The Struggle for Human Rights in Latin America

by Edward L. Cleary

Overview

Cleary examines the origins, spread, and results of human rights movements in Latin America, and he analyzes the mark such movements have made in world politics. He shows the enormous difficulties encountered by fledgling grassroots groups which first challenged military dictatorships over the disappeared, detention, torture, and pervasive repression. He chronicles the amazingly dynamic growth of human rights organizations, affecting democratic processes in Latin America and foreign policy in the United States.

This book is particularly important because it establishes, for the first time, a record of why, how, where, and when the concept of human rights—not long ago absent as a practical concept—generates so powerful a Latin American response. The alliances so formed are shown to evoke continued popular support and to effect on-going fundamental changes in Latin America. An important survey to all scholars, researchers, and students of human rights and political affairs in Latin America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275959814
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/26/1997
Series:	Studies; 76; Lives of the Theatre
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.41(d)

About the Author

EDWARD L. CLEARY is Professor of Political Science at Providence College. Among his numerous earlier publications are Power, Politics, and Pentecostals in Latin America (1996) and Conflict and Competition: Religion and Politics in Latin America (1992).

Table of Contents

Preface
Beginning of the Human Rights Era: Military Repression
Human Rights Organizing Spreads: Mexico and the Theoretical Frame
Human Rights after the Military: Settling Accounts and Facing Issues
Contemporary Democracy and Efflorescence of Human Rights Organizing
Contemporary Societies under Siege: Peru, Politics, and Public Secrets
Transnational Networking for Human Rights Protection
Response in the United States: Challenging Foreign Policy
Bibliographical Essay
Index