The re-enchantment of universal values

Abstract

In modern societies, universalism has been rejected or criticized by both conservative and reactionary thinkers, and by progressive ones. With the end of colonialism and western hegemony, the criticism has become worldwide and global, the main reproach insisting on the idea of a strong association between universalism, and various forms of domination and exclusion. This article aims to analyse these various criticisms, the intention being not to finish with universal values, but to try and see how they can be rethought.

Keywords:

• universalism
• universal values
• western hegemony
• human rights
• subjectivation

Notes

1. For a comparison of the approaches taken by Karl Marx and Georg Simmel, see Wieviorka (2010, pp. 5–13).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michel Wieviorka

MICHEL WIEVIORKA is currently Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris), and President of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme