Beyond Borders and Bodies: Virtual Decoloniality as a New Grammar of Human Rights
摘要
This article explores the rise of virtual decoloniality through the lens of Peircean semiotics, suggesting that the concept of human rights in the digital realm is experiencing a significant shift in meaning, rather than just in terms of territory or institutions. By utilizing Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic sign model-comprising sign, object, and interpretant, the study reimagines human rights as fluid sign systems that are constantly created, debated, and redefined in cyberspace. The foundation of this research stems from the growing trend of moving human rights discussions away from physical borders and tangible subjects to virtual spaces, algorithms, and data infrastructures. While there is a wealth of literature on digital rights, a notable gap remains in understanding how colonial power dynamics continue to exist and be challenged at the semiotic level of legal meaning. Current human rights frameworks often overlook how symbols of authority, universality, and legitimacy are redefined online. The article employs a qualitative semiotic-legal analysis, bolstered by a secondary examination of international human rights documents, digital governance policies, and online narratives surrounding human rights. The study critically explores how virtual resistance reshapes the symbolic language of human rights, questioning Eurocentric notions of universality while fostering new interpretations grounded in decolonial knowledge systems. The findings indicate that virtual decoloniality functions as a process of semiotic disruption, challenging dominant legal symbols and creating alternative interpretations of rights that extend beyond territorial sovereignty. The article wraps up by asserting that human rights in the digital space should be viewed as a dynamic semiotic framework, urging legal theory to evolve past rigid positivist norms towards a more interpretive and decolonial semiotics.