The emergence of the concept of human rights and its intellectual and political development. The human rights movement after World War II, its development in the seventies and then the nineties of the 20th century and its association with political and economic change. The relationship between the concept of human rights and concepts of sovereignty, the rights of individuals and of citizens. Humanism, universalism and human dignity. The claim of neutrality, objectivity and the documentation of violations. The definition of violations and their technical and critical facets. The actual practice of the protection of human rights and its intersections with power relations in politics and economy and its relationship with colonialism. The prevailing system of human rights and national laws. The distinction between laws, rights, and their association.
