The Attack on Human Rights
Article Summary and Author Biography
The excessive individualism in Western human rights doctrine has been criticized by the Islamic world, East Asia, and some within the West itself. But human rights advocates need not apologize; human rights are popular and necessary worldwide precisely because they protect individuals against group authority.
Michael Ignatieff is Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. This essay is adapted from his latest book, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry. Copyright (c) 2001 by Princeton University Press.
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