The Uses And Misuses Of Human Rights

Features

Description

Most of the academic literature on human rights seeks to identify and explain instances of use and abuse. Less emphasis has been placed on examining cases of misuse, namely actions undertaken by sincere and devoted advocates of human rights that unintentionally undermine international norms, adversely affect the wellbeing of intended beneficiaries, or violate others' human rights.

Addressing both uses and misuses of human rights, this volume seeks to fill an important gap. It offers an analytical framework and a series of case studies that draw attention to the intended and unintended consequences of advocacy work. Emphasizing the challenges to the effective and proper use of human rights norms, processes, and mechanisms, it tries to identify strategies and contexts that enable human rights advocacy to work in favor of human rights, as intended, as well as situations in which such advocacy may backfire or unintentionally cause harm.

Since the improvement of human rights conditions is ultimately contingent on a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of the human rights discourse and the context in which it is used, being cognizant of unintended negative impacts would lead to the design and execution of more effective advocacy strategies.

Review: The Uses and Misuses of Human Rights contributes invaluably to a more critical and complex understanding of human rights advocacy. In a world of violence, we are used to being critical of human rights abusers, but rarely do we question the advocates themselves or their strategies. This project's focus on the uses, abuses, and misuses of human rights (including the complexities of 'framing') is long overdue, especially given its nuanced analysis and policy implications.

Through a series of fascinating cases, the authors offer a non-apologetic, balanced look at the achievements and challenges of human rights advocacy in today's world. - Sonia Cardenas, Trinity College, USA 'In this ground-breaking volume, Andreopoulos and Arat have gathered an impressive group of scholars to consider issues of human rights and social justice across a wide spectrum of concerns.

What gives this collection of outstanding essays its stamp of originality is the illuminating editorial insistence that each author think critically about the benefits and limitations of human rights advocacy in a range of substantive contexts. This is a major scholarly advance, which also provides a challenging text for teaching human rights in a manner that invites critical scrutiny.' - Richard A.

Falk, Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice Emeritus at Princeton University, USA, and currently Research Professor and Fellow at the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA