ABSTRACT
As we enter a new millennium, the world in which we live is very different than it was a mere century ago. Since 1901, the changes are probably nowhere more visible, recognized, and utilized than in the scientific and technological spheres. So too, have our social, cultural, and political realities changed, although not always in such obvious ways. One area in which we can clearly see significant evolution in social thought is with respect to the discourse on human rights (e.g., Spring, 2000). As the British philosopher Almond (1993) noted:
The Second World War involved violations of human rights on an unprecedented scale but its ending saw the dawn of a new era for rights. Following their heyday in
the seventeenth century … rights played a crucial role in the revolutions of the late eighteenth century. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, appeal to rights was eclipsed by movements such as utilitarianism and Marxism which could not, or would not, accommodate them … The contemporary period has seen a further shift in their fortunes and today they provide an accepted international currency for moral and political debate. In many parts of the world, irrespective of cultural or religious traditions, when issues or torture or terrorism, poverty or power are debated, the argument is very often conducted in terms of rights and their violation. (p. 259)
Indeed, the latter half of the 20th century has witnessed a veritable explosion of interest in and concern with human rights. To some extent, of course, such interest and concern have been self-serving. As with young children who master the concept of unfairness when it applies to them far more quickly than when it applies to others, we tend to be more aware of violations of our own rights than of our violations of others’ rights. Discourse about human rights, and on the violation of human rights, in the international realm also serves multiple purposes, and is often used as a convenient weapon to distract or to delegitimize a political opponent.
