Struggles for the Human: Violent Legality and the Politics of Rights

by Lara Montesinos Coleman

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478025566
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	01/05/2024
Series:	Global and Insurgent Legalities
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Lara Montesinos Coleman is Reader in International Relations, Law, and Development and Director of the Centre for Global Political Economy at the University of Sussex and coeditor of Situating Global Resistance: Between Discipline and Dissent.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  xi
Introduction. Human Rights in Struggle  1
1. Necroeconomics: Violence, Law, and Twenty-First-Century Plunder  27
2. Deadly Colonial Ethics: Development Policy-Speak and Corporate Responsibility  57
3. Privatizing Workers’ Rights: Social Partnership in a Neoliberal World  81
4. Elusive Justice: Capital, Impunity, and Counterlegality  105
5. From Pernicious Optimism to Radical Hope: Human Rights beyond Abstract Values  132
6. For an Insurgent Humanism  153
Conclusion. What Do We Make of Human Rights? Ten Points  170
Notes  175
Bibliography  213
Index  239

Editorial Reviews

"Coleman does the seemingly impossible: She has written a book that not only presents an astute critique of human rights, but also offers a fresh look at the potential of human rights. . . . Against the background of imperial wars, Coleman urgently reminds us that this collectivity is key. Overall, then, Struggles for the Human is a magnificent, and much-needed, reminder of collective struggles and radical hope."

Critical Legal Thinking - Christine Schwöbel-Patel

"Part philosophy and part political analysis, this interdisciplinary study explores critical legal studies, intellectual history, and international political economy to provide an eloquent, if at times complex, argument in favour of valorising human rights in a new way."

Latin American Review of Books - Gavin O'Toole

Lara Montesinos Coleman’s arresting and beautiful ethnography of Colombian resistance movements doubles as an informed and sophisticated critical intervention into the controversy about the meanings of human rights in an age of neoliberalism. Bypassing the politics of struggle, the book proves, is a mistake for anyone rushing to bury—or praise—human rights today.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

“In Struggles for the Human, Lara Montesinos Coleman brings together a blistering critique of mainstream human rights practices and a nuanced account of neoliberalism with a defense of the continued use of human rights by radical social movements. Coleman shows how human rights retain a disruptive potential and can contribute to the dismantling of capitalist structures of impunity. Breaking new ground in our thinking about rights, capitalist power, and emancipation, this is an indispensable book for all those interested in the politics of human rights, radical social movements, and political philosophy.”—Jessica Whyte, author of, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights and the Rise of Neoliberalism

"Part philosophy and part political analysis, this interdisciplinary study explores critical legal studies, intellectual history, and international political economy to provide an eloquent, if at times complex, argument in favour of valorising human rights in a new way."—Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books

"Coleman does the seemingly impossible: She has written a book that not only presents an astute critique of human rights, but also offers a fresh look at the potential of human rights. . . . Against the background of imperial wars, Coleman urgently reminds us that this collectivity is key. Overall, then, Struggles for the Human is a magnificent, and much-needed, reminder of collective struggles and radical hope."—Christine Schwöbel-Patel, Critical Legal Thinking

"In many ways, this book is a challenging read—for all the right reasons. It is a powerful critique of capitalist engagement with human rights. . . . Anyone interested in human rights and their position in the modern world would be well served by reading this book and engaging with the issues raised."
 —Mark Hurst, International Review of Social History

“This book needs to be read by every human rights student, by every human rights scholar, by every political theorist… every anthropologist, every sociologist. Whomever cares about the politics of rights, human rights, radical political movements and their vexed relation to legality and the discourse of rights must get their hands on this book as soon as possible.”—Ayça Çubukçu, author of, For the Love of Humanity: the World Tribunal on Iraq

From the Publisher

This book needs to be read by every human rights student, by every human rights scholar, by every political theorist… every anthropologist, every sociologist. Whomever cares about the politics of rights, human rights, radical political movements and their vexed relation to legality and the discourse of rights must get their hands on this book as soon as possible.

For the Love of Humanity: the World Tribunal on Iraq - Ayça Çubukçu

"In many ways, this book is a challenging read—for all the right reasons. It is a powerful critique of capitalist engagement with human rights. . . . Anyone interested in human rights and their position in the modern world would be well served by reading this book and engaging with the issues raised."
 

International Review of Social History - Mark Hurst

Lara Montesinos Coleman’s arresting and beautiful ethnography of Colombian resistance movements doubles as an informed and sophisticated critical intervention into the controversy about the meanings of human rights in an age of neoliberalism. Bypassing the politics of struggle, the book proves, is a mistake for anyone rushing to bury—or praise—human rights today.

Samuel Moyn

In Struggles for the Human, Lara Montesinos Coleman brings together a blistering critique of mainstream human rights practices and a nuanced account of neoliberalism with a defense of the continued use of human rights by radical social movements. Coleman shows how human rights retain a disruptive potential and can contribute to the dismantling of capitalist structures of impunity. Breaking new ground in our thinking about rights, capitalist power, and emancipation, this is an indispensable book for all those interested in the politics of human rights, radical social movements, and political philosophy.

The Morals of the Market: Human Rights and the Rise of Neoliberalism - Jessica Whyte