Human rights and democracy promotion: reflections on the contestation in, and the politico-economic dynamics of, rights promotion

This short contribution seeks to engender better understandings of the role of human rights advocacy as part of democracy promotion. The two agendas have been seen as conjoined and harmonious by most aid donors; yet interestingly, and perceptively, some commentators have recently criticised the notion that they are agendas that are straight-forwardly compatible or coherent. I examine here the plausibility and the consequences of the claim that the two agendas share a more complex and contradictory relationship than is often assumed. Specifically, I seek to highlight the importance of paying attention to the possibility that rights themselves are inherently ‘contradictory’ in nature and that therein lies their contribution to the democratisation agenda. Indeed, the provocative aim of this article is, by drawing on Samuel Bowles’s and Herbert Gintis’s view of rights claims as ‘clashing’ and ‘politico-economically’ grounded, to argue for a more politicised and openly contradiction-seeking (rather than ‘technical’ and ‘coherent’) approach to rights and democracy promotion. I advance this (theoretically motivated but practically consequential) argument specifically in 2 the context EU’s human rights and democracy promotion policies, although the theoretical claims advanced here arguably apply beyond the actions of this specific actor.