The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era PDF
Preview The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era
The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era PALGRAVEMACMILLANTRANSNATIONALHISTORYSERIES AkiraIriye(HarvardUniversity)andRanaMitter(UniversityofOxford) SeriesEditors This distinguishedseriesseeksto:developscholarshipon thetransnationalconnections ofsocietiesand peoplesin thenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies; provideaforum in whichwork ontransnationalhistoryfrom differentperiods,subjects,andregionsofthe world canbe brought together in fruitful connection; and explore the theoreticaland methodologicallinks betweentransnationalandotherrelatedapproachessuchascom parativehistoryandworldhistory. Editorial board:Thomas BenderUniversityProfessorof the Humanities, Professorof History, and Director of the International Center for Advanced Studies, New York UniversityJaneCarruthersProfessor ofHistory, UniversityofSouthAfricaMariano PlotkinProfessor, UniversidadNacionaldeTresde Febrero, BuenosAires,andmember oftheNationalCouncilofScientificandTechnologicalResearch,ArgentinaPierre-Yves Saunier Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France Ian TyrrellProfessorofHistory, UniversityofNewSouthWales PublishedbyPalgrave Macmillan: THENATION,PSYCHOLOGYANDINTERNATIONALPOLITICS,1870-1919 ByGlendaSluga COMPETINGVISIONSOFWORLDORDER:GLOBALMOMENTANDMOVEMENTS, 1880s-1930s Edited bySebastianConradandDominicSachsenmaier PAN-ASIANISMANDJAPAN'SWAR1931-1945 ByEriHotta WOMEN,GENDER,ANDPOS1WARRECONCILIATIONBETWEENNATIONS ByErikaKuhlman 1968 INEUROPE:AHISTORYOFPROTESTANDACTIVISM,1956-1977 Edited byMartinKlimkeandJoachimScharloth THECHINESEINBRITAIN,1800-PRESENT:ECONOMY,TRANSNATIONALlSM,IDENTITY ByGregorBentonandTerenceGomez(forthcoming) TELEGRAPHICIMPERIALISM:CRISISANDPANICINTHEINDIANEMPIRE, C.1850-1920 D.K.Lahiri-Choudhury(forthcoming) THEIDEAOFHUMANITYINAGLOBALERA BruceMazlish EUROPEANHISTORYINANINTERCONNECEDWORLD ByMatthiasMiddell,MichaelGeyer,andMichelEspagne(forthcoming) COSMOPOLITANTHOUGHTZONES:INTELLECTUALEXCHANGEBETWEENSOUTH ASIAANDEUROPE,1870-1945 Edited byKrisManjapraandSugata Bose(forthcoming) IRISHTERRORISMINTHEATLANTICCOMMUNITY,1865-1922 ByjonathanGantt(forthcoming) The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era Bruce Mazlish palgrave macmillan THE IDEA OF HUMANITY IN A GLOBAL ERA * Copyright © Bruce Mazlish, 2009. Softcover repnmt of the hardcover I edition 2009 All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States-a division of St. Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG216XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-61162-7 ISBN 978-0-230-61776-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230617766 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bruce, 1923- The idea of humanity in a global era / Bruce Mazlish. p. cm.-(Palgrave Macmillan series in transnation) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-230-61161-3 1. Humanity. 2. Philosophical anthropology. 3. Globalization-Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title. BJI533.H9M292009 128--dc22 2008024445 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: January 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Contents Series EditorForeword vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Global Humanity 17 Chapter 3 Humanity in the Global Epoch 31 Chapter 4 TheJudicial Revolution 47 Chapter 5 Humanities, Humanitarianism, and the Human 61 Chapter 6 The UN as a Voice for Humanity 77 Chapter 7 Humanity: AReassessment 95 Epilogue 109 Appendix I The Question of Global Identity 115 Appendix II The United Nations Charter 127 Appendix III Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court 161 Appendix IV Universal Declaration of Human Rights 163 Notes 171 Series Editor Foreword What does it mean to be human? Who speaks for humanity? When did the idea of "crimes against humanity"firstemerge? BruceMazlish, one of the most distinguished senior histori ans writing today, tackles these and many other related ques tions in the framework ofglobal historyand globalization. He shows that, whereas from time immemorialpeoplealloverthe world, and of many divergent faiths, have developed their conceptions of man, the age of globalization (from the late nineteenth century on) has given the idea of humanity spe cificmeaning. Forinstance, he notes thatit was onlyin 1915 that crimes against humanity-an expressionimplying that all humans, regardlessofnationality,race,orgender,wereentitled to protection against an infringement on their beings-entered international vocabulary. It was not just a philosophical idea entertainedby lone philosophersortheologiansbutwasgiven international recognition as an essential part of what consti tuted the world community. While in the subsequent decades the idea of humanity wasmore honored in the breach than in practice, in the wakeoftheSecondWorld Warit merged with the newer idea of human rights.Beginning with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) and through numerous United Nations proclamationsand events (suchasUNwomen's conferences and the 2001 Year of Mobilization against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance), theidea ofhumanityhas come to beseen asan integralpartof the contemporary, global age. viii SeriesEditor Foreword If, today,words likehumanityand human rightshave become commonplace, thatisin largepart becausethe worldhasgrown truly transnational; nations no longer, if they ever did,existin isolationfromone another,and peopleofdifferentcultures, eth nic identities, educational backgrounds, and economic circum stances constantly come into contact with one another across nationalboundaries.Nevertheless, nations do remain,with their own legal systems and law-enforcing mechanisms. Under the circumstances, men, women, and children, while representing humanity, are never quite interchangeable legalbeings.On the other hand, international institutions like the United Nations as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International consider it a moral duty to seek to protect the rights of all, regardless of circum stances.Thisisafarcryfrom the situationahundredyearsago when, while some began to note the coming into closer con tact of people of different backgrounds, national, ethnic, and cultural distinctions tended to place them in rather rigid com partments. The enhanced moral conception ofhumanityisone ofthelastingcontributionsofthetwentiethcentury,anotherwise unspeakablybrutal,ruthless,and violent epoch in history. How the newer idea of humanity will play itself out in the twenty firstcentury isaquestion thatdeservescloseattention today,and this bookwillenable readersto ponderthe question asit consid ersspecificwaysin which the idealofaunited humankindmay come closerto reality. Butwedo notwantto anticipatetheargumentofthe author or to summarize the many fascinating facets of the idea of humanity that are presented in this volume. Weare delighted to add this title to the Palgrave Macmillan Transnational History series, which has already published pioneering works in the increasingly influential fieldoftransnational history. AkiraIriye RanaMitter May 2008 Acknowledgments This book has grown out of my concern with understanding present-day globalization and its overall meaning and possible directions. It is therefore built upon all the obligations incurred, intellectual and otherwise, over the past decade and a half to all those with whom I have worked in this general endeavor. Theyare too many to name individually. However,thereareafewwhomIwantto single outin regard to the present work. lowe much to my colleague and friend, Akira lriye,whose enthusiasm inspired me to presson with the originalmanuscript and to developit further.He and I (asavis iting professor) co-taught a course at Harvard University on New Global History, which we were then encouraged to offer asecondyear;while notdevotedto the idea ofHumanity, that course hoversover thisbook. ItwasDominicSachsenmaierwho invited me to give a lecture at Duke University, where I first offered what has subsequentlybecome Chapter 3;the interest expressed there by his colleagues has also sustained me as I laboredto write thesubsequentchapters.OtherswhomIwishto acknowledge for large or small assistance are Kate Bigger, Alexander Geppert, John Headley, Andrew Linklater, Emikio Ohnuki-Tierney, and Gabrielle Spiegel. As president of the American Historical Association (AHA) and herself a distin guished medieval historian, who has extended her interest to present-day globalization, Gabrielle Spiegel suggested that I organize aPresidential Panel forthe 2009 meetingoftheAHA. I look forward to receiving comments there on parts of this x Acknowledgments book; to coin a phrase, it will be apres lalettre but much wel come nevertheless. I once wrote in regard to book reviewers that "[a] book reviews the reviewer as much as the reviewer reviews the book."IfImay now paraphrase, an editorhelps write thebook along with its author. In this regard, I have been extremely lucky in having Chris Chappell as my editor at Palgrave Macmillan. His suggestions, his help, and his general role in bringing this book under contract were of enormous value to me. I owe him much gratitude and praise. Lastly, there is my wifeNevaGoodwin.Herselfan economist interestedinglobaliza tion, she hasnotonly servedasmy constantinspirationbutasa wonderful andcriticalreaderofthe draftsofthiswork.Herpartin itsappearance isincalculable. Ibelieve that somewhere the Austrian satirist and critic Karl Kraus remarked that a historian is a prophet looking back ward. It isin that spirit that Ihave written this book.
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