The Colonialism of Human Rights

Ongoing Hypocrisies of Western Liberalism

Colin Samson (University of Essex)

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English

Polity Press
17 July 2020

Sociology & anthropology

Do so-called universal human rights apply to indigenous, formerly enslaved and colonized peoples?

This trenchant book brings human rights into conversation with the histories and afterlives of Western colonialism and slavery. Colin Samson examines the paradox that the nations that credit themselves with formulating universal human rights were colonial powers, settler colonists and sponsors of enslavement. Samson points out that many liberal theorists supported colonialism and slavery, and how this illiberalism plays out today in selective, often racist processes of recognition and enforcement of human rights.

To reveal the continuities between colonial histories and contemporary events, Samson connects British, French and American colonial theories and practice to the notion of non-universal human rights. Vivid illustrations and case studies of racial exceptions to human rights are drawn from the afterlives of the enslaved and colonized, as well as recent events such as American police killings of black people, the treatment of Algerian harkis in France, the Windrush scandal in Britain and the militarized suppression of the Standing Rock Water Protectors movement. Advocating for reparative justice and indigenizing law, Samson argues that such events are not a failure of liberalism so much as an inbuilt racial dynamic of it.

By: Colin Samson (University of Essex)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 231mm, Width: 158mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 522g
ISBN: 9781509529971
ISBN 10: 1509529977
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 17 July 2020
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Chapter 1: Non-Universal Human Rights and Rightlessness Chapter 2: The Uneasy Present of Colonialism Chapter 3: Slavery and Its Afterlives Chapter 4: The Less Than Human Chapter 5: The Impossibility of Indigenous Human Rights Chapter 6: Decolonizing Human Rights Bibliography Index

Colin Samson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex

Reviews for The Colonialism of Human Rights: Ongoing Hypocrisies of Western Liberalism

A convincing portrayal of ongoing complicity with human rights abuses in the 'time of rights', so persuasive that it is hard to see how dehumanization under neo-colonialism can end. [...] However, it has to be attempted and this book makes a powerful start. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the relationship between human rights and the West's unvirtuous history and contemporary geo-politics. Ethnic and Racial Studies Colin Samson has written a poignant indictment of the hypocrisy of Western elites who extol the virtues of human rights while engaging in colonialism, war, slavery and capitalist exploitation. He makes a powerful argument for decolonizing human rights by indigenizing the law and addressing the racial exclusions at the heart of human rights discourse. Richard Wilson, University of Connecticut A coruscating analysis of the dark side of liberalism, demonstrating that the universality of human rights has always been limited by assumptions of cultural and racial inequality at their core. A powerful and revealing intervention in politics, history and activism. Robert Gildea, University of Oxford