Decolonizing the “Universal” Human Rights Regime: Questioning American Exceptionalism and Orientalism

If you have found this article useful and you think it is important that researchers across the world have access, please consider donating, to ensure that this valuable collection remains Open Access.

ReOrient is published by Pluto Journals, an Open Access publisher. This means that everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles from our international collection of social science journals, and the authors don’t pay an author processing charge (APC’s).

scite_

ReOrient

Volume 4, Issue 1

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Decolonizing the “Universal” Human Rights Regime: Questioning American Exceptionalism and Orientalism

research-article

Author(s): Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2018

Journal: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Human Rights, American exceptionalism, Orientalism, Eurocentrism, universality, hegemony, critical Muslim studies

Bookmark

Abstract

This article aims to decolonize the discourse of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the lens of Critical Muslim Studies, arguing that such systems of “international norms” are Eurocentric in character and hegemonic in practice. I argue that the promotion of a Western system of human rights as universal works through the two pillars of Orientalism and Eurocentrism, focusing particularly on the discourse of American exceptionalism as a distinct American form of Eurocentrism. Such a critique is a necessary first step for creating the grounds for alternative human rights orders, such as the notion of Islamic human rights. To be successful, any alternative Islamic system for alleviating human oppression and suffering should first dismantle the hegemonic grip of Orientalism and Eurocentrism on human rights.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): reorient

Title: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 20555601

ISSN (Electronic): 2055561X

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2018

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Pages: 59-77

Affiliations

University of Tehran, Iran

Article

Publisher ID: reorient.4.1.0059

DOI: 10.13169/reorient.4.1.0059

SO-VID: 8106809b-05e0-451e-90b7-eeda05cc4942

License:

All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

References

Anderson, C. E. (2003) Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944–1955 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Asad, T. (2000) What do human rights do? An anthropological enquiry. Theory & Event . 4 (4).
Backes, E. (2010) On this day: U.S. fully adopts genocide convention. enough: The project to end genocide and crimes against humanity, November 4. Available at http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/day-us-ratifies-genocide-convention (accessed 12 October 2018).
Blaut, J. M. (1993) The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History . New York: Guilford Press.
Blaut, J. M. (2000) Eight Eurocentric Historians . Vol. 2. New York: Guilford Press.
“The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam.” (1990). Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Conference of Foreign Ministers. Cairo, Egypt.
Doty, R. (1996) Imperial Encounters: The Politics of Representation in North–South Relations . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Falk, R. and Tilly, V. (2017) Israeli practices toward the Palestinian people and the question of apartheid. Special Report for The UN Economic and Social Commision for Western Asia. Available at https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/2017–03/un_apartheid_report_15_march_english_final_.pdf (accessed 12 October 2018).
Gilman, N. (2003) Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hippler, J., Lueg, A. and Friese, L. (1995) The Next Threat: Western Perceptions of Islam . London: Pluto Press.
Ignatieff, M., ed. (2005) American Exceptionalism and Human Rights . Princeton: Princeton University Press.
“Islamic-Iranian Model of Progress Called for.” (2010) Available at http://www.leader.ir/en/content/7634/Islamic-Iranian-Model-of-Progress-called-for (accessed 12 October 2018).
Jackson, T. F. (2013) From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Karim, K. H. (2003) The Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence . Montreal, CA: Black Rose Books.
Lawrence, B. B. (1998) Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Libal, K. and Hertel, S. (2011) Paradoxes and possibilities: Domestic human rights policy in context. In Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism , 1–14, edited by S. Hertel and K. Libal. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McDougall, J. (2017) A History of Algeria . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Merali, A. (2017a) Introduction. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Islamic Human Rights: Foundations, Concepts, Distinctive Features and Priorities . Tehran: Iran, 6–7.
Merali, A. (2017b) The problems of the current human rights discourse and requests for clarification. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Islamic Human Rights: Foundations, Concepts, Distinctive Features and Priorities . Tehran: Iran, 18–31.
Moravcsik, A. (2005) The paradox of US human rights policy. In American Exceptionalism and Human Rights , 149–50, edited by M. Ignatieff. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Mutua, M. (2002) Human Rights: A Political & Cultural Critique . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Mutua, M. (2016) Human Rights Standards: Hegemony, Law, and Politics . New York: SUNY Press.
Nayak, M. V. and Malone, C. (2009) American Orientalism and American exceptionalism: A critical rethinking of US hegemony. International Studies Review . 11(2), 253–76.
Okere, B. O. (1984) The protection of human rights in Africa and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A comparative analysis with the European and American systems. Human Rights Quarterly . 6(2), 141–59.
Peck, J. (2011) Ideal Illusions: How the US Government Co-Opted Human Rights . London: Macmillan.
Piccard, A. (2010) The United States’ failure to ratify the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights: Must the poor be always with us? The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Minority Issues . 13(2), 231–72.
Roberts, C. N. (2014) The Contentious History of the International Bill of Human Rights . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Said, E. W. (1994) Orientalism . Rev. ed. New York: Vintage Books.
Sayyid, B. S. (2003) A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism . New York: Zed Books.
Sayyid, B. S. (2014) Recalling the Caliphate: Decolonization and World Order . London: Hurst.
Shimazu, N. (1998) Japan, Race and Equality: The Racial Equality Proposal of 1919 . London: Routledge.
Singh, A. (2015) From civil rights to human rights: Malcolm X and the post-colonial world. Available at http://www.electrostani.com/2015/02/from-civil-rights-to-human-rights.html (accessed 12 October 2018).
The Executive Board, American Anthropological Association. (1947) Statement on human rights. American Anthropologist , 539–43.
UN General Assembly. (1948) Universal declaration of human rights. Available at “United States.” CESR. Available at http://www.cesr.org/countries/united-states.
Wendt, A. (1992) Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization . 46(2), 391–425.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Anderson, C. E. (2003) Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944–1955 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[2] Asad, T. (2000) What do human rights do? An anthropological enquiry. Theory & Event . 4 (4).

[3] Backes, E. (2010) On this day: U.S. fully adopts genocide convention. enough: The project to end genocide and crimes against humanity, November 4. Available at http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/day-us-ratifies-genocide-convention (accessed 12 October 2018).

[4] Blaut, J. M. (1993) The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History . New York: Guilford Press.

[5] Blaut, J. M. (2000) Eight Eurocentric Historians . Vol. 2. New York: Guilford Press.

[6] “The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam.” (1990). Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Conference of Foreign Ministers. Cairo, Egypt.

[7] Doty, R. (1996) Imperial Encounters: The Politics of Representation in North–South Relations . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

[8] Falk, R. and Tilly, V. (2017) Israeli practices toward the Palestinian people and the question of apartheid. Special Report for The UN Economic and Social Commision for Western Asia. Available at https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/2017–03/un_apartheid_report_15_march_english_final_.pdf (accessed 12 October 2018).

[9] Gilman, N. (2003) Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

[10] Hippler, J., Lueg, A. and Friese, L. (1995) The Next Threat: Western Perceptions of Islam . London: Pluto Press.

[11] Ignatieff, M., ed. (2005) American Exceptionalism and Human Rights . Princeton: Princeton University Press.

[12] “Islamic-Iranian Model of Progress Called for.” (2010) Available at http://www.leader.ir/en/content/7634/Islamic-Iranian-Model-of-Progress-called-for (accessed 12 October 2018).

[13] Jackson, T. F. (2013) From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

[14] Karim, K. H. (2003) The Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence . Montreal, CA: Black Rose Books.

[15] Lawrence, B. B. (1998) Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

[16] Libal, K. and Hertel, S. (2011) Paradoxes and possibilities: Domestic human rights policy in context. In Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism , 1–14, edited by S. Hertel and K. Libal. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

[17] McDougall, J. (2017) A History of Algeria . New York: Cambridge University Press.

[18] Merali, A. (2017a) Introduction. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Islamic Human Rights: Foundations, Concepts, Distinctive Features and Priorities . Tehran: Iran, 6–7.

[19] Merali, A. (2017b) The problems of the current human rights discourse and requests for clarification. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Islamic Human Rights: Foundations, Concepts, Distinctive Features and Priorities . Tehran: Iran, 18–31.

[20] Moravcsik, A. (2005) The paradox of US human rights policy. In American Exceptionalism and Human Rights , 149–50, edited by M. Ignatieff. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

[21] Mutua, M. (2002) Human Rights: A Political & Cultural Critique . Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

[22] Mutua, M. (2016) Human Rights Standards: Hegemony, Law, and Politics . New York: SUNY Press.

[23] Nayak, M. V. and Malone, C. (2009) American Orientalism and American exceptionalism: A critical rethinking of US hegemony. International Studies Review . 11(2), 253–76.

[24] Okere, B. O. (1984) The protection of human rights in Africa and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A comparative analysis with the European and American systems. Human Rights Quarterly . 6(2), 141–59.

[25] Peck, J. (2011) Ideal Illusions: How the US Government Co-Opted Human Rights . London: Macmillan.

[26] Piccard, A. (2010) The United States’ failure to ratify the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights: Must the poor be always with us? The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Minority Issues . 13(2), 231–72.

[27] Roberts, C. N. (2014) The Contentious History of the International Bill of Human Rights . New York: Cambridge University Press.

[28] Said, E. W. (1994) Orientalism . Rev. ed. New York: Vintage Books.

[29] Sayyid, B. S. (2003) A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism . New York: Zed Books.

[30] Sayyid, B. S. (2014) Recalling the Caliphate: Decolonization and World Order . London: Hurst.

[31] Shimazu, N. (1998) Japan, Race and Equality: The Racial Equality Proposal of 1919 . London: Routledge.

[32] Singh, A. (2015) From civil rights to human rights: Malcolm X and the post-colonial world. Available at http://www.electrostani.com/2015/02/from-civil-rights-to-human-rights.html (accessed 12 October 2018).

[33] The Executive Board, American Anthropological Association. (1947) Statement on human rights. American Anthropologist , 539–43.

[34] UN General Assembly. (1948) Universal declaration of human rights. Available at “United States.” CESR. Available at http://www.cesr.org/countries/united-states.

[35] Wendt, A. (1992) Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics. International Organization . 46(2), 391–425.

ReOrient

Decolonizing the “Universal” Human Rights Regime: Questioning American Exceptionalism and Orientalism

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Categories

Comment on this article