The Cold War and Competing Visions of Human Rights

This online exhibit, consisting of a selection of items from the Maurice Cranston collection at the Harry Ransom Center, draws upon the philosophical inquiry into the nature of human rights as presented by British philosopher Maurice Cranston. This exhibit contextualizes Cranston's depiction of moral rights as an a priori critique of contemporary visions of human rights within the backdrop of the Cold War and the social justice, political, and economic movements of that era. A theoretical and historical approach to the paradigm debate between positive and negative rights will demonstrate the social ontology of human rights in contemporary political and social justice discourse.