ENGLISH

Human Rights as Social Construction

By Benjamin Gregg

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2011
ISBN
1107015936, 9781107015937
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
1018 kB (1042782 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
272\271
Scanned
yes
Time added
2014-05-08 21:00:20

Description

Most conceptions of human rights rely on metaphysical or theological assumptions that construe them as possible only as something imposed from outside existing communities. Most people, in other words, presume that human rights come from nature, God, or the United Nations. This book argues that reliance on such putative sources actually undermines human rights. Benjamin Gregg envisions an alternative; he sees human rights as locally developed, freely embraced, and indigenously valid. Human rights, he posits, can be created by the average, ordinary people to whom they are addressed, and that they are valid only if embraced by those to whom they would apply. To view human rights in this manner is to increase the chances and opportunities that more people across the globe will come to embrace them.

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