Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Human rights are often presented as a choice between universal principles and critiques that expose their limitations. This book challenges that divide.

Bringing together postcolonial, cultural relativist, collective rights-based and feminist perspectives, Janne Mende examines some of the most influential critiques of human rights universalism while affirming the aspiration of universal human rights for all. She develops a concept of mediated universalism that takes critique seriously without abandoning universality, holding competing perspectives in productive tension and using their insights to reshape our understanding of universal human rights.

Offering a nuanced and innovative contribution to contemporary human rights theory, the book shows how universalism can be rethought, particularly amidst the current transformation of global order.