The Natural Individual: A Fantasy of the Political Economy?

Human rights, and International law in general, have been criticised by different schools of thought but one of the most important critiques has been from the Marxist school. Marx saw human rights as an individualistic effort of the elite capitalists to preserve the resources they have piled up by exploiting others and then garner some more. But are the premises used by Marx to arrive at his conclusion on human rights legitimate, or have they been another strand of a utopian socialist thought. The focus of this essay is going to be on outlining and questioning the Marxist critique of Human Rights and particularly on the right to property as a part of the broader rights regime. The essay, while recognizing the importance of Marx’s arguments, contends that even though the assurances sounded by these rights are not so user-friendly in actuality, they still provide the footing for a legitimate human rights regime to be established.