Lesson 4: The Historical Evolution of Human Rights

I. Historical evolution
In this lesson we will deal with the historical evolution of human
rights. To sketch such evolution we may highlight several mileposts:
1. Older precedents. The struggle to limit political power is as old
as the history of humankind. But it would not be until the Low Middle
Ages that limits to power would be epressed in binding
commitments. Thus! in the "#th $entury %pain! with the Magna $arta
for the &ingdom of Le'n (""))* and in the early "+th $entury
,ngland! with the British Magna $arta ("#"-*! the growing power of
central kings was prevented from being arbitrarily used against their
sub.ects! through the enshrinement of due process of law and home
privacy rights.
Much later! in "/)0! the &ing of ,ngland was forced to agree to the
British Bill of 1ights as a condition to occupy the throne.
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2. Rational or philosophical usti!cation of Human Rights. In
the late ":th $entury! the British philosopher ;ohn Locke argued in
favor of restricting the royal power! defending religious tolerance and
the protection of the natural right to property. <rench political
philosophers of the ")
th
$entury! such as Montes=uieu and 1ousseau!
defended the division of %tate>s functions in order to limit power.
?uring the same period! @erman philosopher Immanuel &ant made
the case for bestowing rights to all rational beings! in recognition of
their natural dignity.
". Li#eral revolutions and the #eginning of the trend to
incorporate human rights in the la$. 2n the political front!
liberal revolutions during the late ")
th
$entury also bolstered the
cause of the protection of individual rights. Thus! after the success of
the Anited %tates 1evolution! the Brst set of amendments to the
American $onstitution! in ":0"! came in the shape of a Bill of 1ights.
%hortly after that! at the outset of the <rench 1evolution! the
?eclaration of the 1ights of Man and of the $itiCen was issued by the
revolutionaries in power. This trend is known as the DpositiviCationE
of human rights! that is! their translation into humanFmade law.
4. %enerali&ation. %ince the liberal revolutions of the late ")
th
$entury were inspired by rationalism! individual rights meant that all
human beings were supposed to be entitled to them! including
slaves and women! who had been traditionally ecluded from full
citiCenship. Therefore! since the "0
th
$entury human rights were
progressively recogniCed for all people.
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'. E(pansion. By the mid "0
th
$entury! it was clear in ,urope that
the rights enshrined after the liberal revolutions would not suGce.
Those rights referred to the limitation of power and the protection of
the individual in its most intimate sphere. They also dealt with the
participation of the individual in the social! economic and political life
of the community! including the right to elect public oGcials and
representatives and to run for public oGce. In a word! they were the
Drights of libertyE! also known as DBrst generation rightsE or Dcivil
and political rightsE.
But now! the need was felt to recogniCe the Drights of e=ualityE! to
improve the material conditions of the poor and most vulnerable
classes of society. The set of rights which aimed at having basic
needs satisBed has been called! in the last several decades! the
Dsecond generationE of rights! or Deconomic! social and cultural
rightsE. The %tate was now epected to deliver! not .ust to keep its
hands oH.
). Internationali&ation. Although since the time of the
,nlightenment rationalism had made the case for the epansion of
rights to all rational beings! it was only in "07)! after the %econd
Iorld Iar! that the international community proclaimed the
Aniversal ?eclaration of 3uman 1ights. Thereafter! many other
international human rights documents have been produced. They will
be dealt with soon in a class of this course devoted to them. Let>s
.ust point out now that! historically! it was the awareness of the
universal vulnerability of humankind visFJFvis the horrors of warfare!
rather than a shared rationality! the reason which elevated human
rights to an international dimension.
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*. +peci!cation. %tarting in the "0:6Ks! a new wave of rights came
up. These were civil and political as well as economic! social and
cultural rights. Let! they were tailored to the needs of speciBc groups
such as women! children! disabled people and indigenous people.
These groups are either ob.ectively vulnerable (as in the case of
disabled people or children* or they have been made vulnerable
through a history of discrimination and eclusion (as in the case of
women and indigenous people*.
,. -ollective rights. Also! since the "0:6s some Dcollective rightsE
rights were proclaimed. <or eample! the right to peace! the right to
development and the right to a clean! sustainable environment.
,cept for the latter! they are included .ust in D?eclarationsE! not in
legally binding documents.
.. International criminal la$. $riminal law is the most powerful
legal mechanism to protect rights and social values. <ollowing some
precedents! the international community decided to create! in "00)!
the Brst permanent International $riminal $ourt. International
criminal law will be dealt with in a special class of this course.
II. Other criteria to s/etch the evolution of human rights
1. The O#ligor. Another way of looking at the historical evolution of
human rights is to pay attention to the DobligorE! or entity upon
which human rights obligations have been imposed.
Before the revolutions of the late ")
th
$entury! the one obliged to
recogniCe and respect basic rights was the king or ruler.
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After the liberal revolutions of the late ")
th
$entury! the entity that
was supposed to recogniCe and respect the rights of citiCens was not
the king anymore! but the modern Mation %tate! whose power is
most evidently eercised by the government.
%ince the issuing of the Aniversal ?eclaration of 3uman 1ights and
subse=uent international treaties! it is not only the Mation %tate! but
the international community as well! specially the Anited Mations!
the entities obliged to respect and promote 3uman 1ights.
As time passed! this rationale! where the obligor is the %tate or
another political entity and the right holder is a private individual!
has been completed by a trend towards accepting that the obligor
may be another private entity! such as another individual! a
corporation or an armed group in times of war. This is known as the
DhoriContal eHectE of human rights.
2. The language of 0generations1. As mentioned earlier! it is
customary to talk about DgenerationsE when analyCing the evolution
of human rights. Accordingly! the DBrst generationE or DBrst waveE of
rights would be that which protects the intimate sphere of the
individual! as does the right to life! to privacy! to security and the
like. This Brst generation also comprises the right to participate in
the political life of the community! including the election of
representatives and running for public oGce. <or some authors!
political rights would constitute a second generation.
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Afterwards! due to the social revolutions of the mid "0
th
$entury
,urope! a Dsecond generationE or wave of rights came to the fore. It
refers to material life conditions! including the rights to work! to
health! to education and to social security.
In the second half of the #6
th
$entury! a Dthird generationE of rights
has been said to appear. <or some! it is made of the speciBcation of
rights for certain groups. <or others! it refers to collective rights.
Although this terminology of DgenerationsE has a certain didactic
=uality! it may also suggest the rather dangerous notion of a
hierarchy of human rights. The point is that these DgenerationsE of
rights are intertwined and it is not possible to establish a hierarchy
among them. <or instance! the right to life F a Brst generation right F
needs the ade=uate protection of the right to health F a second
generation right F and of the right to an unpolluted environment F a
third generation right F to be really fulBlled.
9lease visit our website www.moocchile.com. Also! we cordially invite
to watch the net class of this course.
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