Struggles for the Human

Struggles for the Human Violent Legality and the Politics of Rights - Global & Insurgent Legalities

Hardback (18 Dec 2023)

Save $9.69

  • RRP $120.12
  • $110.43
Add to basket

Includes delivery to the United States

10+ copies available online - Usually dispatched within 72 hours

Publisher's Synopsis

In Struggles for the Human, Lara Montesinos Coleman blends ethnography, political philosophy, and critical theory to reorient debates on human rights through attention to understandings of legality, ethics, and humanity in anticapitalist and decolonial struggle. Drawing on her extensive involvement with grassroots social movements in Colombia, Coleman observes that mainstream expressions of human rights have become counterparts to capitalist violence, even as this discourse disavows capitalism's deadly implications. She rejects claims that human rights are inherently tied to capitalism, liberalism, or colonialism, instead showing how human rights can be used to combat these forces. Coleman demonstrates that social justice struggles that are rooted in marginalized communities' lived experiences can reframe human rights in order to challenge oppressive power structures and offer a blueprint for constructing alternative political economies. By examining the practice of redefining human rights away from abstract universals and contextualizing them within concrete struggles for justice, Coleman reveals the transformative potential of human rights and invites readers to question and reshape dominant legal and ethical narratives.

Book information

ISBN: 9781478020820
Publisher: Duke University Press Books
Imprint: Duke University Press
Pub date:
DEWEY: 323
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: xiv, 250
Weight: 522g
Height: 229mm
Width: 152mm
Spine width: 16mm