This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published at http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/human_rights_basics. The second with the incomplete title above was published at http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/5.2/br_clinton.html. The third was published at http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Human-Rights-Globalization/dp/0520256417. The Fourth was published at http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/volumes/2006/leonard-2006.pdf
Human rights are standards that allow all people to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice and peace. Every person has these rights simply because they are human beings. They are guarantee to everyone without distinction of any kind. Human rights are essential to the full development of individuals and communities. Human rights are part of international law, contained in treaties and declarations that spell out specific rights that countries are required to uphold. When a government ratifies a human rights treaty, it assumes a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the rights contained in the treaty. Governments are obligated to make sure that human rights are protected by both preventing human rights violations against people within their territories and providing effective remedies for those whose rights are violated.
"We are all historians of human rights," claimed Linda Kerber, former president of the American Historical Association. Assessing the extent of and constraints upon human freedom and possibilities has certainly been an implicit theme of the modern historical profession as defined in the West, whether liberal, Marxist, post-structuralist, or other. Micheline has produced a survey that explicitly examines human rights as a dynamic of human history whose origins are discernible in the earliest periods of human history but whose resonance has been felt most powerfully in recent centuries. While Micheline admirably helps to set present-day challenges to and prospects for human rights in a historical perspective, world historians will be disappointed in making that perspective more global in context. Micheline's first major feat is in organizing such a sprawling topic coherently and accessibly. She finds a ready-made organizing principle in the one articulated by René Cassin, who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 with an amphasis on four fundamental themes: dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood. Moreover, Micheline argues, these themes not only frame specific sections of the Declaration itself, they can also be understood historically as "generations" of rights that respond to emerging conditions in various periods. The first chapter traces how diverse religious and ethical traditions from the pre-modern era contributed to identifying a set of categories that served as a platform for modern considerations of human rights. Micheline also support the first of six assertions meant to dispel specific misconceptions about human rights, whose origins, she contends, lay deeply rooted in the world's religious traditions. The second chapter addresses how such attributes of the modern world as science, mercantilism, expanding global encounters, and a powerful, restless middle class facilitated the transition to a secular human rights perspective. The Enlightenment in particular promoted this first modern generation of civil and political liberties that included freedom of religion and opinion, the right to life, and the right to private property. The 19th century age of ideology and industrialization frames the third chapter, where Micheline remind us of the critical role that socialism in its myriad forms played as a tradition that pushed claims for rights beyond previous borders. Socialists sought not only to expand civil and political rights to include freedom of association (e.g., in unions) and universal suffrage. They also claimed social rights reflected in 20th century social welfare policies of many states and enshrined in documents that comprise the present-day human rights system. The human rights abuses associated with communist regimes during the 20th century have left the socialist tradition discredited, so this chapter makes a significant contribution to reclaiming socialism's important place in the historical development of human rights. It also demonstrates how human rights claims can come into conflict when ideological premises upon which they are based are also at odds. Nationalism, another ideology that grew powerful in the 19th century, posed a particular dilemma in the history of human rights that Micheline addresses in a fourth assertion: "that demands for cultural rights must always be informed by and checked against a universalist perspective of human rights." Nationalists incorporated the rhetoric of rights in their cultural and political claims, creating a third stream alongside the liberal and socialist traditions. Yet nationalism's very nature also intensified the conflict between relativists and universalists. This conflict played a central role in the vast destruction wrought by the 20th century's two world wars as well as its many colonial wars. The fourth chapter departs somewhat from the Western-centered perspective that informed the two previous chapters, and the fifth chapter examines the plight of human rights in the contect of globalization. The wider global scope that the book takes at this point, however, follows the traditional trajectory of Western civilization texts, where Asia, Africa, and Latin America make their appearance as the Western imperial grasp tightens in the 19th century. Finally, Micheline concludes the book with an excellent chapter that provides a sophisticated assessment of the prospects and problems that human rights confront in today's fluid world. An engaged intellectual, Micheline issues a call to action that emphasizes the need to engage in a sustainable global civil society that will preserve and build upon the human rights traditions achieved over the past centuries.
Micheline Ishay recounts the dramatic struggle for human rights across the ages in a book that brilliantly synthesizes historical and intellectual developments from the Mesopotamian Codes of Hammurabi to today's era of globalization. As she chronicles the clash of movements and ideas that have played a part in this struggle, Micheline illustrates how the history of human rights has evolved from one era to the next through texts and cultural traditions. Writing with verve and extraordinary range, she develops a framework for understanding contemporary issues from the debate over globalization to the intervention in Kosovo to the climate for human rights after September 11, 2001. The only comprehensive history of human rights available, the book will be essential reading for anyone concerned with humankind's quest for justice and dignity. Micheline structures her chapter around six core questions that have shaped human rights debate and schorlarship: What are the origins of human rights? Why did the European vision of human rights triumph over those of other civilizations? Has socialism made a last contribution to the legacy of human rights? Are human rights universal or cultural bound? Is globalization eroding or advancing human rights? As she explores these questions, Micheline also incorporates notable documents, writings, speeches, and political statements, from activists, writers, and thinkers throughout history.
As stated earlier, Micheline purports that human rights are inalienable and universal. Yet, she acknowledges and accepts humanity's cultural uniqueness and the need for social tolerance. However, if the global community is to overcome what Micheline views as the "impending neo-medievalism", then it is the agents within civil society that must take the lead. The coming neo-medievalism, which is marked by a loss of rights. In order to counter this descent, Micheline proposes "a more vibrant global civil society that could thwart undemocratic policies associated with the unfettered march of neo-liberal globalization, protect the realm of privacy against state intrusion, and stimulate critical thinking." In short,Micheline is proposing a coalescence of actors who adhere to the human rights principles found in international legal statutes, because these are the rights of all individuals within a cosmopolitan global community. These rights are divergent in their ideological foundations, but there exists solidarity within a strong civil society that might grant these rights a universal status. The authors of "Constructing Human Rights" reach a similar conclusion. Their notion of universals is also dependent on social acceptance and solidarity achieved through dialogue and interaction. These two texts do not sound the end to the quest for universal human rights. The quest for a definitive understanding of human rights will continue within the literature, the classroom, and in diplomatic conferences, and courtrooms around the world. In fact, one of the many accomplishements of these two books is that they are re-energized a somewhat static debate and placed it into a vital dialogue. However, whether or not you agree with their conclusions, one thing is clear: these two texts are both very much worth reading.
