Historicizing the Historical Turn in Human Rights Studies

The historical turn in human rights studies is characterized by a deep cleavage between scholars who locate the origins of human rights in the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century, and scholars who instead focus on the post-WWII period in general, and on the 1970s in particular as a breakthrough decade for international human rights. Against the background of what has been described as the threatened status of human rights today, we contend that the problem of origins remains as crucial as ever before, but that the way in which it is conceived is outdated and in need of reconceptualization in three ways. First, the historical turn should be seen as one body of literature with two distinct phases: one focused on origins and historical continuity and rupture, and a more recent, ongoing phase addressing the relationship between human rights and the concomitant neoliberalization of society and increasing economic inequality. We contend, secondly, that the debate itself needs to be historicized, and that the two thematic phases are rooted in two specific political, ideological, and economic contexts. The debate about origins relate to a pre-2007-2008 financial crisis era, marked by near-universal acceptance of human rights. Meanwhile, the issues of inequality and neoliberalism predominantly emerged in the post-crisis period as human rights faced more and more challenges. Thirdly, we present a theoretical argument for why the distinct issues constituting the two thematic phases should not be separated from each other. Indeed, in this setting, we demonstrate that the question regarding the relation between neoliberalism and human rights presupposes an account of the origins of human rights.