Why Human Rights Still Matter in Contemporary Global Affairs

Description

This book elucidates why human rights still matter in contemporary global affairs, and what can lead to better protection of international human rights in a post-liberal order. It blends theoretical, empirical, and normative perspectives, while providing much-needed analysis in light of the perils of populism, authoritarianism, and toxic nationalism, as well as highlighting the hopes with which people around the world view human rights in the new millennium. Systematically combining theoretical perspectives from across the disciplines with numerous case studies, it demonstrates not only the complexities of the domestic conditions involved, but also the ways in which human dignity can be preserved and promoted during periods of rapid change and uncertainty. Finally, the book addresses the question of how to protect human rights in such a world in which the active promotion of democratic values and enforcement of human rights may not be necessarily aligned with evolving economic and geopolitical interests of many great and diverse powers on the global scene. As such, it is a timely intervention for human rights as a concept as it has been attacked and eroded by the instability in our world today. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of human rights in politics, law, philosophy, sociology, and history and to humanitarian bodies, practitioners, and policy makers. Cover Endorsements Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of contributors Acknowledgments 1. Why human rights still matter in contemporary global affairs PART I: Framing the human rights discourse 2. How do human rights matter? 3. Broadening human rights: the case for a pluralistic approach 4. Making human rights meaningful through practice: lessons from the Middle East 5. Assessing regional human rights systems: from convergence to divergence PART II: Human rights practice: legal and moral responsibility 6. State responsibility and international law 7. Human rights and humanitarian action will endure: the case of the International Committee of the Red Cross 8. Denial and debilitation: environmental rights and the harm of climate change denial 9. Transitional justice: from accountability to peace PART III: Protecting economic rights in a globalizing world 10. Labor rights as human rights: theoretical foundations and practical implications 11. The trajectory of the right to food in Brazil: the debate between means and access 12. Social movements, development policy, and human rights 13. Migrant labor and human rights in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries 14. Human rights and inequality PART IV: Human rights challenges in a fractured, violent, and intolerant world 15. Threats to freedom of the press 16. Addressing religious intolerance in an increasingly illiberal world 17. Neoliberalism and women’s rights 18. Climate refugees, forced migrants, and the Syrian crisis PART V: The way forward 19. The resilience of rights in a post-liberal world Selected bibliography Index