De Jong, Sara orcid.org/0000-0002-5132-2777 (2022) Writing Rights:Suturing Spivak’s Postcolonial and de Sousa Santos’ Decolonial Thought. Postcolonial Studies. pp. 89-107. ISSN 1368-8790
Abstract
Exchange between postcolonial and decolonial thought has been hampered by intellectual and political divisions despite a shared concern with decentring colonial hegemonies. Against the grain, this article brings the work of Boaventura de Sousa Santos into conversation with Gayatri C. Spivak’s, centring on one key converging issue of concern – human rights. I argue that both thinkers share what I call a ‘reluctant commitment’ to a human rights framework, while recognizing its tainted history and current instrumentalization for hegemonic imperial ends. I identify and weave together the strands that form the basis for their reluctant commitment, their critique of human rights, and their proposals for a reconfigured framework of human rights. The article maps how Spivak and de Sousa Santos aim to reconfigure a liberal human rights frame by suturing it to alternative ethical systems, including responsibility-based systems and other conceptions of dignity. It shows common patterns in their work, including their concern that binary global divisions undermine the supposed universality of the human rights framework and the risks of equating law with ethics. Tracing the deconstructive and reconstructive strategies at work in Spivak’s and de Sousa Santos’ writing helps to break down the walls between decolonial and postcolonial scholarship.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Politics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2022 08:30 |
Last Modified: | 25 Nov 2024 00:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790.2022.2030596 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/13688790.2022.2030596 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185800 |