African Conceptions of Human Dignity: Vitality and Community as the Ground of Human Rights

African Legal Theory and Contemporary Problems

“…Elsewhere I have argued that dignity qua our capacity for community is the most promising idea in sub-Saharan moral thought with which to ground human rights, rejecting the other candidates of divinity, vitality and rationality (Metz 2010(Metz , 2011a(Metz , 2012b. Rather than recount that criticism, I simply here present my fi ndings.…”

Human rights as a topic and guide forLISresearch and practice

“…Many theories of human rights are grounded in a Western philosophical tradition (see, e.g., Donnelly, 2003;Griffin, 2008), but increasingly theorists are seeking less parochial justifications of human rights. A growing number of human rights theorists approach human rights from various non-Western traditions, including Islamic, Confucian, and African traditions (see, e.g., An-Na'im, 1990Chan, 1995Chan, , 1999Metz, 2010Metz, , 2011Metz, , 2012.…”

“…Human rights theories offer a normative justification for human rights, argue for the inclusion of particular rights, and provide criteria for their application and insight about how different rights may be weighed against each other. In the past decade, there has been increased theoretical attention to human rights among philosophers as well as legal and political theorists (see, e.g., An‐Na'im, , ; Buchanan, ; Chan, ; Donnelly, ; Griffin, ; Metz, ; Nickel, ; Sen, ; Tasioulas, ). This research is published in a number of monographs and collections on human rights theory as well as in philosophy and law journals and in the growing number of journals dedicated specifically to human rights research, for example, Human Rights Quarterly, Human Rights Review, Journal of Human Rights , and The Harvard Human Rights Journal .…”

“…The adoption by the United Nations of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples shows that human rights agreements can incorporate the value of cultural diversity and defend the rights of cultural groups to preserve and maintain their cultures. Furthermore, as noted previously, a number of theorists are working on projects that seek to create a dialog between human rights and non‐Western philosophical traditions, finding numerous points of potential agreement (An‐Na'im, ; Chan, ; Metz, ; see also, Bell, ; Cohen, ).…”

Learning, Work and Practice: New Understandings

“…Here I draw on summaries of anthropological and sociological fi ndings presented inMetz ( 2007Metz ( , 2012a .…”