In this beautifully written, philosophically astute book, Alison Assiter offers a unique new materialist theory of human rights, drawing on a biologically based materialist ontology to ground a rehabilitated universalism. In a world increasingly forced by overlapping crises to face up to the powers of materiality itself, Assiter offers her readers new ways to think about human rights and their potential. Her work makes a deeply timely, thoughtful contribution.

Anna Grear, professor of law and theory, Cardiff University

In this volume, Assiter provides a defense of the concept of human rights based on her understanding of realist materialism, which dictates an independent physical world within which humans live, and a version of essentialism that constructs the objective, non-socially created conditions of life.... In contrast to common conception of rights emerging out of Enlightenment-era European philosophy, Assiter argues that rights instead emerge out of the conditions and components of life…. In laying out her position, Assiter engages with historical figures such as Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, and Charles Darwin, as well as contemporary thinkers, both Western, like Jane Bennett, and non-Western, like Saba Mahmood. While the book is academically sophisticated and rigorous, the writing is accessible to readers with relevant background knowledge. Recommended.”

Choice Reviews

What makes us human? What are rights? Where did they originate? Scholars and governments have often described human rights as though they emerged from western civilisation, a reading which disregards other traditions which have defined rights from a much older time. Arguing that rights are a western construct elevates western history while undermining other traditions. Likewise, the binary debate about whether rights are individual or collective, too, misses nuances. Finally, the discussion around rights and duties confuses the issue further. Rights are universal, and each individual has inherent dignity; demystifying that in our ever-changing world is no easy task. Alison Assiter delves into philosophy, politics, and history to offer an original interpretation that clarifies the debate while upholding the essential universalism of human rights.

Salil Tripathi, chair, writers in prison committee, PEN International

Alison Assiter’s book is a brave, much-needed riposte to the idea that human rights are no longer relevant (and are even destructive) to the progress of humanity. The very language and legal framework of human rights, imperfect as it might be, is at the heart of the daily struggles of the women with whom I work - black and minority women who are amongst the most marginalised and powerless groups in society. Their battles against patriarchal family values, fundamentalist community norms and abuses of state power require them to invoke and challenge the limitations of human rights at the same time. But that has become more difficult in the face of a wholesale assault on the idea of the universality of human rights by the forces of the political Left and Right alike. Assiter skillfully unpicks the critique of some on the Left which sees human rights as a capitalist and western product, a tool of western imperialism. She shows us that the evolutionary roots of human rights lie in all societies, east and west. Her book provides new and crucial ammunition, sorely needed to defend human rights and thereby the goals of feminism: to lose this battle is to lose the very core of our shared humanity.

Pragna Patel, director, Southall Black Sisters