Historicizing the Historical Turn in Human Rights Studies : Origins, Inequality, and Neoliberalism in the Modern Epoch
Wedin, Tomas and Wilén, Carl LU
(2024)
In Nordic Journal of Human Rights
42(3).
p.322-339
- Abstract
- The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human rights. Against the background of what has been described as the threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be seen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focused on origins and... (More)
- The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human rights. Against the background of what has been described as the threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be seen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focused on origins and historical continuity and rupture, and a more recent, ongoing phase addressing the relationship between human rights and the concomitant neoliberalization of society and increasing economic inequality. We contend, secondly, that the debate itself needs to be historicized, and that the two thematic phases are rooted in two specific political, ideological, and economic contexts. The debate about origins relate to a pre-2007-2008 financial crisis era, marked by near-universal acceptance of human rights. Meanwhile, the issues of inequality and neoliberalism predominantly emerged in the post-crisis period as human rights faced more and more challenges. Thirdly, we present a theoretical argument for why the distinct issues constituting the two thematic phases should not be separated from each other. Indeed, in this setting, we demonstrate that the question regarding the relation between neoliberalism and human rights presupposes an account of the origins of human rights. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep
cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in
the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who
instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s
in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human
rights. Against the background of what has been described as the
threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the
problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the
way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of
reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be
seen as one body of literature with two distinct... (More) - The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep
cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in
the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who
instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s
in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human
rights. Against the background of what has been described as the
threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the
problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the
way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of
reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be
seen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focused
on origins and historical continuity and rupture, and a more recent,
ongoing phase addressing the relationship between human rights
and the concomitant neoliberalization of society and increasing
economic inequality. We contend, secondly, that the debate itself
needs to be historicized, and that the two thematic phases are
rooted in two specific political, ideological, and economic contexts.
The debate about origins relate to a pre-2007-2008 financial crisis era,
marked by near-universal acceptance of human rights. Meanwhile,
the issues of inequality and neoliberalism predominantly emerged in
the post-crisis period as human rights faced more and more
challenges. Thirdly, we present a theoretical argument for why the
distinct issues constituting the two thematic phases should not be
separated from each other. Indeed, in this setting, we demonstrate
that the question regarding the relation between neoliberalism and
human rights presupposes an account of the origins of human rights. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/855be10f-8464-4430-b0d4-2ebc70540f79
- author
- Wedin, Tomas
and Wilén, Carl
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Human Rights, Historical Turn, Historicise, Modernity, Neoliberalism
- in
- Nordic Journal of Human Rights
- volume
- 42
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 18 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85208075944
- ISSN
- 1891-8131
- DOI
- 10.1080/18918131.2024.2378647
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 855be10f-8464-4430-b0d4-2ebc70540f79
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-05 09:19:12
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:48:21
@article{855be10f-8464-4430-b0d4-2ebc70540f79,
abstract = {{The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human rights. Against the background of what has been described as the threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be seen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focused on origins and historical continuity and rupture, and a more recent, ongoing phase addressing the relationship between human rights and the concomitant neoliberalization of society and increasing economic inequality. We contend, secondly, that the debate itself needs to be historicized, and that the two thematic phases are rooted in two specific political, ideological, and economic contexts. The debate about origins relate to a pre-2007-2008 financial crisis era, marked by near-universal acceptance of human rights. Meanwhile, the issues of inequality and neoliberalism predominantly emerged in the post-crisis period as human rights faced more and more challenges. Thirdly, we present a theoretical argument for why the distinct issues constituting the two thematic phases should not be separated from each other. Indeed, in this setting, we demonstrate that the question regarding the relation between neoliberalism and human rights presupposes an account of the origins of human rights.}},
author = {{Wedin, Tomas and Wilén, Carl}},
issn = {{1891-8131}},
keywords = {{Human Rights; Historical Turn; Historicise; Modernity; Neoliberalism}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{322--339}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Nordic Journal of Human Rights}},
title = {{Historicizing the Historical Turn in Human Rights Studies : Origins, Inequality, and Neoliberalism in the Modern Epoch}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2024.2378647}},
doi = {{10.1080/18918131.2024.2378647}},
volume = {{42}},
year = {{2024}},
}