Introduction: Becoming Human Rights Subjects Through New Practices

Abstract

The introduction tackles—and problematizes—the paradox of today’s politics of human rights: they are claimed by Northern and Southern countries alike, and by governments as much as by private stakeholders and NGOs. This paradox fuels the reflections investigated in this volume, where human rights—understood as fundamental commitments made by states—represent a reference point for political action and “commonality” regardless of the obvious limits that are exposed on a daily basis. This introduction explains how we explore the struggles and new meanings emerging from the use of human rights as a political tool in the context of a conflicting commonality. This introduction also presents each chapter of the volume.