Confronting the evils of World War II and building on the legacy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a group of world citizens including Eleanor Roosevelt drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Adopted by the United Nations in 1948, the Universal Declaration has been translated into 300 languages and has become the basis for most other international human rights texts and norms. In spite of the global success of this document, however, a philosophical disconnect exists between what major theorists have...
Confronting the evils of World War II and building on the legacy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1789 French Declaration of the Rig...
Human rights advocacy in the West is changing. Before the turn of the century, access to goods such as food, housing, and health care while essential to human survival were deemed outside of the human rights sphere. Traditional human rights institutions focused on rights in the political arena that could be defended through legal systems.
In "Freedom from Poverty," Daniel P. L. Chong examines how today's nongovernmental organizations are modifying human rights practices and reshaping the political landscape by taking up the cause of subsistence rights. This book outlines how three types...
Human rights advocacy in the West is changing. Before the turn of the century, access to goods such as food, housing, and health care while essenti...
In recent history, atrocities have often been committed in the name of lofty ideals. One of the most disturbing examples took place in Cambodia's Killing Fields, where tens of thousands of victims were executed and hastily disposed of by Khmer Rouge cadres. Nearly thirty years after these bloody purges, two journalists entered the jungles of Cambodia to uncover secrets still buried there.
Based on more than 1,000 hours of interviews with the top surviving Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea, "Behind the Killing Fields" follows the journey of a man who began as a dedicated freedom fighter and...
In recent history, atrocities have often been committed in the name of lofty ideals. One of the most disturbing examples took place in Cambodia's K...
Human rights activists frequently claim that human rights are indivisible, and the United Nations has declared the indivisibility, interdependency, and interrelatedness of these rights to be beyond dispute. Yet in practice a significant divide remains between the two grand categories of human rights: civil and political rights, on the one hand, and economic, social, and cultural rights on the other. To date, few scholars have critically examined how the notion of indivisibility has shaped the complex relationship between these two sets of rights.
In "Indivisible Human Rights," Daniel J....
Human rights activists frequently claim that human rights are indivisible, and the United Nations has declared the indivisibility, interdependency,...
Globalization challenges fundamental principles governing international law, especially with respect to state sovereignty and international relations. This transformation has had a significant impact on the practice of trade law, financial regulation, and environmental law but relatively little effect on one area of law and regulation: human rights.
Universal Human Rights and Extraterritorial Obligations examines both the international and domestic foundations of human rights law. What other contemporary human rights debates have almost totally ignored is that in an...
Globalization challenges fundamental principles governing international law, especially with respect to state sovereignty and international relatio...
Over the course of his distinguished career, legal scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im has sought to reconcile his identity as a Muslim with his commitment to universal human rights. In "Muslims and Global Justice," he advances the theme of global justice from an Islamic perspective, critically examining the role that Muslims must play in the development of a pragmatic, rights-based framework for justice.
An-Na'im opens this collection of essays with a chapter on Islamic ambivalence toward political violence, showing how Muslims began grappling with this problem long before the 9/11...
Over the course of his distinguished career, legal scholar Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im has sought to reconcile his identity as a Muslim with his commi...
In recent years, influential studies have shown that the activities of human rights organizations are central in convincing violating governments to improve their practices. Yet some governments continue to get away with human rights violations despite mobilizations against them. In "Human Rights and State Security: Indonesia and the Philippines," Anja Jetschke considers the impact of transnational human rights advocacy on the process of human rights reform and democratization in two countries that have been successful in resisting international human rights pressure.
Jetschke details...
In recent years, influential studies have shown that the activities of human rights organizations are central in convincing violating governments t...
How do transitional democracies deal with officials who have been tainted by complicity with prior governments? Should they be excluded or should they be incorporated into the new system? In "Lustration and Transitional Justice," Roman David examines major institutional innovations that developed in Central Europe following the collapse of communist regimes. While the Czech Republic approved a lustration (vetting) law based on the traditional method of dismissals, Hungary and Poland devised alternative models that granted their tainted officials a second chance in exchange for truth. David...
How do transitional democracies deal with officials who have been tainted by complicity with prior governments? Should they be excluded or should t...
Over the past three decades, neither France's treatment of Muslims nor changes in French, British, and German immigration laws have confirmed multiculturalist hopes or postnationalist expectations. Yet analyses positing unified national models also fall short in explaining contemporary issues of national and cultural identity. "Immigration, Islam, and the Politics of Belonging in France: A Comparative Framework" presents a more productive, multifaceted view of citizenship and nationality.
Political scientist Elaine R. Thomas casts new light on recent conflicts over citizenship and...
Over the past three decades, neither France's treatment of Muslims nor changes in French, British, and German immigration laws have confirmed multi...
Faced with the economic pressures of globalization, many countries have sought to curb the fundamental right of workers to join trade unions and engage in collective action. In response, trade unions in developed countries have strategically used their own governments' commitments to human rights as a basis for resistance. Since the protection of human rights remains an important normative principle in global affairs, democratic countries cannot merely ignore their human rights obligations and must balance their international commitments with their desire to remain economically competitive...
Faced with the economic pressures of globalization, many countries have sought to curb the fundamental right of workers to join trade unions and en...
