By drawing attention to the violence of previous attempts at conversion, Baroody worked to challenge the legitimacy of European civilizing missions. In this sense, it is accurate to depict his argument as a 'relatively mild' foretaste of the anti-imperialism that later became prominent in UN forums. In response, the neoliberals would draw the missionary and interventionist implications of the new human rights language, which framed human rights as a means to enforce global standards to support the old rights of private capital.

Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, loc. 139