Postwar social welfare reframed civilisation as material betterment, alarming market liberals.

Evidence

‘To be civilized, in the old liberal sense’, the historian Mark Mazower notes, ‘was not necessarily to be modern’. On the contrary, it was to prioritise a set of civil liberties and property rights that increasingly appeared antiquated. The promise of social welfare gave a new impetus to the language of civilisation by associating it with rising living standards and material welfare. Within less than three years of the adoption of the UDHR, Malik warned that human rights were under threat from the ultimate danger of materialism, which he argued inverted the hierarchy that should place civil and political rights above social and economic ones. ‘Certain rights’, he complained, ‘are assuming exaggerated importance; it is hard to keep them in their place. Who is not clamouring today for his economic rights, for what is called a decent standard of living?’ — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 143

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Malik’s civil-political rights hierarchy being inverted by economic rights — relevant to reader’s interest in human-rights discourse framing. Crosses with the reader’s reading purpose on needs vs civil liberties debates. — connects to: The meaning of ‘civilisation’ was politically retooled after the war toward social welfare. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 143; Postwar social-democratic welfare concerns displaced market faith, alarming both neoliberals and conservative diplomats. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 142
• DEFINE: Defines the distinctive post-war liberal civilisational framing, prioritising civil liberties and property over economic welfare.

Broader Connections

• The meaning of ‘civilisation’ was politically retooled after the war toward social welfare. #corroborates (1.00) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 143
• Postwar social-democratic welfare concerns displaced market faith, alarming both neoliberals and conservative diplomats. #corroborates (0.95) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 142