"The Colonialism Of Human Rights" by Colin Samson is a compellingly argued book that brings human rights on stage alongside the convoluted histories and oppressive legacies of Western European imperialism. Where nations boast of their progressive involvement in drafting "universal" human rights standards, they are frequently found to be ensuing exploitative practices, highlighting their culpability in perpetuating the principles of colonial expansion.
Samson discusses various theoretical perspectives on human rights, such as Jean Rahner's notion of distinction, Rene Wellems' concept of autonomy, Charles Tilly's theory of war economies, among others. To contextualize the contemporary dimensions of these concepts, he traces the origins of "non-universal" standards of fairness during Western European colonialism, suggesting that liberal democratic societies including those of the USA and Great Britain employed racialized methods to justify human rights violations and formalize international standards.
Through a broad survey of multiple modern historical events, Samson reinforces this premise, focusing on the prevalence of contingent exceptional circumstances under which the rule of law is compromised. He does this through innovative case studies, ranging from the African-American struggle for civil rights to recent internal police brutality, confronting the presumption that institutions like the UN or the United States Department of Justice exist without any meaningful racial bias. Additionally, by highlighting the repeated occupation of particular regions by colonial powers over the years, he underscores the relevance of cultural pluralism and global agency in shaping new sentiments about human rights today.
"The Colonialism Of Human Right" is an empathic and compelling critique of universalizing human rights ideals and calls for a rethinking of oppressive laws enforced by Western elite and connected institutions across borders. In doing so, this book makes a profound contribution to highlighting the stubborn vestiges of racial tension and discrimination inherent in notions of global justice.
Брошюра «Колониализм и права человека» написанная Колином СамсономЭта работа никак не должна быть знакома читателю. Вот краткое изложение этого текста:Колин Самсон ставит права человека в прямую взаимосвязь с историей западного колониализма и рабства. Автор исследует парадоксальный факт, что страны которые нарекли себя авторами универсальных прав человека были колонизаторами, поселенцами и спонсорами рабства.
Электронная Книга «The Colonialism of Human Rights» написана автором Colin Samson в году.
Минимальный возраст читателя: 0
Язык: Английский
ISBN: 9781509530007
Описание книги от Colin Samson
Do so-called universal human rights apply to indigenous, formerly enslaved and colonized peoples?<br /><br />This trenchant book brings human rights into conversation with the histories and afterlives of Western colonialism and slavery. Colin Samson examines the paradox that the nations that credit themselves with formulating universal human rights were colonial powers, settler colonists and sponsors of enslavement. Samson points out that many liberal theorists supported colonialism and slavery, and how this illiberalism plays out today in selective, often racist processes of recognition and enforcement of human rights. <br /><br />To reveal the continuities between colonial histories and contemporary events, Samson connects British, French and American <i>colonial theories</i> and practice to the notion of non-universal human rights. Vivid illustrations and case studies of racial exceptions to human rights are drawn from the afterlives of the enslaved and colonized, as well as recent events such as American police killings of black people, the treatment of Algerian <i>harkis</i> in France, the Windrush scandal in Britain and the militarized suppression of the Standing Rock Water Protectors movement. Advocating for reparative justice and indigenizing law, Samson argues that such events are not a failure of liberalism so much as an inbuilt racial dynamic of it.
