Western Rights? Post-Communist Application

This work provides a complete record of the discussisons held and papers presented at a conference on ''The Individual v. The State'', held in Budapest at the Central European University, which focused on various theories about the nature and role of rights.

Rights have the function of protecting the individual against collectivity, against restrictions of individual freedom and against the imposition of burdens on individuals for the sake of the common good. Joseph Raz argues in his introduction that rights cannot be understood in terms of these functions as this would distort the understanding of their role in morality and law.

The book is divided into six parts, covering the following key topics:

• Concepts of Rights• Transition to Rights--Rights in Transition• Equality and Social Rights• Minorities and Citizenship• The International Dimension• Economics of Rights

It shows how varied the understanding of rights is among different theorists and in the practice of different countries, and will be of prime interest to academics involved in legal theory.