Evidence for hope : making human rights work in the 21st century / Kathryn Sikkink.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sikkink, Kathryn, 1955- author.

Series:

Human rights and crimes against humanity

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights--History--21st century.

Human rights.

Human rights movements--History.

Human rights movements.

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 318 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2017]

Summary:

A history of the successes of the human rights movement and a case for why human rights work. Evidence for Hope makes the case that, yes, human rights work. Critics may counter that the movement is in serious jeopardy or even a questionable byproduct of Western imperialism. They point out that Guantanamo is still open, the Arab Spring protests have been crushed, and governments are cracking down on NGOs everywhere. But respected human rights expert Kathryn Sikkink draws on decades of research and fieldwork to provide a rigorous rebuttal to pessimistic doubts about human rights laws and institutions. She demonstrates that change comes slowly and as the result of struggle, but in the long term, human rights movements have been vastly effective.Attacks on the human rights movement's credibility are based on the faulty premise that human rights ideas emerged in North America and Europe and were imposed on developing southern nations. Starting in the 1940s, Latin American leaders and activists were actually early advocates for the international protection of human rights. Sikkink shows that activists and scholars disagree about the efficacy of human rights because they use different yardsticks to measure progress. Comparing the present to the past, she shows that genocide and violence against civilians have declined over time, while access to healthcare and education has increased dramatically. Cognitive and news biases contribute to pervasive cynicism, but Sikkink's investigation into past and current trends indicates that human rights is not in its twilight.

Contents:

Part I Introduction and Overview

Chapter 1 Introduction: Anger, Hope, and the Belief You Can Make a Difference 3

Chapter 2 Response to the Critics: How to Evaluate the Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Human Rights 22

Part II The Legitimacy of Human Rights: Diverse Struggles

Chapter 3 The Diverse Political Origins of Human Rights 55

Chapter 4 The Struggles for Human Rights during the Cold War 94

Part III The Effectiveness of Human Rights Laws, Institutions, and Movements

Chapter 5 Why Is It So Hard to Measure the Effectiveness of Human Rights Law and Activism? 139

Chapter 6 What Does and Doesn't Work to Promote Human Rights? 181

Part IV Making Human Rights Work in the Twenty-First Century

Chapter 7 Conclusions: Evidence for Hope without Complacency 225.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691170626

0691170622

OCLC:

974675989