Antropología y Derechos Humanos: multiculturalismo, retos y resignificaciones

Abstract

In this introduction to the issue on Human Rights, we review the developments and what is at stake today in the fi eld of Anthropology of Human Rights. Taking into account their importance as means of expression of social struggles, denouncements of any kind of violations and instruments for the promotion of justice and social change, we underline the cultural, historical and dynamic nature of Human Rights. Furthermore, we highlight the epistemological and theoretical assumptions tied to the development of this perspective: excluding some legal and cultural approaches, we present the changes in anthropological paradigms, the discursive nature of human rights, the involvement of social agents, communities and local organizations in its adoption or recreation, as well as the symbolic and practical consequences both for persons and ways of coexistence.