Human Rights Fundamentalisms

Abstract:     
At the same time as the power and prevalence of human rights is growing within political, legal and social discourse, their foundations are being undermined by two insidious forces - one that values human rights too little, and the other which values them too much. Especially in the new world order of post 9/11, human rights are seen by those in the first camp to be dispensable privileges, while those in the second camp over-state the human rights cause and are resistant to any sort of criticism of their form or substance. This lecture critiques the dimensions and dangers of both these fundamentalist perspectives, in Australian and international contexts, and offers some suggestions as to how human rights might be rescued from their debilitating grasp.

Keywords: human rights, legal theory, international law, law and society, law and liberalism

JEL Classifications: K33, K10

Accepted Paper Series