Human rights practices

Abstract

Should a theory of human rights that aims to be faithful to human rights practice treat the practice as unified or as consisting of different and distinct practices? I argue that we do better to treat the practice as embodying a multiplicity of contributing practices, and show how we can design a theory that can be true to each one of them. The discussion proceeds via a reconstruction and critique of Charles Beitz’s The Idea of Human Rights, which is the most influential practical conception of human rights to date.