Now in a revised and updated edition with added original chapters, this acclaimed book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the complex links between revolutionary struggles and human rights discourses and practices. Covering events as far removed from one another in time and space as the English Civil War, the Parisian upheavals of 1789, Latin American independence struggles, and protests in late twentieth-century China, the contributors explore the paradoxes of revolutionary and human rights projects. The book convincingly shows the ways in which revolutions have both helped spur new advances in thinking about human rights and produced regimes that commit a range of abuses. Providing an unusually balanced analysis of the changes over time in conceptions of human rights in Western and non-Western contexts, this work offers a unique window into the history of the world during modern times and a fresh context for understanding today's pressing issues.Contributions by: Florence Bernault, Mark Philip Bradley, Sumit Ganguly, Greg Grandin, James N. Green, Lynn Hunt, Yanni Kotsonis, Timothy McDaniel, Kristin Ross, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Alexander Woodside, Marilyn B. Young, David Zaret, and Michael Zuckert
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. Greg Grandin is professor of history at New York University. Lynn Hunt is Eugen Weber Professor of French History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Marilyn B. Young is professor of history at New York University.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Human Rights and RevolutionsPart I: Two Opening PerspectivesChapter 1: The Paradoxical Origins of Human Rights Chapter 2: The Chinese Revolution and Contemporary ParadoxesPart II: The English, American, and Russian RevolutionsChapter 3: Tradition, Human Rights, and the English RevolutionChapter 4: Natural Rights in the American Revolution: The American AmalgamChapter 5: A European Experience: Human Rights and Citizenship in Revolutionary RussiaPart III: Asian and African Case StudiesChapter 6: An Enlightenment of Outcasts: Some Vietnamese Stories Chapter 7: India, Human Rights, and Asian Values Chapter 8: What Absence Is Made Of: Human Rights in Africa Part IV: A Human Rights Revolution?Chapter 9: (Homo)sexuality, Human Rights, and Revolution in Latin America Chapter 10: Ethics and the Rearmament of Imperialism: The French CaseChapter 11: The Strange Career of Radical IslamPart V: A Concluding PerspectiveChapter 12: Human Rights and Empire's Embrace: A Latin American Counterpoint
This is an exemplary collection of essays by a wonderfully diverse (both in their disciplines and their opinions) group of scholars and intellectuals. They demonstrate, above all, that strenuous historical analysis can light up the contemporary political world.
Noam Chomsky
The rise to prominence of human rights discourse carries much promise, as well as grave threats, in the context of structures of power and dominance. These searching, thoughtful, and highly informative essays inquire into the nature and origin of human rights from varied perspectives, unravelling intricate and often conflicting strands of history, practice, and doctrine. The collection is an impressive contribution to understanding, and should be a valuable guide to constructive action as well.
Daniel Chirot
With human rights now at the top of the international agenda, we must consider whether the concept is universal or bound by history and culture with different meanings around the world. This elegant, wide-ranging collection of essays thoughtfully explores the origins, evolution, and contemporary significance of human rights and provides a much-needed, deeply analytical guide to understanding how to interpret today's debates. Everyone who cares should read it; everyone will learn something new.
