Introduction
Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings - they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
Perspectives on Human Rights
Realist perspective
Realists have tended to consider human rights as a secondary concern in international politics, in comparison to hard or core concerns such as the pursuit of security and prosperity. Other realists say that human rights thinking in connection to global issues is completely misguided. This is because realists believe that viewing international politics morally is both difficult and desirable. Morality and national interest are distinct concepts, and states believe they are serving their citizens sufficiently when they allow ethical considerations – particularly ones as intrinsically weak and ambiguous as human rights – to influence their behaviour.
The liberal Perspective
The model human rights concept – is largely a result of liberal political thought. Indeed, they are so inextricably linked to liberal premises that they bore the cultural mark of Western liberalism. On a philosophical level, the concept of humans as right holders originates with liberal individualism.
On a political level, liberals have traditionally based their legitimacy on the concept of natural or human rights. According to social contract theorists, the primary function of government is to defend a set of inalienable rights, variously referred to as life, liberty, and property. If governments become Tyrannical, abusing or neglecting to defend such rights, the bargain between the people and government might be broken, allowing citizens to rebel.
Critical perspectives on human rights
Have you encountered critical perspectives on human rights that sought to rewrite or recast the classic, liberal conception of human rights, or were openly opposed to the concept itself? Economic and social rights have been used by the global justice movement to advocate for dramatic redistribution of power and resources, both within and across countries. Thus, human rights became a theory of global social justice based on moral cosmopolitanism.
Feminist
On the other hand, feminists have exhibited an increased interest in the case of human rights. They have worked to reform the notion and practise of human rights by emphasising the problem of women's human rights. This demonstrates feminist activists' appreciation of the international human rights framework's strength, particularly it is capacity to mainstream women's issues. Thus, human rights have been redefined to include women's degradation and exploitation. At the same time, feminists have taken a sceptical view of men's rights to private commerce, free speech, and cultural integrity, which have been used to legitimise child marriages, human trafficking, and child pornography.
Postcolonial
Whereas Western concerns about human rights have generally been intellectual in nature, postcolonial concerns have been more plainly political in nature. Postcolonial intellectuals have defended relativism on two grounds. To begin, postcolonial theorists have argued, in line with communitarian and postmodern thinking, that conditions vary so significantly throughout societies and cultures that they necessitate distinct moral standards and, at the very least, distinct conceptions of human rights. What is acceptable in one society may not be acceptable in another.
Second, more radical postcolonial theorists have depicted universal principles in general, and particularly human rights, as a sort of cultural imperialism. Such thinking was obvious in advance stated orientalism, which is frequently regarded as the most important text of postcolonial thought.
Challenges
International human rights law hasn't paid enough attention to the economic, political, social, and cultural components of the various circumstances in which these rights must be implemented. Because the entire international effort to protect human dignity from abuse of power is based on well-functioning legal systems that link enforceable national law to international law, efforts to realise these rights first and foremost necessitate the establishment of good governance based on the rule of law, which is a prerequisite. This would necessitate a shift in resources away from merely legal action against wrongdoing towards strategies that promote socio-economic and political transformation.
As indicated by judgments that prioritise political interests over human rights protection, the Human Rights Council is prone to politicisation.
In recent years, many parties have launched coordinated attacks on the lack of human rights for previously marginalised communities. Women's human rights violations, the expansion of homophobic legislation and other violations against homosexuals, It is dynamic and the idea must fit material conditions of contemporary times, it must be enlarged to accommodate new demands.