The Obsolescence of Human Rights

The Alt-Right, the Pandemic and Science as an Emerging Political Cleavage
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-90-485-7575-6
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 204 Seiten, Format (B × H): 135 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 380 g

Reihe: CEU Press Perspectives

This book explores how the alt-right has appropriated human rights rhetoric – once rooted in progressive ideals – to resist public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phrases like “My body, my choice” have been retooled to challenge vaccination and state intervention. The author interrogates the historical and ideological malleability of human rights, revealing how their universalist claims are often compromised by exclusionary and reactionary forces. Central to this analysis is the pandemic’s role in exposing science as an emerging political cleavage. Through the lens of political mistrust, pseudoscience, conspiracy thinking, and neoliberal crisis, the book examines the conditions that gave rise to right-wing human rights discourse – and asks whether the concept of rights can still hold emancipatory promise in an era of ecological breakdown and rising technopolitical conflicts.

Zielgruppe

Academic

Autoren/Hrsg.

Balunovic, Filip

Makarychev, Andrey

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Nationalismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction PART ONE: THE OBSOLESCENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS Chapter 1: Human Rights: Historical Perspective Chapter 2: Rethinking the Universality of Human Rights Chapter 3: Ideologization of Human Rights PART TWO: THE ALT-RIGHT, THE PANDEMIC AND SCIENCE AS AN EMERGING POLITICAL CLEAVAGE Chapter 4: Science as a New Line of Political Divisions Chapter 5: The Role of Distrust and Conspiracy Theories Conclusion Bibliography Index

Über Autor(innen)

Filip Balunovic (1987, Belgrade) is a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade and an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Media and Communication at Singidunum University.