The Radical Philosophy of Rights by Costas Douzinas (London: Routledge, 2019, 246 pp., £34.99)
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12239 |
| Author | Allan C. Hutchinson |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
THE RADICAL PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHTS by COSTAS DOUZINAS
(London: Routledge, 2019, 246 pp., £34.99)
Wherever you look in the world, there are street protests and popular
challenges to the established order: Paris was brought to a standstill by
the anti-elite demonstrations of les gilets jaunes; Hong Kong has risen
up against the looming threat of colonial China; Santiago in Chile has
seen widespread protests against its leaders and the constitution; and even
in Belleville, Canada, Tyendinaga Mohawks and their allies have erected
blockades against further pipeline development. These occurrences tend to
polarize public opinion. For some, they are disruptive, anarchic, and therefore
undemocratic; they warrant severe condemnation and official control. For
others, they are liberating, demonstrative, and highly democratic; they
embody the emancipatory force of popular politics. Indeed, it is fair to say
that such physical expressions of popular dissatisfaction are a measure of both
democracy’s failings and its successes.
In his new book, the irrepressible Costas Douzinas approaches these recent
events from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. As a law professor,
a political progressive/radical, and also an elected Greek official, he seems
entirely suited to making some sense of all this and to offering both insights
and recommendations for the jurist, the politician, and the activist. But, after
grappling (and re-grappling) with The Radical Philosophy of Rights, I can
only report that I came away with a deep sense of genuine frustration. For
all of his wonderful expository skills and critical capacity, I am still not sure
what the bottom line of his jurisprudential project or his political agenda is.
Douzinas has brought together a whole assortment of theoretical ideas and
practical experiences, but I cannot truly claim to know where the book is
supposed to leave the reader. Even though I would align myself with the
progressive left, whether in the library or on the streets, I fail to understand
what it is that he is recommending that I should (or should not) be thinking
and doing.
***
Douzinas’ primary goal is to assail individualist legal theory and its
underlying political and social foundations. With erudition and energy, he digs
deep and roams widely.He starts by looking at how the concept of personhood
has been used historically to distribute and therefore define rights. He does
this to great effect and shows how rights talk is not outside politics but inside
it; his insights on the historical treatment of animals and slavery are Douzinas
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© 2020 The Author. Journal of Law and Society © 2020 Cardiff UniversityLaw School
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