Fundamental human rights and cosmopolitan justice

Abstract

One of the most contentious debates within political theory today surrounds the universality of Human Rights. To explore this debate, we first carefully define the amorphous terminology employed in such discussions and advance a theoretically grounded framework for fundamental Human Rights and cosmopolitan justice. With this in mind we trace the evolution of the concepts of cosmopolitan justice and Human Rights to the present debates. Engaging with criticisms of cultural and Western imperialism in turn, we advance a case with counterbalancing examples to provide evidence for the cosmopolitan nature and applicability of fundamental Human Rights. This paper adds to ongoing theoretical and practical debate by disentangling questions of fundamental Human Rights from questions of praxis derived from contingent socialization, essentialized identity and ideal Human Rights.