Can Ideas about Rights be Genuinely Universal, Rather than a Form of Cultural Imperialism?

Can Ideas about Rights be Genuinely Universal, Rather than a Form of Cultural Imperialism?

Rights discourse has played a predominant ideological role in the western liberal-democratic tradition. From the Greeks through to the social contract theorists and the more contemporary advocates, the positing of individual rights has been regarded as necessary in the protection of fundamental freedoms and liberties. The prevalence of rights discourse is particularly apparent in the modern era where universal and inalienable rights – especially in the form of human rights, are enshrined in international law and feature prominently in culture media and societal consciousness. It is the this prominence that has necessitated an ardent critique of foundations of rights discourse; in particular, theorists have generated claims that ‘although the prevailing consensus about the goodness of rights is widespread,’ it is none the less ‘ thin and brittle.’ Today the idea of rights has dev...