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Liberalism, Human Rights, and Western Imperialism

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism
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Synonyms

Human rights: Natural rights; Civil-political rights; Socioeconomic and cultural rights; Unalienable rights

Liberalism: Emphasis on the individual freedom; Political and civil rights; Proponent of progress and equality

Western imperialism: Western militarism; Domination; Occupation; Aggression on non-western cultures

Definitions

Liberalism is a political theory/philosophy focusing on the rights and freedom of the individual and the inherent equality of persons and peoples.

Western imperialism is the occupation, domination, and exploitation of the rest of the world by the West.

Human rights are inherent and unalienable rights/claims/entitlements that an individual possesses by the virtue of being a social human being living in a socioeconomically and politically organized society.

Introduction

Combining these three concepts – liberalism, human rights, and Western imperialism – under the same title is unfair to all of them, since each has been the object of extensive study. Yet,...

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Ingiyimbere, F. (2019). Liberalism, Human Rights, and Western Imperialism. In: Ness, I., Cope, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_80-1

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