1. Inventing Human Rights: A History
- Author:
- Bronwyn Leebaw
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- In the second half of the eighteenth century, epistolary novels became popular in France and England, people began listening to the opera in silence rather than walking around to converse with friends, and efforts were made to prevent theater-goers in Paris from disrupting performances by coordinating their coughing and farting. For Lynn Hunt, these changes in the daily lives of Europeans are intrinsically related to the development of universal human rights. In this rich and beautifully written work, Hunt argues that human rights rely upon our ability to empathize with strangers. The changing habits and experiences of late-eighteenth-century Europe fostered new understandings of individuality and empathy, which would support the expansion of rights.
- Topic:
- Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Paris, France, and England