Table Of ContentThe Idea of Humanity in a Global Era
The Idea of Humanity in a Global Era
PALGRAVEMACMILLANTRANSNATIONALHISTORYSERIES
AkiraIriye(HarvardUniversity)andRanaMitter(UniversityofOxford)
SeriesEditors
This distinguishedseriesseeksto:developscholarshipon thetransnationalconnections
ofsocietiesand peoplesin thenineteenthandtwentiethcenturies; provideaforum in
whichwork ontransnationalhistoryfrom differentperiods,subjects,andregionsofthe
world canbe brought together in fruitful connection; and explore the theoreticaland
methodologicallinks betweentransnationalandotherrelatedapproachessuchascom
parativehistoryandworldhistory.
Editorial board:Thomas BenderUniversityProfessorof the Humanities, Professorof
History, and Director of the International Center for Advanced Studies, New York
UniversityJaneCarruthersProfessor ofHistory, UniversityofSouthAfricaMariano
PlotkinProfessor, UniversidadNacionaldeTresde Febrero, BuenosAires,andmember
oftheNationalCouncilofScientificandTechnologicalResearch,ArgentinaPierre-Yves
Saunier Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France Ian
TyrrellProfessorofHistory, UniversityofNewSouthWales
PublishedbyPalgrave Macmillan:
THENATION,PSYCHOLOGYANDINTERNATIONALPOLITICS,1870-1919
ByGlendaSluga
COMPETINGVISIONSOFWORLDORDER:GLOBALMOMENTANDMOVEMENTS,
1880s-1930s
Edited bySebastianConradandDominicSachsenmaier
PAN-ASIANISMANDJAPAN'SWAR1931-1945
ByEriHotta
WOMEN,GENDER,ANDPOS1WARRECONCILIATIONBETWEENNATIONS
ByErikaKuhlman
1968 INEUROPE:AHISTORYOFPROTESTANDACTIVISM,1956-1977
Edited byMartinKlimkeandJoachimScharloth
THECHINESEINBRITAIN,1800-PRESENT:ECONOMY,TRANSNATIONALlSM,IDENTITY
ByGregorBentonandTerenceGomez(forthcoming)
TELEGRAPHICIMPERIALISM:CRISISANDPANICINTHEINDIANEMPIRE,
C.1850-1920
D.K.Lahiri-Choudhury(forthcoming)
THEIDEAOFHUMANITYINAGLOBALERA
BruceMazlish
EUROPEANHISTORYINANINTERCONNECEDWORLD
ByMatthiasMiddell,MichaelGeyer,andMichelEspagne(forthcoming)
COSMOPOLITANTHOUGHTZONES:INTELLECTUALEXCHANGEBETWEENSOUTH
ASIAANDEUROPE,1870-1945
Edited byKrisManjapraandSugata Bose(forthcoming)
IRISHTERRORISMINTHEATLANTICCOMMUNITY,1865-1922
ByjonathanGantt(forthcoming)
The Idea of Humanity
in a Global Era
Bruce Mazlish
palgrave
macmillan
THE IDEA OF HUMANITY IN A GLOBAL ERA
*
Copyright © Bruce Mazlish, 2009.
Softcover repnmt of the hardcover I edition 2009
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the
United States-a division of St. Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest
of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of
Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company
number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire
RG216XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the
above companies and has companies and representatives
throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in
the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other
countries.
ISBN 978-0-230-61162-7 ISBN 978-0-230-61776-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230617766
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bruce, 1923-
The idea of humanity in a global era / Bruce Mazlish.
p. cm.-(Palgrave Macmillan series in transnation)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-230-61161-3
1. Humanity. 2. Philosophical anthropology.
3. Globalization-Moral and ethical aspects. I. Title.
BJI533.H9M292009
128--dc22 2008024445
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British
Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: January 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Contents
Series EditorForeword vii
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 Global Humanity 17
Chapter 3 Humanity in the Global Epoch 31
Chapter 4 TheJudicial Revolution 47
Chapter 5 Humanities, Humanitarianism,
and the Human 61
Chapter 6 The UN as a Voice for Humanity 77
Chapter 7 Humanity: AReassessment 95
Epilogue 109
Appendix I The Question of Global Identity 115
Appendix II The United Nations Charter 127
Appendix III Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court 161
Appendix IV Universal Declaration of
Human Rights 163
Notes 171
Series Editor Foreword
What does it mean to be human? Who speaks for humanity?
When did the idea of "crimes against humanity"firstemerge?
BruceMazlish, one of the most distinguished senior histori
ans writing today, tackles these and many other related ques
tions in the framework ofglobal historyand globalization. He
shows that, whereas from time immemorialpeoplealloverthe
world, and of many divergent faiths, have developed their
conceptions of man, the age of globalization (from the late
nineteenth century on) has given the idea of humanity spe
cificmeaning. Forinstance, he notes thatit was onlyin 1915
that crimes against humanity-an expressionimplying that all
humans, regardlessofnationality,race,orgender,wereentitled to
protection against an infringement on their beings-entered
international vocabulary. It was not just a philosophical idea
entertainedby lone philosophersortheologiansbutwasgiven
international recognition as an essential part of what consti
tuted the world community. While in the subsequent decades
the idea of humanity wasmore honored in the breach than in
practice, in the wakeoftheSecondWorld Warit merged with
the newer idea of human rights.Beginning with the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights (1948) and through numerous
United Nations proclamationsand events (suchasUNwomen's
conferences and the 2001 Year of Mobilization against Racism,
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance),
theidea ofhumanityhas come to beseen asan integralpartof
the contemporary, global age.
viii SeriesEditor Foreword
If, today,words likehumanityand human rightshave become
commonplace, thatisin largepart becausethe worldhasgrown
truly transnational; nations no longer, if they ever did,existin
isolationfromone another,and peopleofdifferentcultures, eth
nic identities, educational backgrounds, and economic circum
stances constantly come into contact with one another across
nationalboundaries.Nevertheless, nations do remain,with their
own legal systems and law-enforcing mechanisms. Under the
circumstances, men, women, and children, while representing
humanity, are never quite interchangeable legalbeings.On the
other hand, international institutions like the United Nations
as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International consider it a moral
duty to seek to protect the rights of all, regardless of circum
stances.Thisisafarcryfrom the situationahundredyearsago
when, while some began to note the coming into closer con
tact of people of different backgrounds, national, ethnic, and
cultural distinctions tended to place them in rather rigid com
partments. The enhanced moral conception ofhumanityisone
ofthelastingcontributionsofthetwentiethcentury,anotherwise
unspeakablybrutal,ruthless,and violent epoch in history. How
the newer idea of humanity will play itself out in the twenty
firstcentury isaquestion thatdeservescloseattention today,and
this bookwillenable readersto ponderthe question asit consid
ersspecificwaysin which the idealofaunited humankindmay
come closerto reality.
Butwedo notwantto anticipatetheargumentofthe author
or to summarize the many fascinating facets of the idea of
humanity that are presented in this volume. Weare delighted
to add this title to the Palgrave Macmillan Transnational
History series, which has already published pioneering works
in the increasingly influential fieldoftransnational history.
AkiraIriye
RanaMitter
May 2008
Acknowledgments
This book has grown out of my concern with understanding
present-day globalization and its overall meaning and possible
directions. It is therefore built upon all the obligations
incurred, intellectual and otherwise, over the past decade and
a half to all those with whom I have worked in this general
endeavor. Theyare too many to name individually.
However,thereareafewwhomIwantto single outin regard
to the present work. lowe much to my colleague and friend,
Akira lriye,whose enthusiasm inspired me to presson with the
originalmanuscript and to developit further.He and I (asavis
iting professor) co-taught a course at Harvard University on
New Global History, which we were then encouraged to offer
asecondyear;while notdevotedto the idea ofHumanity, that
course hoversover thisbook. ItwasDominicSachsenmaierwho
invited me to give a lecture at Duke University, where I first
offered what has subsequentlybecome Chapter 3;the interest
expressed there by his colleagues has also sustained me as I
laboredto write thesubsequentchapters.OtherswhomIwishto
acknowledge for large or small assistance are Kate Bigger,
Alexander Geppert, John Headley, Andrew Linklater, Emikio
Ohnuki-Tierney, and Gabrielle Spiegel. As president of the
American Historical Association (AHA) and herself a distin
guished medieval historian, who has extended her interest to
present-day globalization, Gabrielle Spiegel suggested that I
organize aPresidential Panel forthe 2009 meetingoftheAHA.
I look forward to receiving comments there on parts of this
x Acknowledgments
book; to coin a phrase, it will be apres lalettre but much wel
come nevertheless.
I once wrote in regard to book reviewers that "[a] book
reviews the reviewer as much as the reviewer reviews the
book."IfImay now paraphrase, an editorhelps write thebook
along with its author. In this regard, I have been extremely
lucky in having Chris Chappell as my editor at Palgrave
Macmillan. His suggestions, his help, and his general role in
bringing this book under contract were of enormous value to
me. I owe him much gratitude and praise. Lastly, there is my
wifeNevaGoodwin.Herselfan economist interestedinglobaliza
tion, she hasnotonly servedasmy constantinspirationbutasa
wonderful andcriticalreaderofthe draftsofthiswork.Herpartin
itsappearance isincalculable.
Ibelieve that somewhere the Austrian satirist and critic Karl
Kraus remarked that a historian is a prophet looking back
ward. It isin that spirit that Ihave written this book.
