EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION to the Special Issue: <i>Human Rights as a Developing Concept in the Mediterranean</i>

Gibraltar, the small promontory that guards the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, was the site of the 2025 meeting of the Mediterranean Studies Association. The history of this prominence is a reminder that the Mediterranean world is not isolated from the rest of the planet. As we write this introduction, human rights are under attack in countries around the globe, including in the United States of Ameria. As governments seek to expand their powers at the expense of human rights, it seems appropriate to devote a special issue of Mediterranean Studies to consider the origin, development, and future direction of these rights as a concept in the Mediterranean world. While some might question the value of a scholarly analysis in times of crisis (“this is the time for action, not academic discourse”), we would argue that new ideas are more likely to emerge from thoughtful analysis and collaborative discussion than from impulsive action. The goal of this special issue is to raise new topics for discussion and to broaden the purview of some perennial ones, as we consider how the concept of human rights has developed (and will continue to develop) in the Mediterranean region.In the following articles, the authors grapple with questions about this concept: what are human rights, how have they been reflected in the Mediterranean region, and what directions might these efforts take in the future? In considering these questions, we have sought insights and inspiration from sources that date from the earliest known records of human thought, to Roman histories and inscriptions, to a possibly fictitious early modern travel account, to online media published only months ago. But we have also brought to bear our own fields of expertise and our personal experiences to formulate the answers presented in our articles. The answer that emerges from the issue as a whole is that, though we struggle to define human rights, the belief in them has always been a hope for conditions that would allow individuals—every individual—to flourish and to make positive contributions to their communities.The two-year process of discussion and writing about these issues has been intensely collaborative, involving reading groups, panel presentations, and reciprocal editing, although each author is solely responsible for his or her own article. We have all learned a great deal from this process. We are also deeply appreciative of the careful reading John Watkins devoted to our articles, leading us to consider new aspects of issues we thought we knew. His participation in our project as an outside reader exemplifies the spirit of the Mediterranean Studies Association. We are here to engage with each other, to contribute to ongoing conversations that lead us to better understand the Mediterranean world, and to express that understanding in panels at the annual Congress of the Mediterranean Studies Association and on the pages of Mediterranean Studies. This special issue is a tribute to the spirit of our organization.