Universalism and Particularism: A Fraserian Approach to Human Rights

This paper endeavours to analyse the conflictual relation that the concepts of ‘Universalism’ and ‘Particularism’ share and delves into how the debate came to fore, the seemingly irreconcilable strands in both, which on the surface, make them incompatible with each other in a particularly partisan either/or debate. It then seeks to explore, how on certain issues, both work in tandem and come across as complements to each other. The concept of ‘Universal Human Rights’ is taken as one such project, seen through the lens of Fraserian ‘status model’ to situate the issues of social justice, identity politics, and the struggle for recognition within the domain of Human Rights.