Its reports have become central to the organization's main strategyshaming-, which entails exposing the actions of state actors to impact their reputation and credibility (SCHNEIDER, 2000, p. 13).By framing the actions of actors it denounces as violations of human rights, its shaming efforts become stronger, as the issue becomes more relevant, especially in the second half of the twentieth century (KECK and SIKKINK, 1998).In fact, the organization's annual reports have increased AI's exposure and favored its expansion.
With a prisoner, a researcher, and an activist, Amnesty International has devised a triangular construction-an unstoppable mechanism for collecting, denouncing, taking action.The instrument of this mechanism is this: the annual reports the organization has been publishing every year since 1962, which include human rights violations, country by country.A document much-anticipated by international organizations and feared by states.And there is a reason for that: media outlets around the world report on their findings 8 (CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011, p. 49-51).
AI also strives to influence the emergence of norms in favor of human rights.
Its work at the United Nations (UN) stands out through an interlocutor with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which was created as a result of a process in which AI itself also took part (HERNANDEZ and VRECHE, 2016, p. 90).AI therefore has arguably become a norm entrepreneur."Norm entrepreneurs attempt to convince a critical mass of states (norm leaders) to embrace new norms" (FINNEMORE et al., 2014, p. 349).The organization also carries out campaigns and actions that are supported by personalities and gain global visibility (CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011).
HR are the basis of the norms it proposed and the actions it takes, but, like any organization, there is also a strategic dimension to its propositions, which has an impact on how the adopted frames are framed.The actions of transnational actors, including national actors, are restricted by the political constraints and opportunities offered by their context, even though constraints and opportunities are distinctive (TARROW, 2005).Transnational actors, even the so-called 'norm entrepreneurs', as well as the changes they go through over time, have to adapt to both national legal and social norms and international norms.What makes AI unique is that it managed to adapt in a transnational scenario marked by the ephemeral character of transnational organizations.
It seems therefore important to reflect on the changes made by AI to the HR frame over the course of its history.The first report ever produced by the organization stated that its main objective was to defend freedom of thought: The principal object of AMNESTY is to mobilize public opinion in defense of those men and women who are imprisoned because their ideas are unacceptable to their governments.It has been formed so that there should be some central, international Organization capable of concentrating efforts to secure the release of these "Prisoners of Conscience", and to secure world wide recognition of Articles IS and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Essentially an impartial organization as regards religion and politics, it aims at uniting groups in different countries working towards the same end --the freedom and dignity of the human mind" (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 1962, p. 01).
Defending freedom of thought was not, therefore, associated with one of the ideological stances that marked the international scenario when the organization first emerged 9 .That is, the organization has abstracted HR as a demand.Éric Poinsot argues that this strategy aimed to promote values the organization found important, ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 The early days of Amnesty were faced with questions about its impartiality and there are several studies on this matter.The political controversies affecting the organization are worth mentioning, especially in its early days, during the Cold War, which have jeopardized its image, especially due to accusations of its connections with British official interests (MEIRELLES, 2016).We are more interested here in understanding the organization's interpretations of HR, and not its contradictions as a political actor.
Amnesty International, Brazil, and , 1996).This context marked the first decade of AI's operation and its expansion into a global organization.
However, the context has changed drastically after its second decade of operations.On the one hand, since the end of the 1970s, the world has experienced the wake of a third wave of democratization (ARTURI, 2001).On the other, it was a time of economic crisis and instability.Hobsbawm writes that there was a "landslide beyond repair" in the 1980s (HOBSBAWM, 1995, p. 393).It was a time when social inequalities and poverty increased and showed how important it was to expand the understanding of human rights.
Bobbio argues that this is the result of a historical process, and three generations may help understand it: the first generation was the so-called political rights; the second generation was the so-called social rights; and, finally, the third generation was markedly heterogeneous (BOBBIO, 2004, p. 09).Piovesan writes that the existing international norms adapted to this scenario and eventually considered any division or classification of HR inadequate (PIOVESAN, 2004, p. 26).
The debate around expanding the understanding of human rights is the result regarding the issues understood as HR and the participation of non-governmental actors, as well as the greater number of delegations (HERNANDEZ, 2014, pp. 256-262).The resulting document, the Vienna Convention, marks the rise of a broader view on HR on the international stage 10 .Amnesty International is part of this process, as it was one of the consultative organizations at the Vienna conference.However, this new scenario also posed challenges for an organization such as AI.It should be highlighted that the political context of the 1990s saw the emergence of anti-globalization movements, which focused on economic and social rights.Moreover, while AI had once stood out as a trailblazing organization, this was a decade with a growing number of humanitarian associations focused on the so-called 'tird world'.In the early 2000s, there were 30,000 International Non-Governmental Organizations according to data from the European Commission (SOMMIER, 2003, p. 45).Éric Poinsot points out that, in this context, AI redefined its priorities: The essential element here was the expansion of the mandate to economic, social, and cultural rights, which is part of a global review of the group's rules and strategies.Up to that point, AI's work (...) had only concerned the so-called civil and political rights: freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, etc 11 (POINSOT, 2004, p. 440-441).
However the Cold War to expand its operations to regions such as Latin America.Michel Forst, who was the director of AI's French section between 1989 and 1999, says these hardships highlighted how activists in European sections were in a privileged position: It is important to recognize (...) that the people who are the most critical of this extension of the mandate towards economic rights were not faced with problems of this nature.To provide empirical contributions to this conversation, we aimed to verify which issues have been added to AI's interpretation of human rights in its reports about Brazil.To this end, we will use issue-oriented category-based content analysis to look into AI's annual reports published from 2001 to 2018.

Issue-oriented analysis of the HR frame in AI reports on Brazil
Content analysis is a methodological proposal that has gained ground by offering tools to systematically describe and analyze qualitative and quantitative data, thus allowing us to understand complex social phenomena based on a significant volume of information or documents.Bardin points out that content analysis branches out into different lines and dimensions that should be highlighted: discourse analysis, assessment analysis, relationship analysis, and enunciation analysis (BARDIN, 2016).The latter is particularly interesting for the purposes of this article, as enunciation analysis considers that discourse production is the result of a meaning attribution process.That is, it is a descriptive study that aims to understand the characteristics of AI's communication that highlight the issues included in its HR frame during the selected time period.
Issue-oriented category-based content analysis may provide contributions to this kind of investigation, as it attempts to understand the meanings that are attributed through categories, cross-checking them with the systematic fulfillment of the three steps provided for by the methodology: pre-analysis, exploration, and treatment.The first two steps are based on rules regarding the selection of the material that will constitute the 'corpus' and allow the creation of codes and, eventually, categories that will be verified in the analysis.The categorization process is key here and entails the "[...] classification of the elements that constitute a set, by distinguishing them between each other, and then by rearranging them according to genre (analogy), following previously defined criteria" (BARDIN, 2016, p. 147).
Bardin (2016) argues that the 'corpus' of documents used in investigations that adopt this methodological approach must necessarily be homogeneous.In this sense, AI's annual reports represent an incredibly rich source.As stated earlier, these reports are the major documents produced by AI, and they are fundamental for the organization's production of knowledge-which, as Barnett and Finnemore  and FINNEMORE, 2004, p. 29).These reports are treasured in the international political scenario as a whole, given the organization's credibility (CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011).As the reports' findings are broadly reported by the media, AI's shaming strategy is highly effective, especially in a scenario where organizations such as the UN appreciate HR.
Moreover, as these reports are produced regularly (annually), have a longstanding production-Brazil was included in them in 1972-, and follow high publishing standards, they represent an incredible source for long-and mediumterm studies.The regular and homogeneous character of AI's annual reports, including in terms of format, should be highlighted.They have maintained a similar format since their first issue, covering the year prior to their production 14 .The selection of documents therefore respected rules regarding representativeness, homogeneity, and pertinence as highlighted by Bardin to assemble a document 'corpus'.
The research that originated this article was based on this proposal, to review the inclusion and/or exclusion of ESCR issues in Amnesty's global human rights frame.We decided to use deductive coding to create categories based on the understanding of how AI has broadened the way it addresses issues in its official pages, as well as in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.While we did use deductive coding, it should be noted that we created these categories by skimming the reports-a stage that is part of the pre-analysis phase-and also based on how AI has expanded these issues after 1993.As a result, we selected 05 categories plus the category 'others'.
While the presence or absence of a category does matter, the attention the organization gives to each category also seems relevant.The diversity of issues related to a category was defined as a way to measure this attention.Each category then included three subcategories or codes.The graphs designed by category show ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 Over the past two decades, the organization has greatly expanded the number of documents produced in addition to the annual report.There have been greater efforts to promote a digital format of the report since 1997.
Teresa Cristina Schneider Marques (2023) 17 (2)  e0006 -17/35 the presence and/or absence of each subcategory, therefore no more than 03.The categories and subcategories (codes) are highlighted in Table 01, presented below.
An issue-oriented analysis "[...] includes finding the cores of meaning that make up communication, where their presence or frequency of appearance may mean something for a set analytical objective" (BARDIN, 2016, p. 135).These cores were verified through the listed categories, by combining the rules of enumeration of presence/absence in the analysis of the annual reports published by AI from 2001 to 2018.In other words, our research aimed to find presences or absences in each report and conducted a frequency analysis of these presences in total.We are therefore aligned with Orenstein and Schmitz, who, based on a study by Barnett and Finnemore (2004), argue that mentioning or not mentioning certain issues reveals an interaction between "bureaucratic procedures, material interests, and humanitarian norms" and the individuals who make up INGOs ( ORENSTEIN and SCHMITZ, 2006, p. 494).Certainly, what matters "is not merely the presence or absence of grievances, but the manner in which grievances are interpreted and the generation and diffusion of those interpretations " (SNOW et al., 1986, p. 466).As AI's reports lead to HR interpretations on a global scale, the evolution of the inclusion of certain 'issues' or grievances in such consequential documents is relevant.Nevertheless, to draw inferences from the verification of presences or absences, we must respect the exclusionary rule in the design of each category (ROCHA and CARLOMAGNO, 2016, pp. 177-178).For this investigation, the principle of nonviolence was key to define exclusionary rules, as the organization itself has defined it as such.In this sense, a great example is the stance on the right to land.According to the organization in 1989, this was not a subject for AI, but rather the violence witnessed in land conflicts: Amnesty International takes no position on competing claims over lands ownerships, but the organization was concerned about the almost total impunity with which the abuses were committed and evidence that some local authorities not only tolerate them but were sometimes directly involved (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 1989, p. 108).
We thus focus on the defense of the right itself, aiming to understand the organization's stance on each range of rights represented in these categories.A brief description of the categories is then necessary, as highlighted by Rocha and Carlomagno (ROCHA and CARLOMAGNO, 2016, p. 177-178).The political rights category addresses state threats or guarantees for demonstrators' right to political participation in different peaceful ways, while the civil rights category focuses on the right to life and the state's obligation to protect it from third-party violence, i.e.
non-state agents.The categories that address ESCR, in turn, include denunciations by the organization regarding hardships faced by the population to access these rights, as well as the role of the state in remedying them.Reports of physical violence that did not express the right itself were excluded from this category and included in the civil rights category.Finally, as the research problem focused on the mandate extension approved in 2001, other issues were included in the 'others' category.
The document 'corpus' includes a total of 17 AI annual reports, and only the parts regarding Brazil have been analyzed15 .On average, each report includes two At the international level, this was a time when international and multigovernmental institutions became stronger.In fact, as democratization processes advanced, they have changed the scenario of political confrontation and, consequently, changed the 'structure of political opportunities and restrictions' of HR advocates.As highlighted earlier, AI not only strengthened its role but also Despite gradually diversifying the issues it addressed, note that the categories that have guided AI's performance in its first decades of existence remained constant throughout the time period we have reviewed.As highlighted, the organization's focus on civil and political rights became stronger mainly in European territory amid the Cold War.Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations began to adapt some of these frames to the new context in the 1980s.Remarkably, after the constituent process in Brazil, the rights of ordinary prisoners-not just political prisoners-was included in the HR frame.The organization highlighted the repressive practices of police institutions and the state's omission as violence continued to be perpetrated, as well as the ineffectiveness of the justice system in ensuring protection to citizens.Note that combating torture became a key issue for AI during the military regime (VRECHE, 2019).
In fact, the categories related to political and civil rights are the most pervasive across all the reports we reviewed, particularly civil rights, as demonstrated in Graph 02: By including police violence and prisoners' rights in the conversation about civil rights, the organization was able to adapt to the context of the democratic transition while also staying true to its original goals.Krause points out that this conversation had transnational strength and expanded the frame of action of HR defenders, as well as the attacks against them: In the wake of democratic transitions, human rights defenders often expanded their activism to include not only overtly political targets of human rights abuse, but also prison inmates, criminal suspects, and other marginalized groups who suffer abuse at the hands of state agents.Yet as the defense of human rights expands to include victims of inhumane detention, social cleansing, and other abuses against suspected criminals and marginalized populations, some citizens have begun to protest the defense of these rights, arguing that human rights only protect criminals from arrest, prosecution, and punishment (KRAUSE, 2020, pp. 254-255).
In Brazil, as HR advocates have striven to incorporate this issue in the 1980s and early 1990s, a significant part of Brazilian society attacked these initiatives and associated HR with a "diagnosis of social disorder" and "criminal privilege" CALDEIRA, 1991, p. 172).This investigation shows that AI took part in this conversation.The organization focused throughout the 2000s on the demand for accountability for tragedies such as the Carandiru Massacre (1992), arbitrary arrests, the involvement of state repressive forces in violent actions, and others.It The 'political rights' category is also noteworthy, as it is the second most frequently mentioned category.To understand it, it should be noted that channels for political participation greatly expanded at the time, as this category focuses on  administrations (2003-2011).Carlos Arturi writes that, since the 1990s, institutions have gradually become stronger, even though the consolidation of the regime still seemed like a distant reality due to social inequality and the traces of the transition process that had been negotiated and were left behind (ARTURI, 2001).In any case, the expansion of participation channels made possible by democracy is verifiable, including the national HR conferences, local participatory budgeting experiences, and others (AVRITZER AND NAVARRO, 2003).Moreover, political actors became more diverse in the Brazilian scenario at the time.The role of both Brazilian and international non-governmental organizations, social movements, and others, expanded.However, AI continued to report that the state did not provide protection for HR defenders.
Graph 04 shows that this category became more prevalent after the protest cycle that started in 2013, and it was a topic that was deemed so important it even led to a decrease in the diversity of issues presented in AI's 2014 report.According show how important this program has been to reduce poverty in Brazil (SOUZA et al., 2019).Different data on poverty and inequality are also presented in AI's reports, demonstrating how it has increasingly devoted attention to the issue in the period.
Urban housing is a topic that is only found in AI reports after 2010.Housing   Police violence in 'favelas' is also related to structural racism in Brazilian society, and the explicit mentions about Black people explain the evolution of this category.While AI has started to address racism and carried out campaigns in the country focused on the issue, including the 'Black Youth, Alive' campaign, its reports have placed greater emphasis on police violence.This has impacted our analysis, because the mentions about violence in the 'favelas' that did not argue that police action was motivated by racism were represented in the 'civil rights' category 20 .
However, the organization's increasing engagement in the fight against racism is noticeable, because not only there is a discussion about police violence in the reports and elsewhere, but the reports have gradually started to address violence against African-Brazilian religious practitioners, including Candomblé and Umbanda followers, and also discussions about Quilombola rights.That is, the reports against racism in Brazil take on a transversal character.
In any case, the comparative analysis presented in Graph 08 shows a gradual growth in the number of new issues included in AI reports: This allows us to reflect on the importance of international dichotomies in multiple dimensions of political life, including in transnational humanitarian organizations that seek to build a cosmopolitan view of politics.At the same time, we can see that the Brazilian section has gradually addressed racism as a transversal issue, which shows the role of national sections.
We will take on the task to better understand how the national context

______________________________________________________________________________________________8
Original text: "Avec un prisonnier, un chercheur, un militant, Amensty invente une construction triangulaire -une mécanique imparable pour recenser, dénoncer, agir.L'instrument de cette mécanique: le rapport annuel que l'orgnization publie tous les ans, depuis 1962, qui rend compte des violations des droits de l'homme, pays par pays.Un document trés attendu par les organisations internationales, et trés craint par les États.Et pour une cause: les conclusions de ce rapport sont relayées par les medias du monde entier"(CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011, p. 49-51).TeresaCristina Schneider Marques   (2023)  17 (2)e0006 -11/35 of a historical process that began in the Cold War.The creation of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1965 and the connection of the 1966 Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stand out, linking this frame and the conversation about development (O'DONNELL, 2013, p. 17).However, during the Cold War, there was great resistance among capitalist countries to endorse a broader view.Changes to this picture became apparent after the 2 nd UN World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, regarded as the first major discussion on human rights after the fall of the Berlin Wall.It was marked by its open and plural character, both , while including ESCR is considered the major change AI has gone through in the 21 st century, it has evidenced the procedural character of the process of building a new interpretation of HR within the organization.Crémieu and Lefait (2011) write that this process was highly influenced by the fact that AI had, for the first time, an African secretary general, the Senegalese economist Pierre Sané.Sané was appointed in 1992 and started a pedagogical process to expand AI's mandate, exposing how hard it was for an organization forged in developed countries during ______________________________________________________________________________________________10 The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is the document that was adopted at the end of the conference.It enshrines the universal character of HR by guaranteeing a legal character to the notion of flexibilization of national sovereignty (HERNANDEZ, 2014, p. 261). 11Original text: "L'élement essentiel en est l'elargissement du mandato aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels, que s'inscrit dans une révision globale des règles et stratégies du groupement.Jusqua'alors, l'activité d'AI avait éte divisée em deux volets: l'un promotionnel, l'autre oppositionnel.AI encourageait au respect de l'ensemble des droits édictés dans la Déclaration universelle des Droits de l'homme d l'ONU du 10 décembre 1948.Et l'organisation s'opposait aux violations de certains de ces droits, jugés particulièrement importants et nécessaires à la jouissance de l'ensemble des droits humanis.Cela concernait uniquement les droits dit civils et politiques: liberté d'expression, liberté de conscience, etc"(POINSOT, 2004, p. 401).AmnestyInternational, Brazil, and the  Incorporation of Economic, Social, and  Cultural Rights (ESCR)  into the Global of a review on HR violations in Brazil.The time period selected for this review covered not only times of change in AI, as highlighted in the previous section, but also profound changes in the Brazilian scenario, as it includes a period marked by the process once called 'consolidation of the democratic regime', but also a time of political crisis.It covers the end of the second term of Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), and the two terms of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT).Finally, it covers the two terms of Dilma Rousseff of the PT-her second term was interrupted in 2016 as she faced impeachment proceedings, after which Michel Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) took office.
announced the global expansion of its agenda by including economic and social rights in it in the early 2000s.The gradual expansion of the issues addressed by the organization is apparent as of 2001, as shown in Graph 01: Graph 01.Evolution of the total number of categories identified in AI reports between 2001 and 2017 Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.

Graph 02 .
Categories per total number of presences found in 2001-2017 Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.
continued to monitor police operations in the 2010s, focusing on operations in 'favelas' (slums); the civil rights category then remained the category that received the most attention, and most consistently so, as shown in Graph 03: Graph 03.Evolution of the presence of the 'civil rights' category in 2001-2017 Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.
the state in guaranteeing the right to political participation.While the channels for HR defenders to work arguably started to expand during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) after the launch of the National Human Rights Program, they became stronger during the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to a study conducted by Tatagiba and Galvão, the number of protests increased significantly at the time(TATAGIBA and GALVÃO, 2019).The 2014 report, published in 2015, covers the year of the so-called 'June Journeys', the 2013 Brazilian protests16 .Moreover, it was published in the year of the protests against the World Cup, when the AI Brazilian section devoted great efforts to the 'yellow card' campaign, aiming to guarantee freedom of demonstration and denounce police violence against demonstrators.The adaptation to the discussion on economic, social, and cultural rights deserves special attention.In the early 2000s, Brazil still stood out as one of the most unequal countries in the world.Meanwhile, its scenario was going through significant change.Data from the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA)showed there was a substantial decline in inequality rates recorded in Brazil ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 16 There are several contributions from Social Sciences to the understanding of the June 2013 protests in Brazil.We highlight one of them: Tavares, Ballestrin, and Mendonça, 2022.Gini coefficient, one of the most popular inequality measures used by researchers, as of 2001 (SALATA, 2018).The issue was also pervasive in the national public conversation, especially during the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration, marked by income transfer programs (BIANCARELLI, 2014).Graph 04.Evolution of the presence of the 'political rights' category in 2001-2017 Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.The conversation about inequality in Brazil becomes increasingly complex when it comes to the right to land.While the right to land had been a hot topic since the 1980s, it took a long time after the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) first emerged and exposed the issue for AI to include it the topics it addresses 17 .Reis argues that the issue got to AI as a result of the efforts of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) and the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) to transnationalize it (REIS, 2012, p. 109), a cause that was, along with prisoners' rights, the focus of the Catholic Church in Brazil at the time.Graph 05 shows that it was only after endorsing ESCR that land rights became a recurring topic.Before ESCR, land issues were only marginally mentioned in reports of violence in the countryside perpetrated by armed groups that benefited from the fact that the state failed to protect small farmers.While the following reports continued to report cases of violence in rural areas, the 2007 report should be ______________________________________________________________________________________________ program 'Bolsa Família', which has benefited 14 million households.In fact, data from the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) fight against hunger should be highlighted in this category.A 2014 report produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) showed that, over a decade, the country has reduced by half the number of people affected by hunger, removing Brazil from the UN Hunger Map (REVISTA EXAME, 2014).
Interestingly, the discussion abut cultural rights in the reports is not disconnected from the conversation that defends the right to land and opposes violence in the countryside.Meanwhile, with ESCR, the reports started to mention the role of ancestral lands for Indigenous cultural practices and, since 2008, the Quilombola (Brazilian maroon) rights.It is noteworthy that the right to religious freedom appears only in 2017, exposing a case of violence against an Umbanda and Candomblé (African-Brazilian religions) place of worship (terreiro) (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 2018).Graph 07.Evolution of the presence of the 'cultural rights' category in 2001-2017 Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.has been a key issue for the organization since the 1980s, is also found in the reports.It should be noted that data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) shows the illiteracy rate in Brazil has decreased over the time period reviewed here 19 .Interestingly, regarding the AI reports, there is often a connection between the conversation around education and the topics of prisoners' rights and violence in 'favelas'.As an example, the 2008 report mentions that schools were closed due to police operations in the Complexo do Alemão slums in Rio de Janeiro (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, 2008, p. 74).
______________________________________________________________________________________________19 Brazil's functional illiteracy rate in 2001 was 27.3%(IBGE, 2010).Meanwhile, the IBGE estimated that 6.6% of the Brazilian population was illiterate by 2019 (IBGE, 2020).20There is extensive literature on racism, the Black movement, and Black feminism.We highlight the contributions from Black feminism, which are fundamental to the understanding of the transnational character of feminism today.See:Davis, 2016.AmnestyInternational, Brazil, and the  Incorporation of Economic, Social, and  Cultural Rights (ESCR)  into the Global Evolution of the total presence of subcategories grouped in classic AI categories 'versus' Evolution of the total presence of subcategories grouped in ESCR-related categories Source: Created by the author based on the research database that originated this article.The final Graph invites us to reflect on the influence that nationwide protests and social movements have had on AI and also on the role of the AI Brazilian section itself.The organization's Brazilian office was established with headquarters in Rio de Janeiro in 2012.Since then, it has had two directors who were strongly engaged in the discussion about racism and the rights of populations living in underserved urban areas.Átila Roque was the AI director in Brazil from 2011 to 2017, when the incumbent director, Jurema Werneck, took office.That was when the expansion of the agendas of action and demands by non-institutionalized social actors in Brazil became even clearer.Issues such as public transportation, urban housing, different topics on the feminist agenda, and others have become stronger over the past decade in the country through the struggle waged by different Brazilian social movements.Admittedly, the 2014 report is unique in this evolution because it focuses greatly on the protests, a classic issue for the organization.But as the political crisis worsened, especially as of 2015, the number of protests increased and demands became increasingly diverse.emblematic organization to understand HR as a global frame and even to understand the growing number of increasingly strong INGOs.As AI framed the defense of HR, it became more legitimate, expanded its geographical reach, and endurance.Its understanding has expanded since the 1990s, through a perspective of 'indivisibility of rights'.This has allowed new issues to be included in the global frame and new countries to endorse AI.We proposed a review of the inclusion of ESCR in AI reports published from 2001 to 2018 in their parts dedicated to Brazil, aiming to contribute to an understanding of how they reflect the north-south dichotomy within an INGO.While there are limits to what the methodology we have adopted can provide in terms of understanding the HR translation process or understanding the entire frame alignment process, it is still valuable to verify the inclusion or exclusion of issues to investigate organizations that are mainly focused on the production of knowledge that generates global frames.Applying an issue-oriented category-based content analysis has allowed us to verify the relevance of each category in each report and the evolution of this relevance, measured in terms of absence or presence of each category.It has also allowed us to assess how deeply each category has been explored by the organization.This depth was measured by verifying the presence/absence of subcategories.Our analysis showed that, in Brazil's case, there has been remarkably greater focus on economic, social, and cultural rights as of 2012, the year when the organization established an office in Rio de Janeiro.Another noteworthy aspect is that the diversity of issues decreased in 2014, when political rights became more prevalent in the report as protests increased.From these data we may infer how important the context and local sections are in defining issues, reiterating what Crémieu and Lefait (2011) stated about the role of new sections and activists from the South for AI's issue expansion.However, classic topics on AI's agenda remain present and are deeply explored by the organization throughout the investigated period, demonstrating the weight of issues regarded as pillars on the agenda by its European sections.This was demonstrated as we have observed that the focus on the principle of nonviolence is transversal to all new issues presented by the organization and especially how Amnesty International, Brazil, and the Incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) into the Global Human Rights Frame (2023) 17 (2) e0006 -30/35 constantly civil rights violations are addressed.So while the defense of civil and political rights has been adapted to the new democratic context by focusing on prison populations, the right to school, for example, was also connected to the discussion about police violence.Therefore, the power of topics considered central by its European sections reflects the north-south dichotomy in how AI frames HR.

influences
INGOs in future works.It would be especially appropriate to understand the evolution of the relationships between AI's Brazilian section and Brazilian social movements.Research based on written documents, as proposed in this article, allows us to conduct an objective investigation of the social order that social actors build, but it has limitations.While 'human documents' are an important source of information in face of growing obstacles imposed on the production of data for research in Social Sciences, diversifying research methods, prioritizing a dialogue with anthropology and sociology, becomes increasingly necessary.Right now, in addition to an analytical dimension, comprehending how important transnational connections are for the defense of democracy and marginalized social sectors in Brazil seems a pressing matter.Translated by Aline Scátola Submitted on December 16, 2021 Accepted on March 03, 2023 They had housing, work, children in school, tap water that is safe to drink...They were privileged activists.What seemed important to them was freedom of speech, freedom of vote, etc.While the change of mandate brought us truly new endorsements in the South, it has also caused an erosion, or at least important discontent in the North 12(CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011, p. 201).
(POINSOT, 2004) shows that, despite the stance taken by many European activists, the extension of the mandate has allowed the organization to expand.Nevertheless, this process did not happen without internal battles.Almost a decade went by from the Vienna Conference and the approval of the incorporation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in the organization's statute at the International Council Meeting in Dakar in 2001, 13 when a pedagogical process was developed inside AI.This process aimed not only to raise awareness among activists regarding broadening issues, but it also aimed to find a way to ensure coherence to the organization, which had built a 'savoir-faire' focused on research about state violence(CRÉMIEU and LEFAIT, 2011, p. 201).Therefore, as highlighted by Poinsot, the evolution of the human rights frame adopted by AI is not 'self-evident' and invites us to understand the factors that motivated this change(POINSOT, 2004).Or, rather, it seems important to understand how in fact these changes are absorbed by different dimensions of activism within a global organization such as Amnesty.______________________________________________________________________________________________ (2023) 17 (2) e0006 -15/35

Table 01 .
Categories and subcategories (Codes) As of 2016, AI's reports have highlighted that bills that proposed budget cuts could affect the provision of public services, including health care.One noteworthy example is the report denouncing the harmful effects of Constitutional Amendment No. 95, also called 'Spending Cap Bill', which was passed in 2016 during the Michel Temer administration.Additionally, since 2012 the public transportation issue has emerged on the agenda, as it gained exposure after the 2013 protests.While health care access appears less frequently, it is mentioned.However, between 2001 and 2006, it is only mentioned in regard to prison populations.After that, there are mentions about poor sanitation conditions and poor water access.This context is also relevant to understand the cultural rights category presented in Graph 07.In this category, Indigenous peoples' rights should be highlighted, as they have appeared more frequently since 2003.