The Colonialism of Human Rights

Do so-called universal human rights apply to indigenous, formerly enslaved and colonized peoples?<br /><br />This trenchant book brings human rights into conversation with the histories and afterlives of Western colonialism and slavery. Colin Samson examines the paradox that the nations that credit themselves with formulating universal human rights were colonial powers, settler colonists and sponsors of enslavement. Samson points out that many liberal theorists supported colonialism and slavery, and how this illiberalism plays out today in selective, often racist processes of recognition and enforcement of human rights. <br /><br />To reveal the co…