A Declaration of the Rights of Human Beings

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Raoul Vaneigem is an iconic figure in French philosophy. One of the founding fathers -- along with Guy Debord -- of the Situationist movement, his writings helped trigger the events of May 1968. After the inevitable Situationist split, Vaneigem pursued his own interests, and he has since established a unique place in the world of French political thought. In this new book, he sets out quite literally to create a new declaration of human rights, by updating earlier declarations -- from the French Revolution to the UN declaration in 1948 -- on the grounds that ‘we can no longer make do with the liberties derived from free exchange, while the free circulation of capital is establishing a tyranny that reduces humankind and the earth to a commodity’. By turns playful, poetic and provocative, this is a remarkable book that makes a profoundly serious point about the way in which human rights have been eroded by globalization.

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Born in 1934, Raoul Vaneigem was a member of the Situationist International from 1961-1970. Essayist and historian of religion, he has published numerous books on politics and philosophy since his seminal The Revolution of Everday Life (1967). He is rumoured to live in Belgium.