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Human Rights, 4th Edition

ISBN: 978-1-509-54603-9

February 2022

Polity

272 pages

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Description

Human Rights, now in its fourth edition, is an introductory text that is both innovative and challenging. Its unique interdisciplinary approach invites students to think imaginatively and rigorously about one of the most important and influential political concepts of our time.

Tracing the history of the concept, the book shows that there are fundamental tensions between legal, philosophical and social-scientific approaches to human rights. This analysis throws light on some of the most controversial issues in the field: What are the causes of human-rights violations? Is the idea of universal human rights consistent with respect for cultural difference? Are we living in a ‘post-human rights’ world?

Thoroughly revised and updated, the new edition engages with recent developments, including the Trump and Biden presidencies, colonial legacies, neoliberalism, conflict in Syria, Yemen and Myanmar, the Covid-19 pandemic, new technologies and the supposed crisis of liberal democracy. Widely admired and assigned for its clarity and comprehensiveness, this book remains a ‘go-to’ text for students in the social sciences, as well as students of human-rights law who want an introduction to the non-legal aspects of their subject.

About the Author
Michael Freeman is Emeritus Professor of Government at the University of Essex.
New to Edition
Changes and updates to  the fourth edition:
·     is substantially revised and updated to spring/summer 2021;
·     includes a critical review of recent social science literature on human rights, particularly debates for and against the real-world effectiveness of human rights law;
·     surveys recent real-world events, including the rise of authoritarian populism across the world, the presidency of Donald Trump, the initial moves of President Biden, Brexit + post-Brexit UK,  the `rise’ of China, the latest developments in the Middle East, especially the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.;
·     considers and evaluates recent critiques of the human rights idea and the human rights movements, and the responses by human rights academics and activists.;considers and evaluate recent arguments for and against the proposition that we are witnessing a crisis and/or decline in liberal democracy.
·     investigates and evaluates the `new history’ of human rights and its challenges to traditional histories and understandings of human rights;
·     explores the historical relationship between human rights, liberalism, racism and colonialism in the context of contemporary debates about `decolonising the curriculum’;
·     brings up to date the handling of human rights at the United Nations;
·     examines the implications of Realist and constructivist theories of international relations for the theory and practice of human rights;
·     examines changing relationships between human rights organizations in the Global North and the Global South;
·     includes up-to-date survey of recent developments in thinking about the global economy, global inequality and human rights, including recent debates about the relationship between human rights and neoliberalism.;
·     surveys the latest developments and thinking about the human rights implications of climate change;
·     investigates the human rights implications of the Covid-19 pandemic;
·     includes a  new section on technology and human rights: the internet, social media, big data, artificial intelligence, global tech corporations;
·     summarizes the state of the theory and practice of human rights in the early 2020s.