Opposition or Acquiescence to Neoliberal Hegemony? A Sociological Analysis of the Use of Human Rights Frames in UK Social Movements

Abstract Building on recent work in the field of sociology of rights which emphasizes the ‘social life of rights’ and the interaction between micro-level social constructions via social movement action, and macro-level systemic forces, this paper constructs a counter-hegemonic theory of human rights. By drawing on both Gramscian theories and a Social Reproduction Theory framework, a novel view of neoliberal hegemony is described. The role of human rights as part of this hegemony is then clarified as an essential element of the production of consent to hegemony. This hegemonic form of human rights is contrasted against a counter-hegemonic construction which is grounded in data generated from 10 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with social movement activists in the UK. Three findings generated from the data are described. The activists interviewed 1) consistently rejected hegemonic, legal/non-governmental organization human rights structures; 2) used human rights as an introduction to their activism and a base upon which further critiques are built; and 3) frequently used human rights to contest the commodification of socially reproductive goods. Considering these findings, the role of contesting hegemonic constructions of human rights in resisting wider neoliberal hegemony is considered. While counter-hegemonic rights are not considered to have produced the level of social movement action required to overcome deeply embedded neoliberalism, counter-hegemonic human rights hold the potential to contribute to challenging the production of both consent and coercion to neoliberalism in the UK.