An Actor-oriented Approach to Rights in Development

While international efforts to tackle poverty & social exclusion increasingly focus on issues of rights & citizenship, the gap between poor people & the institutions charged with protecting their rights has widened. In addition, there is a gap between the way in which rights are framed in actual struggles informed by people's own understanding of what they are entitled to & in dominant discourses about rights. Looking for the meaning of rights from the perspective of those claiming them pushes the boundaries of conventional human rights debates & expands the range of claims that can be validated as rights. This article draws out these "actor-oriented" perspectives through a discussion of three key debates that have preoccupied human rights scholars & practitioners, challenging many of the assumptions that underlie them. References. Adapted from the source document.