Berkley Center

The enormous academic interest in human rights is reflected in several excellent histories. Although there has been some disagreement over the origins of human rights, most scholars acknowledge their modern European provenance. In his talk, Talal Asad took it for granted that their origins do not make human rights inappropriate to non-European cultures. Through a discussion of two recent contributions—John Headley's The Europeanization of the World; On the Origins of Human Rights and Democracy (2007) and Lynn Hunt's Inventing Human Rights (2008)—he explored two concepts generally regarded as central to human rights: humanity and sympathy.

This event was co-sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

related | A Conversation between Talal Asad and Abdullahi An-Na'im