Decolonization was a human rights victory. But did its prime movers and ideologues conceive of it in terms of the "human rights" the United Nations declared, and eventually canonized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948? Was self-determination a human right in those early years -- and if not, when did it become one? This lecture by Samuel Moyn investigates and answers these questions, arguing that human rights history is more interesting and accurate when it is viewed alongside decolonization, which had to conclude as a process and falter as an ideal for the contemporary enthusiasm for international human rights to explode. For captions, transcript, and more information visit www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5622.

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