Summary
The largescale protests in China are not just a response to Covid restrictions but about fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech. They follow weeks of demonstrations in support of women’s rights in Iran, and LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar.
We often speak about human rights as a self-evident truth – the right to life, the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of conscience. Drafted after the Second World War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a milestone document seeking to protect the dignity of all human beings.
Advocates argue that human rights are universal because the struggle for freedom can be found in every culture, despite being rooted in different philosophies and assumptions. They see a human rights-based approach to the world as the best way of identifying a shared humanity and improving human wellbeing. Sceptics, however, believe the global human rights movement can itself be a form of Western moral imperialism, or cite examples of atrocities justified with the language of human rights.
Some believe that in order to hold powerful corporations and regimes to account, there needs to be a more expansive view of human rights. Others are concerned about what they see as the ‘mission creep’ in extending the legal framework of rights to encompass areas of moral life that shouldn’t be a matter for the law courts.
What are human rights? Are they universal? Who should arbitrate when they are in competition?
Producer: Dan Tierney.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.1 | Hello. One subject forced itself to the top of the queue this week. |
| 0:09.6 | It's impossible, I think, not to be excited by the protest in China these past few days, |
| 0:14.7 | and difficult also to resist the temptation to see a link between them and events in Iran. Is there behind the Chinese campaign |
| 0:23.1 | against COVID restrictions and the Iranian anger over hijab rules, a stirring of hope for human rights |
| 0:30.2 | in both countries? That's why we are tonight asking the question, what are human rights? |
| 0:36.1 | Instinctively, we put them in the non-controversial box |
| 0:39.0 | marked a good thing, but there are plenty of skeptics. Some argue that far from being a universal |
| 0:44.4 | principle, they are a Western construct. We impose our values with, others that human rights |
| 0:51.1 | law is simply too spongy to protect our rights, and that there's |
| 0:55.8 | endoscope for twisting things, so that, for example, one group's right to self-determination |
| 1:00.5 | becomes the justification for war on another. And we'll also get onto the dangers of focusing |
| 1:06.6 | on rights rather than duties. So lots of ground to cover. Both practical and philosophical, |
| 1:12.7 | I shall be working our panel hard. Very nice to see you all this evening. With us are the historian Tim Stanley. |
| 1:19.7 | The priest Charles Fraser, the feminist writer Ella Weillan and the libertarian communist Ash Sarker. |
| 1:25.5 | And I'm going to ask each of you, beginning with you, Tim, very broadly, |
| 1:29.8 | do you regard yourself as a skeptic or enthusiast for human rights? |
| 1:34.2 | I am an enthusiast. I believe that human beings were created in the image of God. And therefore, |
| 1:40.8 | regardless of their culture or where they were born, they have dignity and rights that are as axiomatic as scientific principles like gravity or the movement of the planets. |
| 1:52.0 | Charles Fraser. |
| 1:52.8 | Well, I agree with all of that, but I'm also a bit of a skeptic too. |
| 1:56.3 | You know, the USA invades Iraq to bring them human rights and ends up torturing people. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.