Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 244
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-0-7425-5513-6 • Hardback • May 2007 • $114.00 • (£75.00)
978-0-7425-5514-3 • Paperback • May 2007 • $41.00 • (£27.95)
978-1-4616-3751-6 • eBook • May 2007 • $39.00 • (£24.95)
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. Greg Grandin is professor of history at New York University. Lynn Hunt is Eugen Weber Professor of French History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Marilyn B. Young is professor of history at New York University.
Introduction: Human Rights and Revolutions
Part I: Two Opening Perspectives
Chapter 1: The Paradoxical Origins of Human Rights
Chapter 2: The Chinese Revolution and Contemporary Paradoxes
Part II: The English, American, and Russian Revolutions
Chapter 3: Tradition, Human Rights, and the English Revolution
Chapter 4: Natural Rights in the American Revolution: The American Amalgam
Chapter 5: A European Experience: Human Rights and Citizenship in Revolutionary Russia
Part III: Asian and African Case Studies
Chapter 6: An Enlightenment of Outcasts: Some Vietnamese Stories
Chapter 7: India, Human Rights, and Asian Values
Chapter 8: What Absence Is Made Of: Human Rights in Africa
Part IV: A Human Rights Revolution?
Chapter 9: (Homo)sexuality, Human Rights, and Revolution in Latin America
Chapter 10: Ethics and the Rearmament of Imperialism: The French Case
Chapter 11: The Strange Career of Radical Islam
Part V: A Concluding Perspective
Chapter 12: Human Rights and Empire's Embrace: A Latin American Counterpoint
This book is a necessary addition to a research collection, because it provides a comprehensive framework and well chosen set of cases to illustrate the state of the art of the major debates in the human rights field.
— H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online
The authors argue convincingly that without revolutions human rights would never have become a political reality, even though countries that never have had a revolution have done a better job of preserving freedom. Many of the essays are interrelated in that they illustrate one or another or both of these themes. On the whole, this is an interesting, worthwhile, and thought-provoking book. Social and political philosophers might gain a great deal from understanding the history of the concepts that they use and argue about.
— Robert van Wyk; Human Rights Revolution
A noteworthy contribution to our understanding of the complexities involved in the human rights discourse. (Previous Edition Praise)
— International Relations
This is an excellent collection on an important topic. The contributions cover an admirably diverse set of times and places. (Previous Edition Praise)
— American Historical Review
Altogether, we have here an exemplary set of thoughtful, erudite, and often provocative essays that provides readers with a rich and profound understanding of immensely important and complex issues. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Contemporary Sociology
There are some astute insights in this volume. (Previous Edition Praise)
— American Journal of Islamic Social Studies
This is a fine collection of thirteen essays on human rights, each of which can stand on its own, and each author displays impeccable credentials. Together, they have much to offer. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Journal of World History
The rise to prominence of human rights discourse carries much promise, as well as grave threats, in the context of structures of power and dominance. These searching, thoughtful, and highly informative essays inquire into the nature and origin of human rights from varied perspectives, unraveling intricate and often conflicting strands of history, practice, and doctrine. The collection is an impressive contribution to understanding and should be a valuable guide to constructive action as well. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Noam Chomsky, MIT
This elegant, wide-ranging collection of essays thoughtfully explores the origins, evolution, and contemporary significance of human rights and provides a much-needed, deeply analytical guide to understanding how to interpret today's debates. Everyone who cares should read it; everyone will learn something new. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Daniel Chirot, University of Washington
This is an exemplary collection of essays by a wonderfully diverse—both in their disciplines and their opinions—group of scholars and intellectuals. They demonstrate, above all, that strenuous historical analysis can light up the contemporary political world. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University