Keeping Faith with Human Rights PDF
Preview Keeping Faith with Human Rights
Keeping Faith with human Rights The Moral Traditions Series Series Editors: David Cloutier, Kristin Heyer, Andrea Vicini, SJ Founding Editor: James F. Keenan, SJ selected titles The Acting Person and Christian Moral Life Darlene Fozard Weaver Aquinas on the Emotions: A Religious Ethical Inquiry Diana Fritz Cates Catholic Moral Theology in the United States: A History Charles E. Curran Creative Conformity: The Feminist Politics of US Catholic and Iranian Shi’i Women Elizabeth M. Bucar Defending Probabilism: The Moral Theology of Juan Caramuel Julia Fleming Family Ethics: Practices for Christians Julie Hanlon Rubio Kinship across Borders: A Christian Ethic of Immigration Kristin E. Heyer Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian Charles E. Curran Moral Evil Andrew Michael Flescher Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine Aaron Stalnaker Prophetic and Public: The Social Witness of U.S. Catholicism Kristin E. Heyer Sex, Violence, and Justice: Contraception and the Catholic Church Aline H. Kalbian The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler The Social Mission of the US Catholic Church: A Theological Perspective Charles E. Curran Theological Bioethics: Participation, Justice, and Change Lisa Sowle Cahill Keeping Faith with human Rights Linda hogan georgetown university press / Washington, DC © 2015 georgetown university press. all rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data hogan, Linda, 1964– author. Keeping faith with human rights / Linda hogan. pages cm includes bibliographical references and index. isBn 978-1-62616-232-7 (hc : alk. paper) — isBn 978-1-62616-233-4 (pb : alk. paper) — isBn 978-1-62616-234-1 (eb) 1. human rights. 2. human rights—philosophy. 3. human rights—Religious aspects—Christianity. 4. human rights—moral and ethical aspects. i. title. JC571.h595 2015 323—dc23 2014047104 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the american national standard for permanence in paper for printed Library materials. 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First printing printed in the united states of america Cover by Brad norr Design. Contents Acknowledgments vii introduction 1 1. The Crisis of Legitimacy: political and philosophical perspectives 12 2. The Crisis of meaning: Theological perspectives 52 3. ethical Formations: Constructing the subject of human Rights 70 4. Building Discursive Bridges: situated Knowledge, embedded universalism, plural Foundations 101 5. Resisting Culturalist Frameworks: porous Communities, Constructed traditions 136 6. Resisting gravity’s pull: Constructing human Rights through the arts 172 Conclusion 205 Bibliography 211 Index 229 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This work has been in gestation for many years, and during that time i have benefited from conversations with colleagues around the world on this critical issue of human rights. in particular i am grateful to my great friend James Keenan (Boston College) who has been a constant source of inspiration and who has led the way in bringing a global perspective to theological ethics. i have learned a great deal about the complexities as- sociated with advancing human rights from colleagues with whom i have had an ongoing conversation for over a decade, especially antonio au- tiero (germany), agnes Brazal (philippines), Lúcás Chan Yiu sing (hong Kong), m. t. Davila (puerto Rico), Kristin heyer (usa), elias Omondi Opongo (Kenya), agbonkhianmeghe e. Orobator (nigeria), and andrea Vicini (italy), as well as from colleagues at the school of Religions, peace studies and Theology at trinity College Dublin. Thanks are also due to Richard Brown at georgetown university press, whose generosity and patience are much appreciated, and to patti Bower and glenn saltzman for their professionalism. my family and friends continue to be a source of joy and support, as does my friend and mentor professor enda mcDonagh, to whom this work is dedicated. vii This page intentionally left blank introduction human rights represent one of the great civilizing projects of modernity. From the promulgation in paris in 1948 of the universal Declaration of human Rights to the subsequent embrace of this declaration by the newly independent states from africa, asia, and the middle east, human rights have emerged as the primary discourse of global politics and as an increas- ingly prominent category in international and domestic legal systems. in the theological realm, the concept of human rights has all but replaced its antecedent, that of the natural right, while in the world of Christian social engagement, the language of human rights has become the lingua franca of political action. indeed, the un general assembly’s promotion of the universal Declaration as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” has garnered a remarkable degree of support in the six decades since its adoption.1 These successes notwithstanding, the category of human rights contin- ues to be both controversial and contested. philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham’s infamous dismissal of rights claims as “nonsense upon stilts” has now been applied to human rights and characterizes the deep skepticism in contemporary political philosophy regarding the concept.2 ironically, much of this skepticism has come from groups whose predeces- sors initially deployed the language of rights to claim their positions within the dominant discourse, that is, citizens of the former colonies, women, racial minorities, and other dispossessed peoples. today, however, feminist and postcolonial actors are among the most vocal critics of human rights 1
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