The Struggle for Human Rights: Essays in honour of Philip Alston

by Nehal Bhuta (Editor), Florian Hoffmann (Editor), Sarah Knuckey (Editor), Frédéric Mégret (Editor), Margaret Satterthwaite (Editor)

Overview

The Struggle for Human Rights evaluates the themes of law, politics, and practice which together define international human rights practice and scholarship. Taking as it's inspiration the 40 year career of international human rights advocate Philip Alston, this book of essays examines foundational debates central to the evolution of the human rights project. It critiques the reform of human rights institutions and reflects on the place of human rights practice in contemporary society.

Bringing together leading scholars, practitioners, and critics of human rights from a variety of disciplines, The Struggle for Human Rights addresses the most urgent questions posed within the field of human rights today - its practice and its theory. Rethinking assumptions and re-evaluating strategies in the law, politics, and practice of international human rights, this book is essential reading for academics and human rights professionals around the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198868064
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/30/2021
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	9.83(w) x 7.11(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Nehal Bhuta holds the Chair of Public International Law at University of Edinburgh and is Co-Director of the Edinburgh Centre for International and Global Law. He previously held the Chair of Public International Law at the European University Institute in Florence, where was also Co-Director of the Institute's Academy of European Law. He is a member of the editorial boards of the European Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Criminal Justice, Constellations and a founding editor of the interdisciplinary journal Humanity. He is also a series editor of the Oxford University Press (OUP) series in The History and Theory of International Law.

Florian Hoffmann is a Professor of Law at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil, and an associate researcher in the Núcleo de Direitos Humanos (Human Rights Center) of the Law Department. Prior to this he was the Franz Haniel Chair of Public Policy (2010-2016) and the Director of the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy (2012-2015) at the University of Erfurt (Germany). Before this he taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2008-2010) and the PUC-Rio (2003-2008). His research has focused on international law, comparative law, and human rights. He is, with Anne Orford, the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook on the Theory of International Law (2016).

Sarah Knuckey is a human rights advocate and clinical professor of law, and directs the Human Rights Clinic and the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School. She works in partnership with social justice advocates to investigate abuse and advocate for justice and rights around the world. Her academic research focuses on human rights methods and critique, armed conflict, clinical pedagogy, and mental health.

Frédéric Mégret is a Professor of Law and a William Dawson Scholar at McGill University. He held the Canada Research Chair on the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism from 2006 to 2015. He was promoted to full professor in 2019 and named co-director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in 2021. Prior to joining McGill University, Professor Mégret was an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto, a Boulton fellow at McGill University and a research associate at the European University Institute in Florence.

Margaret Satterthwaite is Professor of Clinical Law, Faculty Director of the Robert and Helen Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, Co-Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the Director of the Global Justice at NYU School of Law. Her research interests include legal empowerment, vicarious trauma and wellbeing among human rights workers, and interdisciplinary methods in human rights. Before joining the academy, she clerked for Judge Betty Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the judges of the International Court of Justice, and worked for a number of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and the Commission Nationale de Verité et de Justice in Haiti. She has authored or co-authored more than a dozen human rights reports and dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Nehal Bhuta, Florian Hoffmann, Sarah Knuckey, Frédéric Mégret, and Margaret SatterthwaitePart 1. Arguing About the History, Theory, and Politics of Human Rights1. The Organic Intellectual, Georges Abi-Saab2. Ritual and Ritualism in the International Human Rights System, Hilary Charlesworth3. The Targeted Killing of Jesus Christ, Joseph H. H. Weiler4. Rocking the Human Rights Boat: Reflections by a Fellow Passenger, Martti Koskenniemi5. The State of Human Rights Consciousness: Not Yet Endtimes, Sally Engle Merry6. Human Rights, Legitimacy and Global Governance, Euan MacDonald7. Democracy and Democracies, Henry SteinerPart 2. Setting the Rights Agenda8. Human Rights in a Use Case World, Benedict Kingsbury9. Advocating an Ad Hoc Forum for Business Human Rights Disputes, Bruno Simma and Giorgia Sangiuolo10. A Duty to Negotiate in Good Faith as Part of the Duty to Cooperate to Establish 'An International Legal Order in which Human Rights can be Fully Realized': the New Frontier of the Right to Development, Olivier de Schutter11. Re-considering Personhood: From ´Civil Death´ to ´Civil Life´ for Persons with Disabilities, Gerard Quinn12. On Principle and Persuasion: Examining Philip Alston's Contribution to Economic and Social Rights through the Lens of Health, Alicia Yamin13. Teaching Human Rights: Four Key Capabilities, John Tobin14. Alston and Artificial Intelligence, Malcolm Langford15. Towards ASEAN Human Rights Law, Vitit MuntarbhornPart 3. Human Rights Mechanisms: Building, Reforming, and Critiquing Institutions16. Implementation of Treaty Obligations: Political Measures Expected of State Parties, Thomas Hammarberg17. Up the Stream without a Paddle - Human Rights Challenges in Mega-Infrastructure Finance and Investment, Mac Darrow18. Dilemmas Facing Commissions of Inquiry, Andrew Clapham19. Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Philip Alston, Jose Alvarez20. The Persuasive Authority of Philip Alston's Work for Human Rights Regional Bodies - United Nations Reports, Statements and General Comments Do Matter, Hélène TrigoudjaPart 4. Human Rights Struggles21. Dangerous Proportions: Means and Ends in Non-Finite War, Nehal Bhuta and Rebecca Mignot-Mahdavi22. Disrupting Human Rights: Existential Challenges and a New Paradigm for the Field, César Rodríguez-Garavito23. Praxis and the International Human Rights Law Scholar, Obiora Okafor24. Should Human Rights Practice Be Rights-Based?, Sarah Knuckey and Margaret Satterthwaite25. Quite Enough (Still): Human Rights in (Times of) Crisis, Florian Hoffmann26. Alston in Alabama: Towards a Theory of Praxis in International Human Rights, Frédéric Mégret