Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, "Decolonizing Human Rights" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
New Books in Critical Theory
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Are Human Rights Western?
The speaker explores the criticism that human rights are Western and a form of Western imperialism, disagreeing with the idea and emphasizing the incoherence and relativism of the notion that human rights are defined by the West. They discuss the historical and philosophical origins of human rights, highlighting examples from ancient civilizations. They also critique the colonization of the concept of human rights by Western states and discuss the practical difficulties and contradictions within international law.
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