Human Rights and South-South Development Cooperation: Reflections on the “Rising Powers” as International Development Actors

The era of Western-dominated international foreign aid, development norms, and institutions is far from dead, but it is starting to rupture. Key to this is the growing visibility, assertiveness, and impact of a wide range of (re) emerging donors and development partners. Foreign aid and development assistance have long been prime sites in the negotiation and projection of human rights internationally, but this has overwhelmingly centered on the Western-dominated development community as the driver of dominant ideologies, practices, and funding. This article concerns the potential roles and impacts of Southern states on human rights in their roles as donors and development partners.