Toward a Truly Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Talking Cultural Transformation with Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim.

This article reviews Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim's book *Decolonizing Human Rights*, highlighting its central argument that the protection and realization of human rights depend fundamentally on cultural transformation and political mobilization rather than solely on state-centric legal enforcement. An-Naim critiques the reliance on international treaties and state institutions, emphasizing that human rights must be lived and upheld through spontaneous social relations and community engagement, as originally envisioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Preamble. The review also discusses a related art installation by Turkish artist Banu Cennetoǧlu, which symbolically illustrates the fragility of human rights protections. An-Naim's work calls for practitioners to focus on grassroots cultural change while still utilizing existing legal frameworks, advocating a balanced approach to advancing human rights in the 75th anniversary year of the UDHR.