Human Rights In The Twenty First Century A Global Challenge

This unique and challenging volume is the result of a major international rights conference entitled Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Challengeconvened in Banff, Alberta, Canada in November 1990. The conference was supported and organized under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights, the European Human Rights Commission, the Strasbourg Institute of Comparative Human Rights Law, the Alberta Law Foundation and the International Centre at the University of Calgary. Its main objectives were legal education and legal research, which were met by a total of 92 speakers representing 24 different nationalities presenting their views on 24 human rights topics. Women and participants from developing countries in particular, brought a new vision of human rights to topics as varied as reproductive technology, state violence, and biotechnology. The theme of this book is thus the interdependence of legal, social, economic and environmental problems which transcend national and international boundaries and the spirit of solidarity which is required to resolve them. Written by a team of international and renowned human experts, it will provide a substantial contribution to the legal literature on international human rights.

This unique and challenging volume is the result of a major international rights conference entitled Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Challenge convened in Banff, Alberta, Canada in November 1990. The conference was supported and organized under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights, the European Human Rights Commission, the Strasbourg Institute of Comparative Human Rights Law, the Alberta Law Foundation and the International Centre at the University of Calgary. Its main objectives were legal education and legal research, which were met by a total of 92 speakers representing 24 different nationalities presenting their views on 24 human rights topics. Women and participants from developing countries in particular, brought a new vision of human rights to topics as varied as reproductive technology, state violence, and biotechnology. The theme of this book is thus the interdependence of legal, social, economic and environmental problems which transcend national and international boundaries and the spirit of solidarity which is required to resolve them. Written by a team of international and renowned human experts, it will provide a substantial contribution to the legal literature on international human rights.

More than half a century after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defined what a human being is and is entitled to, Catharine MacKinnon asks: Are women human yet? If women were regarded as human, would they be sold into sexual slavery worldwide; veiled, silenced, and imprisoned in homes; bred, and worked as menials for little or no pay; stoned for sex outside marriage or burned within it; mutilated genitally, impoverished economically, and mired in illiteracy--all as a matter of course and without effective recourse? The cutting edge is where law and culture hurts, which is where MacKinnon operates in these essays on the transnational status and treatment of women. Taking her gendered critique of the state to the international plane, ranging widely intellectually and concretely, she exposes the consequences and significance of the systematic maltreatment of women and its systemic condonation. And she points toward fresh ways--social, legal, and political--of targeting its toxic orthodoxies. MacKinnon takes us inside the workings of nation-states, where the oppression of women defines community life and distributes power in society and government. She takes us to Bosnia-Herzogovina for a harrowing look at how the wholesale rape and murder of women and girls there was an act of genocide, not a side effect of war. She takes us into the heart of the international law of conflict to ask--and reveal--why the international community can rally against terrorists' violence, but not against violence against women. A critique of the transnational status quo that also envisions the transforming possibilities of human rights, this bracing book makes us look as never before at an ongoing war too long undeclared.

The world is faced with significant and interrelated challenges in the 21st century which threaten human rights in a number of ways. This book examines three of the largest issues of the century - armed conflict, environment, and poverty - and examines how these may be addressed using a human rights framework. It considers how these challenges threaten human rights and reassesses our understanding of human rights in the light of these issues. This multidisciplinary text considers both foundational and applied questions such as the relationship between morality and the laws of war, as well as the application of the International Human Rights Framework in cyber space. Alongside analyses from some of the most prominent lawyers, philosophers, and political theorists in the debate, each section includes contributions by those who have served as Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations Human Rights System on the challenges facing international human rights laws today.

This accessible and authoritative book provides the first systematic overview of the global children’s rights movement. It introduces both beginners and experts to child and youth rights in all their theoretical, historical, cultural, political, and practical complexity. In the process, the book examines key controversies about globalization, cultural relativism, social justice, power, economics, politics, freedom, ageism, and more. Combining vivid examples with cutting-edge scholarship, Children’s Rights: Today’s Global Challenge lifts up the rights of the youngest third of humanity as the major human rights challenge of the twenty-first century.

The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community? Since 1948, the Declaration has stood as a beacon and a standard for a better world. Yet the work of making its ideals real is far from over. Hideous and systemic human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate around the world. Too many people, particularly those in power, are hostile to human rights or indifferent to their claims. Meanwhile, our global interdependence deepens. Bringing together world leaders and thinkers in the fields of politics, ethics, and philosophy, the Commission set out to develop a common understanding of the meaning of global citizenship – one that arises from basic human rights and empowers every individual in the world. This landmark report affirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeks to renew the 1948 enterprise, and the very ideal of the human family, for our day and generation.

Educating for the Twenty-First Century explores critical issues facing education in the 21st century.

* Examines broad range of non-state actors engaged in activities that violate, promote, or protect human rights * Looks at human rights issues in bioethics, armed conflicts, labor, and welfare reform Despite the widespread acceptance of human rights at the normative level, actual progress toward the realization of human rights globally has been far from satisfactory. Concerned with human rights outcomes, this book departs from analyses that focus on the role of the state in human rights promotion and urges the study of the entire human rights universe. Transcending as well the literature on the role of NGOs, the book examines a broad range of non-state actors engaged in various activities that violate, promote or protect human rights. Contributing authors examine several important issues, such as bioethics, armed conflicts, and welfare reform, while stressing the need for accountability and mechanisms for curbing human rights violations. Other Contributors: Michael Goodhart, Herbert F. Spirer, Louise Spirer, Rainer Braun, Judy Gearhart, James L. Gunderson, J. Paul Martin, Richard Falk, Ruth Macklin, Alice Page, Anne Nelson, Thomas R. Lansner, Kevin Bales, Dana-Ain Davis, and Willy Fautre.