Human Rights

I have to admit that before reading Lori Allen's The Rise and Fall of Human Rights, I had a bit of a bias. In my mind, the project of universal human rights and the institutions supporting it do not take into account the global state system or the global economic structure (neoliberal global capitalism), despite possibly having the best intentions for justice. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights were composed shortly after the conclusion of WWII, and the institutions of justice and coalitions of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations (HROs) have popped up in the wake of the adoption of this declaration. However, within a global state system, to have this sort of overarching justice framework contradicts the idea of independent state sovereignty (which just so happens to be upheld by other international governing bodies). The ideals of human rights organizations may be there to intervene in the oppression and violence towards people within states, but it also contradicts the notion of sovereignty.

In the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict, sovereignty and self-determination are one part of a multitude of issues underlying the conflict. As Allen points out, this conflict reveals the limitations of the human rights regime, and the organizations associated with it. Palestine has used the language of human rights and victimhood to basis its claims to statehood (2). The vocabulary of human rights has been productive for Palestine to conduct its politics and express its political struggle within the larger state system. (Something that just popped into my head is that I wonder if it is no coincidence that the Palestine-Israel has roots in UN decision making that also came shortly after WWII.)

One thing that this system and value of human rights has produced is a whole regime of NGOs and HROs that supposedly act separately from state governments, as independent aid organizations that seek to advocate for oppressed and marginalized peoples. However, I think it should be no surprise to us (especially after reading Lisa Duggan’s book) that these NGOs and HROs have become deeply problematic organizations because of the extension of neoliberal tentacles into all aspects of life. Human rights work has undergone a professionalization—I know that even I had NGO work shown to me as a probable career option after undergrad. At that time, I had seen NGOs as being more connected with volunteer work (not a “real” career option, or at least not one where I would be able to sustain myself).

Allen shows that there is a disparity between the success of these organizations and the relief for Palestine. These organizations receive large amounts of aid in the name of helping the people “over there”. However it seems that this money and aid gets earmarked for specific purposes, instead of being used to fulfill the intentions of the drafters of the Declaration of Human Rights. By extension, aid and relief somehow become synonymous with justice and the improvement of the lives that are affected by violence, etc. This sort of makes that system devoid of the same meaning.