Abstract

In this work I criticize the traditional version of the concept of “human rights”. This view relies on the State-centric thesis which sustains that what makes this concept special is that only states are bound by human rights obligations, and that only states can violate them. I defend an alternative account based on the interest theory of rights put forward by Raz, together with the successive waves of duties theory of Jeremy Waldron. Grounded on these views I develop a critical reading of the present situation –socially, politically and economically– in order to propose a complete theory of human rights which claims that there are other non-state actors who have obligations of human rights properly, and that they can effectively violate human rights.