1. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Goodhart: Human Rights: Politics and Practice Chapter 1: Normative and Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights Anthony J. Langlois

2. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Overview Introduction Philosophical Questions The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Modern Critics to Human Rights Human Rights as a Political Project Conclusion

3. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Introduction Right language developed gradually through Western political history The practice of claiming modern rights is associated with the idea of individual liberty, culminating in the Enlightment Key grand rights documents include: –The US Declaration of Independence (1776) –The French Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen (1789)

4. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Philosophical Questions The foundation for rights is a puzzling philosophical question. The early natural law foundation for rights became vulnerable during the Enlightenment because of the decline of Christian theism. At the same time the idea of rights became more politically effective.

5. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Early critics of rights By the time of the Rights Declarations, key philosophers were forcefully attacking the idea of natural rights. These attacks came from: –conservatives –liberals (particularly utilitarians) –socialists

6. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated in 1948. No philosophical justification is formally given for the rights declared because of the variability of human belief systems. Individuals and groups are left to expound their own justifications for the rights in the Declaration.

7. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Modern criticisms of Human Rights Cultural relativists criticize human rights for illegitimately privileging one set of values over others. Human rights are criticized for being the exercise of an imperialist politics. Feminists argue that the international human rights regime is inadequate to satisfy women’s rights. Some religious groups reinterpret human rights through their own traditions; others use HR to reform their own tradition. Group rights are invoked as a way of protecting the rights of minorities who belong to identifiable groups. These rights are politically very controversial.

8. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Human Rights as a Political Project Human Rights are political in four senses: –they embody a set of norms which emerged out of the tradition of political liberalism. –Specific human rights regimes are created by groups of people who have their own political agendas and constituencies. –The implementation of any established human rights regime is subject to interpretation, political context and local circumstances. –The pursuit of human rights translates into local engagement and confrontation with prevailing power structures.

9. © Oxford University Press, 2009. All rights reserved. Conclusion The language of human rights is fundamentally a normative language that emerges out of the political liberalism of the Enlightenment. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the defining text of the human rights movement. Understanding the history and philosophy of human rights is essential to being able to navigate the complex political debates surrounding the desirability and normative content of human rights reform.