The rise and rise of human rights / Kirsten Sellars.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sellars, Kirsten.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights.

Human rights--History.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 242 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Stroud : Sutton, 2002.

Summary:

Human Rights are widely regarded as the guiding principle of global politics today. Under their banner, governments have launched bombing raids, arrested national leaders, and invaded sovereign states.

The Rise and Rise of Human Rights investigates the evolution of the ideal and reveals a political history played out by presidents and foreign ministers, diplomats and journalists, prosecutors and advocates. All, in their different ways, have invoked human rights as both a solution to domestic problems, and as a cause around which to rally support for interventions abroad.

Using archival material, much of it previously unpublished, the book traces the development of international human rights from the Second World War to the recent conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East. Along the way, it exposes the Cold War rivalry that overshadowed negotiations over the UN's Universal Declaration, and the political schisms that threatened to destroy the Tokyo war crimes tribunal. It reveals the bureaucratic turf-wars that broke out over President Carter's human rights policy, and details the bitter disputes between Reagan's officials and human rights advocates over repression in Central America. It examines the global campaigns on behalf of political prisoners and against war criminals, and the debates over funding and partisanship that have shaped Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. And it traces the controversies that have dogged recent campaigns against religious persecution, and the tribunals dealing with Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Drawing together documentary evidence from the United States, Britain and France, The Rise and Rise of Human Rights shows how human rights crusades have been designed primarily to enhance the West's self-image, and to court domestic public opinion. As a consequence, these policies have aided powerful benefactors rather than their supposed beneficiaries in broken and war-ravaged nations. This is a political tale of idealism and pragmatism, in which appearances are often deceptive and issues are rarely black-and-white.

Contents:

1 Declaration of Intent 1

2 Nuremberg Revisited 25

3 Trouble at Tokyo 47

4 Cold Fronts 67

5 Colonial Concerns 86

6 Carter's Crusade 114

7 Cold War II 134

8 With God on Their Side 158

9 Trials and Tribulations 177.

Notes:

Errata slip inserted.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0750927550

OCLC:

48782501