Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, 2022
This chapter shows that cosmopolitanism, international development and human rights can be articu... more This chapter shows that cosmopolitanism, international development and human rights can be articulated in ways that are more or less supportive of one another and of the expansion of global capitalism. The first section begins by exploring the role of international trade and global capitalism within canonical formulations of cosmopolitanism (Kant, Marx, Habermas). Next, we offer an historical reconstruction of the post-War development project from modernization to neoliberalism, as well as prominent critiques of it, in the form of dependency theory and the New International Economic Order. In the third section we turn to human rights, which we show can be mobilized in ways that are both supportive and critical of global capitalism. The chapter discusses successful appeals to human rights to challenge intellectual property rights, recommendations for infusing human rights provisions in the charters of transnational corporations under the banner of corporate social responsibility, and the impacts on human rights of capitalism’s destabilization of the planet’s ecology. The chapter concludes by considering alternatives to the dominant paradigm of cosmopolitanism, including “bottom up” cosmopolitanism and alternative approaches to development from the Global South such as Buen-Vivir.
In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Hab... more In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Habermas contains a fruitful tension that is obscured by its dominant tendency to identify rights with legal claims. This weakness in Habermas’s account becomes manifest when we examine how sweatshops diminish the secure enjoyment of subsistence, which Habermas himself (in recognition of the UDHR) recognizes as a human right. Discourse theories of human rights are unique in tying the legitimacy of human rights to democratic deliberation and consensus. So construed, their specific meaning and force is the outcome of historical political struggle. However, unlike other legal rights, they possess universal moral validity. In this paper I argue that this tension between the legal and moral aspects of human rights can be resolved if and only if human rights are conceived as moral aspirations and not simply as legal claims. In particular, I shall argue that there are two reasons why human rights ...
Part of the African American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Educatio... more Part of the African American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, School Psychology Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Author Manuscript This is a pre-publication author manuscript of the final, published article.
I focus on the recent attempt by Habermas to provide a formal criterion for testing the legitimac... more I focus on the recent attempt by Habermas to provide a formal criterion for testing the legitimacy of group rights. Habermas argues that group-rights are legitimate only when they protect groups from discrimination by other groups. Group rights that aim to preserve groups against their own members, by contrast, are illegitimate. In my opinion, this way of drawing the distinction overlooks the link between anti-discrimination and preservation. Furthermore, I argue that preservation of a group identity can be legitimate so long as the group in question allows freedom of exit from the group. Indigenous peoples and old-order religious sects are often praised as proponents of sustainable collectivist economies that respect nature and community against the rapaciousness of capitalism. These groups sought – and acquired – special rights to self-governance and exemptions regarding education, property, and business. These rights, however, also protect cultural patterns that sometimes reinfor...
Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 2012
I propose to criticize two strands of argument—contractarian and utilitarian—that liberals have p... more I propose to criticize two strands of argument—contractarian and utilitarian—that liberals have put forth in defense of economic coercion, based on the notion of justifiable paternalism. To illustrate my argument, I appeal to the example of forced labor migration, driven by the exigencies of market forces. In particular, the forced migration of a special subset of unemployed workers lacking other means of subsistence (economic refugees) cannot be redeemed paternalistically as freedom or welfare enhancing in the long run. Further, contractarian and utilitarian approaches are normatively incapable of appreciating this fact because the kinds of reasons that they adduce for justifying the long-term freedom-enhancing consequences of forced migration are not ones that would be acceptable to the migrants themselves. I conclude that only a discourse ethical approach, which mandates direct, empathetic communication between would-be migrants and members of potential host communities, captures...
... towards its generically assigned end: to convince, to persuade, to inspire laughter or tears ... more ... towards its generically assigned end: to convince, to persuade, to inspire laughter or tears ... the fragmen-tation of the political landscape, legitimation by way of democratic consensus is ... For both believe that economic models of democracy which reduce politics to interest group ...
Abstract I argue that the exception must be a legitimate possibility within law as a revolutionar... more Abstract I argue that the exception must be a legitimate possibility within law as a revolutionary project, in much the same way that civil disobedience is. In this sense, the exception is not outside law if by "law" we mean not positive law as defined by extant legal documents (statutes, legislative committee reports, written judgments, etc.) but law as a living tradition consisting of both abstract norms and a concrete historical understanding of them. So construed, the exception is what can be exemplary - a law unto itself that best interprets and creatively extends (and transcends) the law that already exists, in order to make it inclusive of the other. In the final analysis, immigration law forces us to consider both the concrete individuality and abstract humanity of refugees, asylum seekers and other homeless persons who have been displaced by global economic underdevelopment. When combined with the "statelessness" of desperate classes of immigrants, this fact about immigration law reveals a revolutionary possibility for future development and perfection leading to its own transcendence: from an inhospitable immigration law that is administered exclusively by the nation state to a cosmopolitan law of universal citizenship under the auspices of a global human rights regime.
Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, 2022
This chapter shows that cosmopolitanism, international development and human rights can be articu... more This chapter shows that cosmopolitanism, international development and human rights can be articulated in ways that are more or less supportive of one another and of the expansion of global capitalism. The first section begins by exploring the role of international trade and global capitalism within canonical formulations of cosmopolitanism (Kant, Marx, Habermas). Next, we offer an historical reconstruction of the post-War development project from modernization to neoliberalism, as well as prominent critiques of it, in the form of dependency theory and the New International Economic Order. In the third section we turn to human rights, which we show can be mobilized in ways that are both supportive and critical of global capitalism. The chapter discusses successful appeals to human rights to challenge intellectual property rights, recommendations for infusing human rights provisions in the charters of transnational corporations under the banner of corporate social responsibility, and the impacts on human rights of capitalism’s destabilization of the planet’s ecology. The chapter concludes by considering alternatives to the dominant paradigm of cosmopolitanism, including “bottom up” cosmopolitanism and alternative approaches to development from the Global South such as Buen-Vivir.
In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Hab... more In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Habermas contains a fruitful tension that is obscured by its dominant tendency to identify rights with legal claims. This weakness in Habermas’s account becomes manifest when we examine how sweatshops diminish the secure enjoyment of subsistence, which Habermas himself (in recognition of the UDHR) recognizes as a human right. Discourse theories of human rights are unique in tying the legitimacy of human rights to democratic deliberation and consensus. So construed, their specific meaning and force is the outcome of historical political struggle. However, unlike other legal rights, they possess universal moral validity. In this paper I argue that this tension between the legal and moral aspects of human rights can be resolved if and only if human rights are conceived as moral aspirations and not simply as legal claims. In particular, I shall argue that there are two reasons why human rights ...
Part of the African American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Educatio... more Part of the African American Studies Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, School Psychology Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Author Manuscript This is a pre-publication author manuscript of the final, published article.
I focus on the recent attempt by Habermas to provide a formal criterion for testing the legitimac... more I focus on the recent attempt by Habermas to provide a formal criterion for testing the legitimacy of group rights. Habermas argues that group-rights are legitimate only when they protect groups from discrimination by other groups. Group rights that aim to preserve groups against their own members, by contrast, are illegitimate. In my opinion, this way of drawing the distinction overlooks the link between anti-discrimination and preservation. Furthermore, I argue that preservation of a group identity can be legitimate so long as the group in question allows freedom of exit from the group. Indigenous peoples and old-order religious sects are often praised as proponents of sustainable collectivist economies that respect nature and community against the rapaciousness of capitalism. These groups sought – and acquired – special rights to self-governance and exemptions regarding education, property, and business. These rights, however, also protect cultural patterns that sometimes reinfor...
Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 2012
I propose to criticize two strands of argument—contractarian and utilitarian—that liberals have p... more I propose to criticize two strands of argument—contractarian and utilitarian—that liberals have put forth in defense of economic coercion, based on the notion of justifiable paternalism. To illustrate my argument, I appeal to the example of forced labor migration, driven by the exigencies of market forces. In particular, the forced migration of a special subset of unemployed workers lacking other means of subsistence (economic refugees) cannot be redeemed paternalistically as freedom or welfare enhancing in the long run. Further, contractarian and utilitarian approaches are normatively incapable of appreciating this fact because the kinds of reasons that they adduce for justifying the long-term freedom-enhancing consequences of forced migration are not ones that would be acceptable to the migrants themselves. I conclude that only a discourse ethical approach, which mandates direct, empathetic communication between would-be migrants and members of potential host communities, captures...
... towards its generically assigned end: to convince, to persuade, to inspire laughter or tears ... more ... towards its generically assigned end: to convince, to persuade, to inspire laughter or tears ... the fragmen-tation of the political landscape, legitimation by way of democratic consensus is ... For both believe that economic models of democracy which reduce politics to interest group ...
Abstract I argue that the exception must be a legitimate possibility within law as a revolutionar... more Abstract I argue that the exception must be a legitimate possibility within law as a revolutionary project, in much the same way that civil disobedience is. In this sense, the exception is not outside law if by "law" we mean not positive law as defined by extant legal documents (statutes, legislative committee reports, written judgments, etc.) but law as a living tradition consisting of both abstract norms and a concrete historical understanding of them. So construed, the exception is what can be exemplary - a law unto itself that best interprets and creatively extends (and transcends) the law that already exists, in order to make it inclusive of the other. In the final analysis, immigration law forces us to consider both the concrete individuality and abstract humanity of refugees, asylum seekers and other homeless persons who have been displaced by global economic underdevelopment. When combined with the "statelessness" of desperate classes of immigrants, this fact about immigration law reveals a revolutionary possibility for future development and perfection leading to its own transcendence: from an inhospitable immigration law that is administered exclusively by the nation state to a cosmopolitan law of universal citizenship under the auspices of a global human rights regime.
Uploads