Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: Reflections on Dialogues between Practitioners and Theorists of Human Rights
- SECTION I NORTHERN INGOs AND SOUTHERN AID RECIPIENTS: THE CHALLENGE OF UNEQUAL POWER
- SECTION II INGOs AND GOVERNMENTS: THE CHALLENGE OF DEALING WITH STATES THAT RESTRICT THE ACTIVITIES OF INGOs
- SECTION III INGOs AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS: THE CHALLENGE OF DEALING WITH GLOBAL POVERTY
- 9 Defending Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: Practical Issues Faced by an International Human Rights Organization
- 10 Thinking through Social and Economic Rights
- Response to the Critique of Neera Chandhoke
- A Final Response to Kenneth Roth
- 11 Amnesty International and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
- 12 Moral Priorities for International Human Rights NGOs
- 13 The Problem of Doing Good in a World That Isn't: Reflections on the Ethical Challenges Facing INGOs
- Respect and Disagreement: A Response to Joseph Carens
- Conclusion: INGOs as Collective Mobilization of Transnational Solidarity: Implications for Human Rights Work at the United Nations
- Index
A Final Response to Kenneth Roth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: Reflections on Dialogues between Practitioners and Theorists of Human Rights
- SECTION I NORTHERN INGOs AND SOUTHERN AID RECIPIENTS: THE CHALLENGE OF UNEQUAL POWER
- SECTION II INGOs AND GOVERNMENTS: THE CHALLENGE OF DEALING WITH STATES THAT RESTRICT THE ACTIVITIES OF INGOs
- SECTION III INGOs AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS: THE CHALLENGE OF DEALING WITH GLOBAL POVERTY
- 9 Defending Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: Practical Issues Faced by an International Human Rights Organization
- 10 Thinking through Social and Economic Rights
- Response to the Critique of Neera Chandhoke
- A Final Response to Kenneth Roth
- 11 Amnesty International and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
- 12 Moral Priorities for International Human Rights NGOs
- 13 The Problem of Doing Good in a World That Isn't: Reflections on the Ethical Challenges Facing INGOs
- Respect and Disagreement: A Response to Joseph Carens
- Conclusion: INGOs as Collective Mobilization of Transnational Solidarity: Implications for Human Rights Work at the United Nations
- Index
Summary
Human rights have always proved to be a bit of a problem for political theory; recall Jeremy Bentham's famous dismissal of rights as nonsense – nonsense on stilts. The crisis in the discourse of rights, despite the widespread political acceptability the issue commands, is today much deeper than at any point in history. Political theorists seem to be wracked with doubts and hesitations when it comes to negotiating either the foundations or the legitimization of human rights. This is primarily because of the impact of the postmodern spirit, which rejects concepts of an essentialized human nature and the idea that universal and standard norms can be imposed on people without regard for the cultural distinctiveness of their societies.
Defenders of human rights therefore have had to battle cultural relativism and communitarianism as well as allegations that rights are a product of Eurocentric experiences and imaginations and therefore are imperialistic. Defenders of human rights have in short had to tread rather warily when it comes to human rights. For these reasons, they have felt the need to take seriously attacks on human rights as well as alternative formulations on what it means to be human. Above all, defenders of human rights have found that they need to respect criticisms, alternatives, and suggestions, in concert with each other, if they are committed to building a culture of human rights.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ethics in ActionThe Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations, pp. 201 - 203Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006