(De)colonizing Human Rights

Abstract

The human rights story during the decolonization era covers a range of (critical) legal perspectives. This chapter examines the role the incipient discourse and (international) institutional framework of human rights supposedly played in decolonization. It begins with the acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the still-colonized militants of decolonization and their use of (human) rights language to articulate core demands of self-government, self-determination, and (racial) equality. In particular, it examines the UN, where colonizing powers faced adverse international public opinion and led, first, to their withdrawal, followed by the gradual identity formation of the third world. It discusses the Bandung and Teheran conferences, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Pan-African Movement, and the right to non-discrimination and the right to development. It aims to show the positive impact human rights have had on the decolonization process, decolonization, and the international human rights system.

Decolonising and decriminalising child marriage in Africa

“…An almost intractable challenge affecting global compliance remains the normative conflict associated with the origins of the ‘domestic norms’ of ‘appropriate’ or proper behaviour meant to be international. The discourses on the origins of the modern human rights movement and protagonists have been addressed considerably in the literature on the decolonisation of human rights literature (see e.g., An‐Naim, 2021; Hoffmann & Assy, 2019; Saghaye‐Biria, 2018). The origins of the modern international children's rights legal framework are often traced back to British philanthropist Eglantyne Jebb, whose declaration was later adopted by the UN, leading to the creation of the United Nations Convention on Human Rights (UNCRC) (Akhtar & Nyamutata, 2020).…”

“…An almost intractable challenge affecting global compliance remains the normative conflict associated with the origins of the 'domestic norms' of 'appropriate' or proper behaviour meant to be international. The discourses on the origins of the modern human rights movement and protagonists have been addressed considerably in the literature on the decolonisation of human rights literature (see e.g., An-Naim, 2021;Hoffmann & Assy, 2019;Saghaye-Biria, 2018).…”