Making Human Rights Real

by Filip Spagnoli

Here in a nutshell readers may find a description of the most important characteristics of human rights, and a clear and concise discussion of the problem of making human rights real and not just hypothetical. Building on definitions of human rights used by the United Nations and other international bodies, the author describes the main characteristics of the system of human rights (universality, interdependence, differences between types of rights, absolute or limited rights, the subjects of rights - individuals or groups, the link between rights and the judicial system and between rights and democracy). He then discusses some of the instruments we can use to promote respect for human rights, the means by which we might make these rights real for a greater portion of humanity. Along the way, he analyzes some of the related controversies regarding sovereignty, international intervention, and globalization and questions of cultural imperialism as they bear upon human rights. Do we have a right to impose rights - or to defend ourselves from such intervention? This systematic discussion presents a complex and difficult topic in an understandable framework accessible to the general public, and will stand as a useful foundation for readings of more specialized scientific, legal and philosophical works. Where most human rights books for the nonspecialist focus on specific instances of rights abuses, this work provides a more general approach focused on the logic in the system of human rights. * Filip Spagnoli obtained his PhD at the University of Brussels. He has written numerous OpEd articles in leading Belgian newspapers and specialized articles in philosophical periodicals, and two books, Homo Democraticus, On the Universal Desirability but the Not So Universal Possibility of Democracy and Human Rights (2003); and Democratic Imperialism, A Practical Guide, 2004). Employed by the research and statistics directorate of the Belgian Central Bank, Spagnoli is a guest speaker at conferences and universities and has participated in European Commission study visits to Eastern European countries with the aim of delivering statistical expertise and helping these countries to achieve membership of the European Union.

Genres: Philosophy

191 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2006

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A philosophical outline of the basic issues confronting human rights, and how they might be transformed from ideas to facts, Spangoli's thesis is well-presented and eminently logical. From the first chapter, in which the author argues for the universality of human rights, and against cultural relativism, to his final analysis of how human rights protect both freedom and equality, I found myself in frequent agreement with the points presented.

Some highlights include: the demonstration of the logical and moral inconsistencies inherent in the relativist world-view (Chapter 1); an argument in favor of the interconnectedness of different categories of rights, and the discussion of the equality of rights and the inequality of duties (Chapter 2); the necessity of limiting rights, in order to make them equal and give them meaning (Chapter 3); an argument for individual rights, as opposed to collective rights (Chapter 4); a discussion of the importance of the state in mediating the religious freedoms of various groups (Chapter 5); the centrality of the law in making human rights a reality (Chapter 6); an exploration of the role that a separation of powers in government plays in enforcing human rights (Chapter 7); a discussion of the importance and limitations of tolerance (Chapter 8); a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of representative and direct democracy, and an argument for a combination of the two (Chapter 9); an examination of the issue of national sovereignty and the advisability and appropriateness of international intervention (Chapter 10); and finally, an argument for state as a guarantor of liberty, as opposed to a necessary evil (Chapter 11).

There were a few instances in which I was either unclear or in disagreement with Spagnoli. While I see the desirability of consensus, I am not sure I believe that it is the only means of arriving at the truth, as he argues in his introduction. Perhaps I am too much of an absolutist, but it seems to me that there is an independent truth, regarding some things, anyway. Few people today believe that slavery was (or is) a just institution, but if I were to follow the author's logic, slavery only became unjust when a majority of people were convinced that it was so. Does this imply that all the Abolitionists who struggled against the institution of slavery, before its abolition was universally accepted (in theory, anyway), were not acting upon the "truth," simply because that truth was not widely recognized until much later? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that consensus is a means of arriving at a RECOGNITION of the truth?

I also felt some ambiguity in relation to the author's discussion of individual versus collective rights in the fourth chapter, particularly as they concern the issue of indigenous peoples, and other national minorities. Spagnoli assumes that every effort at self-determination by a group is aimed at creating a NEW state. But what if the group in question is ALREADY a state, and has ALWAYS been a state, as is the case with the Iroquois Confederacy? The author seems to imply that local autonomy within federated states can answer these issues, but I am not so sure...