Corruption, Legitimacy and Human Rights: The Dialectic of the Relationship

11 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2006 Last revised: 14 Jul 2008

See all articles by Balakrishnan Rajagopal

Balakrishnan Rajagopal

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Urban Studies & Planning

Abstract

In this essay, I investigate the relationship between corruption and human rights discourses as well as the idea of legitimacy, and argue that the corruption discourse undermines a particular kind of legitimacy by discrediting a particular kind of State. The essay offers a critique of the corruption discourse, and its putative linkages with a rights-based conception of legitimacy. I argue that the corruption discourse re-legitimizes particular conceptions of development, democracy, rule of law and human rights, that are elitist, eurocentric and statist.

Keywords: Corruption, human rights, legitimacy, international law, development

Suggested Citation

Rajagopal, Balakrishnan, Corruption, Legitimacy and Human Rights: The Dialectic of the Relationship. Connecticut Journal of International Law, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1999, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=940042

Balakrishnan Rajagopal (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Urban Studies & Planning ( email )

Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
United States

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