Human Rights in World History

by Peter N. Stearns

This book takes a global historical perspective to trace the rise of human rights and their global impact from the 18th century to the present. This fully updated volume examines the complex relationships between Western concepts of human rights and developments in other world regions. After providing background on relevant premodern concepts and constraints, the book explores regional interactions with human rights, the disastrous impact of imperialism and racism, the recurrent expansion of the range of rights given to those including women and children, and indigenous rights from the 19th century to the present. Major revisions for the second edition • a new chapter focusing on recent historical and interdisciplinary debates • a separate chapter on developments between the world wars • greater attention to causation and an expanded treatment of some regions, including Africa • an analysis of the mix of setbacks and rights expansion during the past 15 years, within the global framework. Human Rights in World History is essential reading for students, scholars, and researchers interested in modern history, human rights, and political science.

Genres: Nonfiction

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Peter Nathaniel Stearns is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.
Stearns was chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now named Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, he founded and edited the Journal of Social History. While at Carnegie Mellon, he developed a pioneering approach to teaching World History, and has contributed to the field as well through editing, and contributing to, the Routledge series, Themes in World History. He is also known for various work on the nature and impact of the industrial revolution and for exploration of new topics, particularly in the history of emotions.
He is active in historical groups such as the American Historical Association, the Society for French Historical Studies, the Social Science History Association and the International Society for Research on Emotion.

Reviews

[Sonny Russano · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, Stearns sets out to map the history of human rights across millennia, and trace themes in that history that can help contextualize modern debates. While Stearns does achieve this with a wide (though Western-skewed) choice of historiography to build his narratives, there are several issues that prevent me from recommending it to others.

Firstly, the book is mired with confusing — and at times — outright incorrect writing and grammar that obfuscates the point and detracts attention away from the substance of the writing. Consistent throughout the book, the style does not lend itself to a concise history.

Before I make my second point, I will repeat that I understand the vast scope of Stearns’s work: a multi-millennia track record of human rights; every single relevant event or trend cannot be covered in two hundred pages. That being said, there are several topics — the Armenian Genocide in the interwar chapter and Israel in the post-WWII chapter — that are conspicuous in their absence, especially considering the topics he covers in those chapters.

All in all, Stearns outlines several compelling themes that have genuine value when discussing human rights throughout history. Any third edition, however, needs close copyediting and a reevaluation of the events and topics Stearns uses to move his narrative along.

[Heather Schafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5