Human Rights Futures

Abstract

Capitalism involves an erasure of the past, alongside the never-to-be-realised promise of a glowing future. As such, the temporality of capitalism is that of a recurrent present. This is the context in which enquiries about the past(s), present and possible futures of human rights are conducted. Ongoing debates about the histories of human rights are important, because they subvert the idea of the inevitable present. However, to date serious engagements with the possible or likely futures of human rights have been few and far between. In this chapter, I argue that global capitalism sets crucially important parameters within which the trajectories of human rights, and the interests associated with them, are shaped. By unpacking the predominant tendencies within the system of global capitalism it is possible to sketch out likely human rights futures and think about what would need to be done to realise a future in which the interests associated with human rights are meaningfully protected.

Keywords: human rights, temporality, capitalism, inequality

JEL Classification: K