Human Rights in Crisis: The Sacred and the Secular in Contemporary French Thought

by Souillac, Geneviève Souillac, Geneviève

Overview

In the past ten years, the debate over the crisis in human rights has been waged within academic literature from political science, international relations, and legal and political philosophy. Human Rights in Crisis uniquely documents recent ideas on democracy and human rights in the current French intellectual, social, and political context, arguing that the French emphasis on the interdependence between democracy and human rights as a tool for the critique and renewal of democracy is a valid contribution to the global debate on the political philosophy and the ethics of human rights. Centering on the work of four prominent, contemporary French political philosophers, Blandine Kriegel, Marcel Gauchet, Luc Ferry, and Etienne Balibar, Geneviève Souillac expertly examines the themes of contestation and reform that are the driving force in the French approach to democracy and human rights. Highlighting the important and unique nature of the French public and intellectual debate on human rights and democracy, this book reveals alternative and complementary perspectives to current Anglo-American political theory. Human Rights in Crisis brings an important contribution to contemporary debates on the genealogy of human rights, providing essential reading for political theorists, law professors, and history scholars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739112069
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	07/08/2005
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.68(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Geneviève Souillac is associate lecturer in the Department of French Studies, School of European, Asian, and Middle Eastern Languages at the University of Sydney.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Human Rights and Democratic Individualism: Marcel Gauchet Chapter 3 Human Rights and Democratic Universalism: Blandine Kriegel Chapter 4 Human Rights and Democratic Humanism: Luc Ferry Chapter 5 Human Rights and Democratic Radicalism: Etienne Balibar Chapter 6 Conclusion Chapter 7 Selected Bibliography Chapter 8 Index Chapter 9 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

[This book] sheds light on the originality of the contemporary French debate on human rights. In so doing, it makes an important contribution to a global debate and should have significant impact on the fields of political theory, sociology, law, and history of political thought.

Aurelian Craiutu

The gap between the French and the Anglo-American perspectives on human rights is not only political, it is also philosophical. This eloquent book helps to bridge that gap. It should be essential reading for Anglo-American students of human rights who hope to find out what the rest of the world is thinking.

Daniel Bell

The gap between the French and the Anglo-American perspectives on human rights is not only political, it is also philosophical. This eloquent book helps to bridge that gap. It should be essential reading for Anglo-American students of human rights who hope to find out what the rest of the world is thinking.--Daniel Bell, City University of Hong Kong

[This book] sheds light on the originality of the contemporary French debate on human rights. In so doing, it makes an important contribution to a global debate and should have significant impact on the fields of political theory, sociology, law, and history of political thought.--Aurelian Craiutu, Indiana University, Bloomington, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

From the Publisher