savages, victims, and saviors by makau w. mutua
DESCRIPTION
This article critically looks at the human rights project as a damning three-dimensional metaphor that exposes multiple complexes. It argues that the grand narrative of human rights contains a subtext which depicts an epochal contest pitting savages, on the one hand, against victims and saviors, on the other. The savages-victims-saviors (SVS) construction lays bare some of the hypocrisies of the human rights project and asks human rights thinkers and advocates to become more self-reflective. The piece questions the universality and cultural neutrality of the human rights project. It calls for the construction of a truly universal human rights corpus, one that is multicultural, inclusive, and deeply political.TRANSCRIPT
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1525547HeinOnline -- 42 Harv. Int’l L. J. 201 2001
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1525547HeinOnline -- 42 Harv. Int’l L. J. 202 2001
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1525547HeinOnline -- 42 Harv. Int’l L. J. 203 2001
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