Reconsidering universality: human rights activism in East Asia

The project aims to reconsider what is meant by ‘universal’ in the idea of universal human rights by investigating the understanding of human rights held by human rights activists in East Asia, in particular, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. It is sometimes claimed that human rights are a western construct and such, their promotion is an imposition of western values on the non-western parts of the world. However, the idea of human rights is mobilised not only in resisting perceived western hegemony or neo-imperialism but also when citizens of a non-western country demand accountability and restitution from their own government. By conducting an ethnographic study with human rights activists in East Asia, the project seeks to identify how human rights are understood by them based on their experience. The result will be analysed with works on human rights to achieve a re-appraisal of the universality of human rights.

The project will run from 1 May 2026 - 30 April 2028.