Human Rights, Populism, and the Political Economy of the World

The commonly shared sentiment that human rights have reached a crisis in the form of a populist backlash has produced a vibrant discussion on the causes of and solutions to the crisis. This article seeks to contribute to that discussion by engaging with Philip Alston's important and influential essay on the topic, and in particular with his project of tackling material inequality. While agreeing with Alston that a key reason for the populist backlash is material inequality, the article challenges his view that the solution to the problem is to double down on 'familiar strategies' by simply providing social and economic rights a more prominent position within the human rights project. By contrast, the article suggests that a radical renewal of the human rights movement is called for - one accompanied by a more elaborate diagnosis of how human rights have been linked to inequalities and how they can engage with the structures and actors producing those inequalities. Trying to understand why human rights have lost ground to nationalism, the article suggests that a first step towards such more radical and dynamic human rights might be to unearth the now largely forgotten concept of solidarity.