Domesticating human rights : a reappraisal of their cultural-political critiques and their imperialistic use / Fidèle Ingiyimbere.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ingiyimbere, Fidèle, author.

Series:

Philosophy and politics, critical explorations ; v. 4.

Philosophy and politics. Critical explorations ; volume 4

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights--Philosophy.

Human rights.

Imperialism--Philosophy.

Imperialism.

Political science--Philosophy.

Political science.

Physical Description:

xi, 315 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer Verlag, 2017.

Summary:

This book develops a philosophical conception of human rights that responds satisfactorily to the challenges raised by cultural and political critics of human rights, who contend that the contemporary human rights movement is promoting an imperialist ideology, and that the humanitarian intervention for protecting human rights is a neo-colonialism. These claims affect the normativity and effectiveness of human rights; that is why they have to be taken seriously. At the same time, the same philosophical account dismisses the imperialist crusaders who support the imperialistic use of human rights by the West to advance liberal culture. Thus, after elaborating and exposing these criticisms, the book confronts them to the human rights theories of John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, in order to see whether they can be addressed. Unfortunately, they are not. Therefore, having shown that these two philosophical accounts of human rights do not respond convincingly to those the postcolonial challenges, the book provides an alternative conception that draws the understanding of human rights from local practices. It is a multilayer conception which is not centered on state, but rather integrates it in a larger web of actors involved in shaping the practice and meaning of human rights. Confronted to the challenges, this new conception offers a promising way for addressing them satisfactorily, and it even sheds new light to the classical questions of universality of human rights, as well as the tension between universalism and relativism. .

Contents:

Preface; Contents; Chapter 1: Introduction; 1.1 A Rationale; 1.2 Chapters' Synopsis; References; Chapter 2: Human Rights as an Imperialist Ideology; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 On Imperialist Ideology; 2.2.1 From Empire to Imperialism; 2.2.2 Ideological Justification of Imperialism; 2.2.3 Liberalism as Vehicle of Imperialist Ideology; 2.3 International Law as a Legal Form for Imperialism Ideology; 2.3.1 The Imperialist Origin of International Law; 2.3.2 The Challenge of the Uncivilized to International Law; 2.3.3 Internal Contradiction of International Law

2.4 Human Rights as Ideology Through a Metaphor2.4.1 SVS Metaphor; 2.4.2 The Content of the Metaphor; 2.4.3 Human Rights as an Imperialist Ideology; 2.5 Conclusion; References; Chapter 3: Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Humanitarian Intervention and Just War Theory; 3.2.1 Humanitarian Intervention and Jus ad bellum-Aquinas; 3.2.2 Just War Theory When It Encounters the Non-Western World-Vitoria; 3.2.3 Defense of the Innocent as a Case of Just War Theory-Suarez; 3.2.4 A Contemporary Version of Just War Theory-Walzer

3.3 Humanitarian Intervention During the Human Rights Era3.3.1 Humanitarian Intervention in International Law Before 1945; 3.3.2 Humanitarian Intervention Since the UN Charter; 3.3.3 Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect; 3.4 Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism; 3.4.1 Humanitarian Intervention as a Moral Problem; 3.4.2 Humanitarian Intervention in Practice; 3.4.3 Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism ; 3.5 Conclusion; References; Chapter 4: Rawls and the Challenges to Human Rights; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 The Path to The Law of Peoples in Rawls's Thought

4.2.1 Justice as Fairness4.2.2 Unstable Stability and the Need for Political Liberalism; 4.2.3 A Liberal Theory for a Global Society; 4.3 Rawls vis-à-vis Human Rights as Imperialist Ideology; 4.3.1 The Rawlsian Conception of Human Rights; 4.3.2 Human Rights Minimalism and Human Rights as Imperialist Ideology; 4.4 Rawls and Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism; 4.4.1 Rawls's Justification of Humanitarian Intervention; 4.4.2 Rawls and Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism; 4.5 Conclusion; References; Chapter 5: Habermas and the Challenges to Human Rights; 5.1 Introduction

5.2 Discourse Theory as a Basis for a System of Rights5.2.1 From Instrumental to Communicative Rationality; 5.2.2 Communicative Reason and Discourse Theory as Basis for a System of Rights; 5.3 Habermas's System of Rights and Human Rights as Ideology; 5.3.1 Constructing and Defining Rights; 5.3.2 The System of Rights; 5.3.3 Habermas and International Human Rights; 5.3.4 Habermas and Human Rights as an Imperialist Ideology; 5.4 Habermas and Humanitarian Intervention as Neocolonialism; 5.4.1 Habermas's Justification of Humanitarian Intervention

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783319576206

3319576208

OCLC:

981117569