Abstract

This author critically looks at the human rights project as a damning three-dimensional metaphor that exposes multiple complexes. He argues that the grand narrative of human rights contains a subtext which depicts an epochal contest pitting savages, on the one hand, against victims and saviors, on the other. The savages-victims-saviors (SVS) construction lays bare some of the hypocrisies of the human rights project and asks human rights thinkers and advocates to become more self-reflective. The piece questions the universality and cultural neutrality of the human rights project. It calls for the construction of a truly universal human rights corpus, one that is multicultural, inclusive, and deeply political.

Bio

Makau Mutua is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and the Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar at SUNY Buffalo Law School, where he served as dean for seven years, 2008-2014. He teaches international human rights, international business transactions and international law. He was educated at the University of Nairobi, the University of Dar-es-Salaam and Harvard Law School. Mutua is a vice president of the American Society of International Law and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Activity within the Doctoral Programmes "Human Rights in Contemporary Societies" e "Pós-colonialimos e Cidadania Global".