ABSTRACT
Rights have come to occupy a central place in normative reflections on social justice. The idea that individuals have rights and that these rights set important limits on what might be done to them by the state or in the name of any social goal, has developed to the stature of an entrenched conviction in political philosophy. The idea is widely upheld in political practice as well. Most countries have a list of rights written into their constitutions, affirming, for example, that the state will not interfere with citizens’ freedom of speech, religious liberty, freedom of movement and choice of work, sexual privacy, and their equal access to law. The international community has agreed to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, motivated by the fact that there are liberties and interests so basic that all nations should strive to secure them despite their varying history, cultural tradition and position on the economic ladder. The rhetoric of rights has been and continues to be passionately invoked by social movements pressing for certain claims.
