ABSTRACT

Exchange between postcolonial and decolonial thought has been hampered by intellectual and political divisions despite a shared concern with decentring colonial hegemonies. Against the grain, this article brings the work of Boaventura de Sousa Santos into conversation with Gayatri C. Spivak’s, centring on one key converging issue of concern – human rights. I argue that both thinkers share what I call a ‘reluctant commitment’ to a human rights framework, while recognizing its tainted history and current instrumentalization for hegemonic imperial ends. I identify and weave together the strands that form the basis for their reluctant commitment, their critique of human rights, and their proposals for a reconfigured framework of human rights. The article maps how Spivak and de Sousa Santos aim to reconfigure a liberal human rights frame by suturing it to alternative ethical systems, including responsibility-based systems and other conceptions of dignity. It shows common patterns in their work, including their concern that binary global divisions undermine the supposed universality of the human rights framework and the risks of equating law with ethics. Tracing the deconstructive and reconstructive strategies at work in Spivak’s and de Sousa Santos’ writing helps to break down the walls between decolonial and postcolonial scholarship.

摘要

尽管对去中心化的殖民霸权有共同的担忧，但后殖民和非殖民思想之间的交流一直受到知识分子和政治分歧的阻碍。与此相反，本文将 Boaventura de Sousa Santos 的作品与 Gayatri C. Spivak 的作品进行了对话，集中讨论了一个共同关注的关键问题——人权。我认为，两位思想家都对人权框架有着我所说的“不情愿的承诺”，同时承认其受污染的历史和当前为霸权帝国目的而工具化。我将构成他们不情愿的承诺、他们对人权的批评以及他们对重新配置的人权框架的提议的基础的因素识别并编织在一起。这篇文章描绘了斯皮瓦克和德索萨桑托斯如何通过将自由人权框架与替代的道德体系（包括基于责任的体系和其他尊严概念）缝合来重新配置自由人权框架。它显示了他们工作中的共同模式，包括他们担心二元全球分歧会破坏人权框架的普遍性以及将法律与道德等同起来的风险。追溯斯皮瓦克和德索萨桑托斯作品中的解构和重建策略有助于打破去殖民主义和后殖民主义学术之间的壁垒。包括他们担心二元全球分歧会破坏人权框架的普遍性以及将法律与道德等同起来的风险。追溯斯皮瓦克和德索萨桑托斯作品中的解构和重建策略有助于打破去殖民主义和后殖民主义学术之间的壁垒。包括他们担心二元全球分歧会破坏人权框架的普遍性以及将法律与道德等同起来的风险。追溯斯皮瓦克和德索萨桑托斯作品中的解构和重建策略有助于打破去殖民主义和后殖民主义学术之间的壁垒。