Book review: Human rights law and personal identity

Abstract

As one of the most expansive legal concepts, human rights have been subject to rigorous scholarly analysis. Diverse aspects of human rights law, including their social impact (Risse & Sikkink, 1999; Sikkink & Walling, 2007; Simmons, 2009) and the array of crucial terms related to rights discourse, have featured prominently in scholarly writings. Concepts such as human dignity (Donnelly, 1982; Howard & Donnelly, 1986), subjectivity (Levinas, 1993; Merry, 2003; Santoro, 2003) or identity (Douzinas, 2002; Fraser & Honneth, 2003; Gozdecka, 2015) have been discussed from a variety of perspectives in human rights scholarship. But despite the prominence of identity studies and the fact that a human and her dignity have been frequently discussed, only few studies have thus far specifically focused on the concept of personal identity (Adrienne, 2001; Marshall, 2008; Poe & Tate, 1994). Meanwhile, having in mind the alleged individualism underpinning the very foundation of rights, personal identity appears crucial to the understanding of who the ‘human’ of human rights regimes really is. What does it mean to have personal identity and how is it protected by human rights regimes? Show more