What do you think?
Rate this book
Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights
The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen
This widely acclaimed and highly regarded book, embraced by students, scholars, policymakers, and activists, now appears in a new edition. Using the theme of visions seen by those who dreamed of what might be, Lauren explores the dramatic transformation of a world patterned by centuries of traditional structures of authority, gender abuse, racial prejudice, class divisions and slavery, colonial empires, and claims of national sovereignty into a global community that now boldly proclaims that the way governments treat their own people is a matter of international concern—and sets the goal of human rights "for all peoples and all nations." Lauren makes clear the truly universal nature of this movement by drawing into his discussion people and cultures in every part of the globe. In this regard, the book offers particularly remarkable revelations and insights when analyzing the impact of wars and revolutions, non-Western nations, struggles against sexism and racism, liberation movements and decolonization, nongovernmental organizations, and the courage and determination of countless numbers of common men and women who have contributed to the evolution of international human rights. This new edition incorporates the most recent developments of the International Criminal Court, the arrest of Augusto Pinochet and the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, technology and the Internet, the impact of NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, globalization, terrorism, and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2015
It's tough for me to fully evaluate this book now because I'm at the beginning of a long reading list about human rights. My view of the book might change significantly in a few months. Overall, though, this is a thorough and solid narrative of human rights history with a few flaws, none of which are fatal.
Lauren has a few main arguments in this book. One is that human rights traditions can be found in all major civilizations. He digs up a lot of religious and philosophical material to support this idea. Still, he is clear that the norm of human history has been pretty ugly: racism, sexism, genocide, stark inequality, slavery, violence against children, suppression of individual rights, a lack of legal rights, endemic violence, and warfare. Score another one for Stephen Pinker, btw. For most of history, people have had little recourse to challenge this brutal norm. Lauren argues that the revolutionary impact of the international human rights movement has been to challenge and to a lesser degree change this long-standing reality. Although he doesn't do a great job saying when this movement began, its advent sometime after the Enlightenment ultimately changed the norm about how most people in the world view each other and expect to be treated. The rise of this movement also started to chip away at the nation-state's (the villains in this story) claim to sovereignty and non-interference from international bodies, although this tension certainly persists to the present day. I think he supports all these claims pretty well.
Lauren's argument has a complex relationship to different cultures and the universality of human rights. On one hand, he shows that most cultures have traditions that gel to a certain extent with human rights ideologies as expressed in the UDHR. He also shows that the push for human rights reform and legislation has often come from "the bottom up," or from non-superpower states and activists who needed human rights and believed that they would guarantee their security among the elephants of geopolitics (among other reasons). However, it's pretty clear that most the major ideas of human rights (the focus on the individual, the general secularism, the gender equality aspects, the legal rights and civil liberties emphasis, etc) emerged from Western philosophy and from the leadership of Western actors (including Latin America in this formula). He cites examples of East Asian, African, and Middle Eastern activists who were part of the movement, but most of these people were the exception rather than the norm in their societies, many of which clearly still do not endorse many of the principles of the UDHR. Thus the questions of the universality of human rights and whether or not they are the best moral and legal system for protecting human beings remains glossed over in this book. Are we in Huntington's Clash of Civilizations? Should we acquiesce to cultural relativism? Is the victory of liberalism inevitable, per Fukuyama? Instead of focusing so much on the dozens of committees, revisions, drafts, and activists of human rights in the 20th century (by far the most boring parts of the book), I would have loved to see Lauren wrestle with these problems more directly rather than simply and weakly asserting a global consensus on these ideas.
That absence, as well as the sheer density of the book, are the main weaknesses. I wouldn't recommend it to non-scholars simply because it is so unwieldy, but it's a solid and ambitious summary for scholars who are willing to put in the time.
Lauren has a few main arguments in this book. One is that human rights traditions can be found in all major civilizations. He digs up a lot of religious and philosophical material to support this idea. Still, he is clear that the norm of human history has been pretty ugly: racism, sexism, genocide, stark inequality, slavery, violence against children, suppression of individual rights, a lack of legal rights, endemic violence, and warfare. Score another one for Stephen Pinker, btw. For most of history, people have had little recourse to challenge this brutal norm. Lauren argues that the revolutionary impact of the international human rights movement has been to challenge and to a lesser degree change this long-standing reality. Although he doesn't do a great job saying when this movement began, its advent sometime after the Enlightenment ultimately changed the norm about how most people in the world view each other and expect to be treated. The rise of this movement also started to chip away at the nation-state's (the villains in this story) claim to sovereignty and non-interference from international bodies, although this tension certainly persists to the present day. I think he supports all these claims pretty well.
Lauren's argument has a complex relationship to different cultures and the universality of human rights. On one hand, he shows that most cultures have traditions that gel to a certain extent with human rights ideologies as expressed in the UDHR. He also shows that the push for human rights reform and legislation has often come from "the bottom up," or from non-superpower states and activists who needed human rights and believed that they would guarantee their security among the elephants of geopolitics (among other reasons). However, it's pretty clear that most the major ideas of human rights (the focus on the individual, the general secularism, the gender equality aspects, the legal rights and civil liberties emphasis, etc) emerged from Western philosophy and from the leadership of Western actors (including Latin America in this formula). He cites examples of East Asian, African, and Middle Eastern activists who were part of the movement, but most of these people were the exception rather than the norm in their societies, many of which clearly still do not endorse many of the principles of the UDHR. Thus the questions of the universality of human rights and whether or not they are the best moral and legal system for protecting human beings remains glossed over in this book. Are we in Huntington's Clash of Civilizations? Should we acquiesce to cultural relativism? Is the victory of liberalism inevitable, per Fukuyama? Instead of focusing so much on the dozens of committees, revisions, drafts, and activists of human rights in the 20th century (by far the most boring parts of the book), I would have loved to see Lauren wrestle with these problems more directly rather than simply and weakly asserting a global consensus on these ideas.
That absence, as well as the sheer density of the book, are the main weaknesses. I wouldn't recommend it to non-scholars simply because it is so unwieldy, but it's a solid and ambitious summary for scholars who are willing to put in the time.
January 14, 2024
This was an absolutely insightful read and truly a work that everyone should read. Lauren highlights the perspectives and stories that led up to the formation and furthering of international human rights as we know it.
"The drafters did not intend for it to become a narrow "document for lawyers," but rather a declaration of principles that could be readily understood by ordinary people in all walks of life..and inspire them for action."
"The drafters did not intend for it to become a narrow "document for lawyers," but rather a declaration of principles that could be readily understood by ordinary people in all walks of life..and inspire them for action."
Read
February 16, 2023This was so interesting to read after Babel because it tackles the same issue in textbook form—on whether or not we can achieve systemic change through moral persuasion or if we have to use violence.
The author did a great job of giving a global perspective of human rights. He was a bit optimistic and there were definitely some typos but! Overall a thought-provoking and educational read.
The author did a great job of giving a global perspective of human rights. He was a bit optimistic and there were definitely some typos but! Overall a thought-provoking and educational read.
June 29, 2007
Excellent research reference guide. Very interesting. Current.
July 16, 2007
I was a TA for Dr. Lauren and he is one of the most intelligent and thoughtful people I have ever met.
February 12, 2008
Jika ingin mengenali human rights dari filosofi, sejarah, dan "ayat-ayat" human rights, buku ini bisa menjadi rujukan yang tepat.
September 8, 2014
its a master piece of the history of Human Rights
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews