Making rights claims: a practice of democratic citizenship

'Making Rights Claims' argues that understanding and assessing the relationship between rights and democracy requires a new approach to the study of rights. Zivi combines insights from speech act theory with recent developments in democratic and feminist thought to develop a theory of the performativity of rights claiming

'Making Rights Claims' argues that understanding and assessing the relationship between rights and democracy requires a new approach to the study of rights. Zivi combines insights from speech act theory with recent developments in democratic and feminist thought to develop a theory of the performativity of rights claiming.

From rights to rights claiming -- Rights as trumps and the quest for certainty -- Rights claiming as a practice of persuasion -- Claiming rights and performing citizenship -- Making rights claims in the age of aids -- Practicing democracy

Is the act of rights claiming a form of political contestation that advances democracy? Rather than simply taking a side for or against rights claiming, Making Rights Claims argues that understanding and assessing the relationship between rights and democracy requires a new approach to the study of rights. Zivi combines insights from speech act theory with recent developments in democratic and feminist thought to develop a theory of the performativity of rights claiming.

While the 1960s marked a rights revolution in the United States, the subsequent decades have witnessed a rights revolution around the globe, a revolution that for many is a sign of the advancement of democracy. But is the act of rights claiming a form of political contestation that advances democracy? Rights language is ubiquitous in national and international politics today, yet nagging suspicions remain about the compatibility between the practice of rights claiming and democratic politics. While critics argue that rights reinforce ways of thinking and being that undermine democratic values