Human Rights and Empire

<p>Erudite and timely, this book is a key contribution to the renewal of radical theory and politics. Addressing the paradox of a contemporary humanitarianism that has abandoned politics in favour of combating evil, Douzinas, a leading scholar and author in the field of human rights and legal theory, considers the most pressing international questions.</p><p>Asking whether there ‘is an intrinsic relationship between human rights and the recent wars carried out in their name?’ and whether ‘human rights are a barrier against domination and oppression or the ideological gloss of an emerging empire?’ this book examines a range of topics, including:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>the normative characteristics, political philosophy and metaphysical foundations of our age </li> <li>the subjective and institutional aspects of human rights and their involvement in the creation of identity and definition of the meaning and powers of humanity </li> <li>the use of human rights as a justification for a new configuration of political, economic and military power. </li> </ul><p>Exploring the legacy and the contemporary role of human rights, this topical and incisive book is a must for all those interested in human rights law, jurisprudence and philosophy of law, political philosophy and political theory. </p> <p><strong>Part 1: The Paradoxes of Human Rights</strong> 1. The End of Human Rights? 2. Identity, Desire, Rights 3. The Many Faces of Humanitarianism 4. The Politics of Human Rights 5. Freedom in a Biopolitical Setting <strong>Part 2: The Normative Sources of the New World Order</strong> 6. Empire or Cosmopolitanism? 7. Cosmopolitanism Ancient, Modern, Postmodern 8. Human Rights: Values in a Valueless World 9. The Brief Glory and the Long Crisis of International Law 10. War, Violence, Law 11. Bare, Theological and Cosmopolitan Sovereignty 12. Postscript: The Cosmopolitanism to Come</p>