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A World Divided: The Global Struggle for Human Rights in the Age of Nation-States
A global history of human rights in a world of nation-states that grant rights to some while denying them to others
Once dominated by vast empires, the world is now divided into close to 200 independent countries with laws and constitutions proclaiming human rights—a transformation that suggests that nations and human rights inevitably developed together. But the reality is far more problematic, as Eric Weitz shows in this compelling global history of the fate of human rights in a world of nation-states.
Through vivid histories drawn from virtually every continent, A World Divided describes how, since the eighteenth century, nationalists have struggled to establish their own states that grant human rights to some people. At the same time, they have excluded others through forced assimilation, ethnic cleansing, or even genocide. From Greek rebels, American settlers, and Brazilian abolitionists in the nineteenth century to anticolonial Africans and Zionists in the twentieth, nationalists have confronted the question: Who has the "right to have rights?" A World Divided tells these stories in colorful accounts focusing on people who were at the center of events. And it shows that rights are dynamic. Proclaimed originally for propertied white men, rights were quickly demanded by others, including black slaves, women, and American Indians.
A World Divided also explains the origins of many of today's crises, from the existence of more than 65 million refugees and migrants to the growth of right-wing nationalism. The book argues that only the continual advance of international human rights will move us beyond the quandary of a world divided between those who have rights and those who don't.
Once dominated by vast empires, the world is now divided into close to 200 independent countries with laws and constitutions proclaiming human rights—a transformation that suggests that nations and human rights inevitably developed together. But the reality is far more problematic, as Eric Weitz shows in this compelling global history of the fate of human rights in a world of nation-states.
Through vivid histories drawn from virtually every continent, A World Divided describes how, since the eighteenth century, nationalists have struggled to establish their own states that grant human rights to some people. At the same time, they have excluded others through forced assimilation, ethnic cleansing, or even genocide. From Greek rebels, American settlers, and Brazilian abolitionists in the nineteenth century to anticolonial Africans and Zionists in the twentieth, nationalists have confronted the question: Who has the "right to have rights?" A World Divided tells these stories in colorful accounts focusing on people who were at the center of events. And it shows that rights are dynamic. Proclaimed originally for propertied white men, rights were quickly demanded by others, including black slaves, women, and American Indians.
A World Divided also explains the origins of many of today's crises, from the existence of more than 65 million refugees and migrants to the growth of right-wing nationalism. The book argues that only the continual advance of international human rights will move us beyond the quandary of a world divided between those who have rights and those who don't.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published September 3, 2019
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About the author
Eric D. Weitz
10 books11 followersEric D. Weitz is Dean of Humanities and Arts and Distinguished Professor of History at the City College of New York.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 26, 2020
A World Divided is a series of historical case studies from around the globe of what we would today call human rights violations. The case studies themselves are remarkably well researched and well written. The book's only shortcoming is that the framework organizing the case studies - how the evolution of human rights has been intertwined with the development of the nation-state - only loosely ties the case studies together. It reads a bit like an edited volume with chapters that don't fully cohere together as a whole, rather than a single-authored book.
Nevertheless, it's well worth reading for anyone interested in the history of human rights.
Nevertheless, it's well worth reading for anyone interested in the history of human rights.
February 20, 2020
This is simply a book of trivia with some, very few, photos thrown in.
May 24, 2022
A collection of anecdotes, more than a coherent narrative. I still found the work interesting and well written.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews