
Contents
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The Conditions of Universality The Conditions of Universality
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Representational Limits: The Paradox of Women’s Human Rights Representational Limits: The Paradox of Women’s Human Rights
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Translating Human Rights: Negotiating Relativism Translating Human Rights: Negotiating Relativism
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Modern Foundations: Human Rights and the Limits of Law Modern Foundations: Human Rights and the Limits of Law
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Attending to Absences Attending to Absences
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1. Universalism and the Conceptual Limits to Human Rights
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Published:August 2011
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Abstract
This chapter examines the conceptual terms through which human rights is framed in order to tease out the epistemological and ontological premises that prescribe human rights mechanisms such as the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted in the post-World War II moment, is often cited as the cornerstone and origin of contemporary human rights. Rather than situate temporal origins, this chapter considers the epistemological origins of the contemporary concept of human rights in order to situate strategies like translation that are touted as a means to discover truly universal principles. In particular, it looks at the debates around translation and cultural relativism that continue to shape human rights debates, along with the role of the law in naturalizing certain assumptions about human rights. These debates indicate how the idea of human rights is framed primarily through the notion of representation—of representing humanity and representing fairly different cultural definitions of universal principles. Finally, the chapter explores the paradox of universalism, strategies of translation, and the politics of representation in relation to human rights.
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