Decolonial ink drops on a psychological debate about the sociogenesis of human rights

Abstract

Inspired by a traditional view on human rights, a six-stage psychological model is proposed to explain the sociogenesis of a new human right in a given social group. Their model contains a criticism regarding the conflicts arising from collective demands, seen as enhancing the imbalance between rights and duties. In a different direction, guided by feminist, decolonial and post-identity epistemologies, in this commentary we defend the relevance of conflicts and collective action to enhancing social transformation, with a view to overcoming the hegemonic liberal and universal perspective on human rights. We argue that such hegemonic approach makes diversity and difference invisible, which are so important aspects to the construction of the psychological science and praxis we defend, a scientific enterprise which is contextualized and socially committed to the specific needs of minority groups (blacks, LGBTQIA+, children, young people, the elderly, etc.), who are often pathologized and excluded from the scope of the international declarations that take for granted that human rights are universal topics.