MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

128
D 5.5.1 The European Enlightenment
The period from the early 17th century to the end of the 18th century was known in
Europe as the Age of Enlightenment; this was the time when the theory of human
rights first began to be developed in detail and to gain wide popularity.
The theory initially grew out of the idea of natural rights, the belief in an overarching
standard of justice and moral rightness based on natural law. In this way, rights became
detached from the legal system and were supposed to belong to individuals irrespective
of national or local laws. This was a big step forward in terms of offering protection to
the individual and in terms of setting standards by which laws themselves could be judged.
The Age of Enlightenment culminated in two revolutions, the American and the French,
for both of which the idea of human rights was a central theme. Two important documents
laid out these rights as fundamental elements of the new post-revolutionary societies:
the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, and shortly afterwards, the French
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1789.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness ...”
American Declaration of Independence
“Men are born, and always continue, free, and equal in respect of their rights ... The end
of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of
man; and these are liberty, property, security and resistance of oppression.”
French Declaration of the Rights of Man
D 5.5.2 Human rights up to the Second World War
After the years of terror following the French Revolution and right up until the end of
the Second World War, the human rights movement lost popularity and moved away
from centre stage. Nevertheless, several important advances in international law in
this period helped to set the scene for the development of international human rights
after 1948. In particular, the Geneva Conventions 4 of 1864 and 1949 set out basic rules
of war which were meant to apply to all countries; the Slavery Convention of 1926 was
an international agreement to end the slave trade and abolish slavery; and the International
Labour Organization (ILO) was established in 1919 to support workers’ rights.
D 5.5.3 Human rights after the Second World War
International human rights law was conceived as an essential and comprehensive
means to protect every individual throughout the world. The theory which had driven
the French and American Revolutions was revived after the horrors of the Nazi holocaust
became apparent, with its gratuitous and deliberate targeting of Jews, Roma,
homosexuals and the disabled. These events acted as a stimulus to the international
community to establish a set of minimum universal standards, intended to apply to
every nation, irrespective of local laws or customs.
The end of the Second World War marked the real beginning of international human
rights law and the start of a second expansionary period in the development of
human rights as a political theory.
T-Kit No.11 - MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work