Contemporary discussions about human rights and their role in international development are born out of a vast philosophical tradition that cuts across a number of disciplines such as law, anthropology, politics, sociology and theology. An understanding of how and why human rights approaches can be applied to international development requires an appreciation of these theoretical underpinnings. ‘Human rights’ can be understood from a number of perspectives: as natural entitlements that are beyond dispute and in accordance with ‘natural’ or ‘moral’ law; as a deliberative concept arising out of societal agreement that attempts to establish mutual-co-existence; as a way of redressing injustices and changing the status quo through protest; and as a concept that only exists discursively, i.e. at the level of analytical discussion