Synopses & Reviews
There is a stark contradiction between the theory of universal human rights and the everyday practice of human wrongs. This timely volume brings together leading scholars to evaluate this paradox. The contributors ask whether human rights abuses are a result of the failure of governments to live up to a universal human rights standard, or whether the search for moral universals is a fundamentally flawed enterprise. The book evaluates the philosophical basis of human rights, and reflects on the structures that affect the development of a global human rights culture.
Review
"Human Rights in Global Politics...distinguishes itself ...by its solid theoretical and practical approach to analyzing human rights at the end of the century." William Felice, Recent Books on Ethics and International Affairs
Table of Contents
Introduction: human rights and the fifty years' crisis Tim Dunne and Nicholas J. Wheeler; Part I. Theories of Human Rights: 1. Three tyrannies of human rights Ken Booth; 2. The social construction of international human rights Jack Donnelly; 3. Universal human rights: a critique Chris Brown; 4. Non-ethnocentric universalism Bhikhu Parekh; 5. Towards an ethic of global responsibility Mary Midgley; Part II. The Practices of Human Wrongs: 6. The challenge of genocide and genocidal politics in an era of globalisation Richard Falk; 7. Transnational civil society Mary Kaldor; 8. Global voices: civil society and the media in global crises Martin Shaw; 9. Refugees: a global human rights and security crisis Gil Loescher; 10. The silencing of women Georgina Ashworth; 11. Power, principles and prudence: protecting human right in a divided world Andrew Hurrell; 12. Conclusion: learning beyond frontiers Ken Booth and Tim Dunne.