The Politics Of Justice And Human Rights

The Asian Values Discourse

Original essays on the political and philosophical underpinnings of the idea of human rights by a group of highly distinguished theorists.

The relationship between human rights and justice is significant, deep, and ultimately contested. The two terms themselves – human rights and justice – have experienced both conceptual and operational pushback from many quarters in recent years. Although an understanding of justice is inherent in broad human rights discourses, there is no clear consensus on how to integrate and reconcile these concepts – both as a means of advancing knowledge and as a mechanism for the development of sound and effective policy at the global, regional, and national levels. Further, expansions of the boundaries of both human rights and justice make any clear and settled understanding of the relation difficult to ascertain. This volume tackles these issues in a coherent and complementary manner. It examines a range of philosophical, economic, and social perspectives that are key to understanding the nature of the linkages between human rights and justice, written by scholars who are at varying stages of their careers, and whose ongoing work has sparked dialogue and exchange within and across these fields. This work will be of interest to students and scholars of human rights, international relations and ethics.

Human rights activists Roger Normand and Sarah Zaidi provide a broad political history of the emergence and development of the human rights movement in the 20th century through the crucible of the United Nations, focusing on the hopes and expectations, concrete power struggles, national rivalries, and bureaucratic politics that molded the international system of human rights law. The book emphasizes the period before and after the creation of the UN, when human rights ideas and proposals were shaped and transformed by the hard-edged realities of power politics and bureaucratic imperatives. It also analyzes the expansion of the human rights framework in response to demands for equitable development after decolonization and organized efforts by women, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups to secure international recognition of their rights.

Acclaimed scholar Kathryn Sikkink examines the important and controversial new trend of holding political leaders criminally accountable for human rights violations. Grawemeyer Award winner Kathryn Sikkink offers a landmark argument for human rights prosecutions as a powerful political tool. She shows how, in just three decades, state leaders in Latin America, Europe, and Africa have lost their immunity from any accountability for their human rights violations, becoming the subjects of highly publicized trials resulting in severe consequences. This shift is affecting the behavior of political leaders worldwide and may change the face of global politics as we know it. Drawing on extensive research and illuminating personal experience, Sikkink reveals how the stunning emergence of human rights prosecutions has come about; what effect it has had on democracy, conflict, and repression; and what it means for leaders and citizens everywhere, from Uruguay to the United States. The Justice Cascade is a vital read for anyone interested in the future of world politics and human rights.

Human rights is an empowering framework for understanding and addressing justice issues at local, domestic, and international levels. This book combines US-based case studies with examples from other regions of the world to explore important human rights themes – the equality, universality, and interdependence of human rights, the idea of international crimes, strategies of human rights change, and justice and reconciliation in the aftermath of human rights violations. From Flint and Minneapolis to Xinjiang and Mt. Sinjar, this book challenges a wide variety of readers – students, professors, activists, human rights professionals, and concerned citizens – to consider how human rights apply to their own lives and equip them to be changemakers in their own communities.

Beth Simmons demonstrates through a combination of statistical analysis and case studies that the ratification of treaties generally leads to better human rights practices. She argues that international human rights law should get more practical and rhetorical support from the international community as a supplement to broader efforts to address conflict, development, and democratization.

This book makes a major contribution to the theory and practice of human rights, engaging in particular with the "Asian values" debate. It is especially concerned with the tension between a universal regime of human rights and its ability to accommodate diversity. Incorporating original fieldwork from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, the book also draws out the significance of Southeast Asian developments for international human rights discourse. It is likely to become a definitive account of political discussions of human rights in Southeast Asia and an important contribution to the development of human rights theory.