(Dis)Embedded Women

The position argued in this Article is that women’s rights are individual rights. To explain this position, the Article will progress along the following arguments: 1) The dichotomy between Western individualism and non-Western collectivism is false. 2) Much of the debate regarding the role of women and women’s rights confuses interest and identity. 3) Women do not necessarily constitute a social group. 4) “Women’s” rights are actually universal human rights: they pertain mostly to women, but also to men. 5) The debate about whether women are a social group is rooted in part in differing conceptions of women’s embeddedness in society. 6) The debate is also rooted in part in differing conceptions of women’s embeddedness in their own religious group. 7) Even though women’s rights are not collective rights, they will only be attained in situations in which women (and some men) act collectively.