In Struggles for the Human, Lara Montesinos Coleman blends ethnography, political philosophy, and critical theory to reorient debates on human rights through attention to understandings of legality, ethics, and humanity in anticapitalist and decolonial struggle. Drawing on her extensive involvement with grassroots social movements in Colombia, Coleman observes that mainstream expressions of human rights have become counterparts to capitalist violence, even as this discourse disavows capitalism’s deadly implications. She rejects claims that human rights are inherently tied to capitalism, liberalism, or colonialism, instead showing how human rights can be used to combat these forces. Coleman demonstrates that social justice struggles that are rooted in marginalized communities’ lived experiences can reframe human rights in order to challenge oppressive power structures and offer a blueprint for constructing alternative political economies. By examining the practice of redefining human rights away from abstract universals and contextualizing them within concrete struggles for justice, Coleman reveals the transformative potential of human rights and invites readers to question and reshape dominant legal and ethical narratives.

In Struggles for the Human, Lara Montesinos Coleman blends ethnography, political philosophy, and critical theory to reorient debates on human rights through attention to understandings of legality, ethics, and humanity in anticapitalist and decolonial struggle. Drawing on her extensive involvement with grassroots social movements in Colombia, Coleman observes that mainstream expressions of human rights have become counterparts to capitalist violence, even as this discourse disavows capitalism’s deadly implications. She rejects claims that human rights are inherently tied to capitalism, liberalism, or colonialism, instead showing how human rights can be used to combat these forces. Coleman demonstrates that social justice struggles that are rooted in marginalized communities’ lived experiences can reframe human rights in order to challenge oppressive power structures and offer a blueprint for constructing alternative political economies. By examining the practice of redefining human rights away from abstract universals and contextualizing them within concrete struggles for justice, Coleman reveals the transformative potential of human rights and invites readers to question and reshape dominant legal and ethical narratives.

Recent years have seen an upsurge of interest in the activities and significance of the diverse assemblages and networks who define themselves as engaged in resisting neoliberal globalisation and promoting alternatives. They have been variously heralded as representing a nascent global civil society that can democratise contemporary global order, as globalisation "from below," and as offering glimpses of more democratic and equitable forms of social organisation. Whilst this interest in contemporary forms of political dissent has enhanced understandings of world politics, there has been a tendency to romanticise these activities and their transformative potential. What is often missing is consideration of the formal and informal disciplines that operate towards, within and through resistance movements. This volume brings together contributions from scholars in Europe and North America that explore the ways in which contemporary forms of political dissent are disciplined and disciplining. It provides a nuanced series of analyses of the activities, complexities and significance of the anti-globalisation' movement(s) and, in particular, highlights some of the ways in which power in its various forms is implicated in contemporary theories and practices of dissent.