Soviet delegates at the UDHR drafts rejected civilisational hierarchy language as obsolete

Evidence

During the early drafting of the UDHR, the Soviet delegate, Vladimir Koretsky, rebuked the great French jurist René Cassin for his use of the phrase ‘civilised nations’. Framing civilisational hierarchies as an anachronism from the age of the tsars, Koretksy argued the phrase had ‘no meaning at the present time’. Noting that the UK’s draft declaration also referred to ‘civilised nations’, the future judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked that the committee ‘not follow old documents too blindly but find a new track for itself’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 77

Categorization

• SHARE: For a legal historian or human-rights scholar who would appreciate the specific detail of Koretsky rebuking Cassin over ‘civilised nations’ in the UDHR drafting.
• CANDY: The Soviet delegate calling out civilisational hierarchy rhetoric as something ‘from the age of the tsars’ is a compact, surprising historical footnote.
• XREF: connects to: The UDHR’s civilisational language was abandoned due to external challenges, not European self-doubt — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 103; Soviet delegates judged formal rights hollow without economic transformation — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 225; The UDHR’s would-be critics objected to its drafting, not its universality — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 277 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Soviet delegates judged formal rights hollow without economic transformation #expands (0.86) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 225
• The UDHR’s would-be critics objected to its drafting, not its universality #contradicts (0.74) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 277
• 1940s drafters of the UDHR saw social rights as a working-class victory #corroborates (0.72) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 149