Giving up (on) rights? The future of rights and the project of radical democracy

SA Chambers - American Journal of Political Science, 2004 - Wiley Online Library
American Journal of Political Science, 2004Wiley Online Library
Debate over the theory of rights has recently reemerged, with a confrontation between
postfoundational writings that challenge the very discourse of rights and Habermasians (and
others) who insist on the foundational centrality of rights. This article will not enter such a
debate directly, but rather will try to take seriously that challenge itself. The article asks what,
exactly, is at stake in an argument for or against rights and queries whether this challenge to
rights discourse entails giving up on rights as a tool of political leverage. In responding to …
Debate over the theory of rights has recently reemerged, with a confrontation between postfoundational writings that challenge the very discourse of rights and Habermasians (and others) who insist on the foundational centrality of rights. This article will not enter such a debate directly, but rather will try to take seriously that challenge itself. The article asks what, exactly, is at stake in an argument for or against rights and queries whether this challenge to rights discourse entails giving up on rights as a tool of political leverage. In responding to such questions I indicate a future for rights and rights discourse, one found within the project of radical democracy. I not only insist that we cannot abandon the discourse of rights in contemporary theory and politics, but also go on to suggest that sustaining and reinvigorating the discourse of rights requires a significant displacement of that discourse from the dominant terms of liberalism and toward those of radical democracy.
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