ABSTRACT
Although sociologists, historically, have been sceptical towards the idea of universal human rights, there has recently been increasing recognition and acknowledgement that they are important and necessary for achieving a good society. This has partly resulted from the efforts of Bryan Turner, a British social theorist associated with the journal Theory, Culture and Society, to advance a serious argument as to why sociologists need an ‘ontological theory of rights’ and to explain why they have been neglected or discounted by classical thinkers. 1 There have also been many sociologists who have been associated with campaigns to achieve global human rights, just as they were previously associated with movements seeking citizenship rights within nation states. Moreover, the diverse, critical traditions that constitute mainstream sociology and critical jurisprudence, whether they are influenced by Marxism, feminism or postmodernism, often support obtaining rights as a means of achieving social justice, even though they continue to promote the utopian dream of a society in which minorities no longer need the protection of rights or law. Far from being critical of rights, it would appear that sociology has finally accepted them as necessary for a good society, and that many contemporary sociologists participate in the rights discourse of legislators, jurists and political scientists without striking a discordant note. 2
