Human Rights: The Essential Reference

by Carol Devine, Carol R. Hansen, Hilary Poole, Ralph Wilde

Overview

Now, for the first time, there is a single reference work that documents the history of human rights worldwide, clearly explains each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and examines the major human rights issues facing the world today. Comprehensive in scope, Human Rights covers a broad range of human rights issues that are central to an understanding of world history and current affairs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573562058
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/11/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	1360L (what's this?)
Age Range:	15 Years

About the Author

Carol Devine is a Canadian human rights professional. She has worked for national and international nongovernmental organizations such as Voices of Positive Women (Canada), the Diplomacy Training Program (Australia), and Medecins Sans Frontieres (international). Devine is the author of Determination: Tibetan Women and the Struggle for an Independent Tibet (1994). In 1995, she served as executive director of the VIEW Foundation, a Canadian nongovernmental organization that led the first civilian volunteer clean-up expedition to Antarctica.

Carol Rae Hansen is an international affairs and education consultant in the Washington, D.C. area. Her extensive government experience includes service with the U.S. Departments of State, Defense, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as with the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the National Security Council, and the C.I.A. She has also been a fellow at the Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute and an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Hansen received her PhD in government from Harvard University, and her MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Ralph Wilde is an English barrister who is working as an academic and a practitioner in international law and human rights law. He has worked in this field for Senator Edward Kennedy in the U.S. Congress, at the UN in New York, for UNHCR as a human rights monitor in Kenya, and for the law firm Shearman & Sterling. He was recently the Henry Fellow at Yale University and a visiting scholar at Yale Law School.

Hilary Poole is a writer and editor specializing in the social sciences. Most recently she coauthored History of the Internet: A Chronology, 1843 to the Present. She served as managing editor for Sexuality and Cyberspace: Performing the Digital Body. Poole also served on the editorial board of the jourbanal Women and Performance and was a frequent editor and contributor. She is a graduate of Brown University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Human Rights Before 1948
A History of Human Rights Theory
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
An Overview of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
An Analysis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Contemporary Human Rights Movement
An Overview of the Human Rights Movement
Government Organizations
Nongovernmental Organizations
Human Rights Activists
Contemporary Human Rights Issues
Appendices
United Nations Documents
Further Reading
Index
Contributors

Editorial Reviews

The contributors to this volume have built a sturdy bridge that allows interested readers easy access to the main body of human rights law and practice. As a work of reference, the volume is handsomely edited, readable, and visually attractive. . . . Much more straightforward and readable than Human Rights in Political Transitions, this book merits inclusion in most reference collections on international affairs.” —Library Jourbanal

“[T]he book is an excellent source of information on the many facets of human rights. It should be valuable not only for human rights workers and activists but also for teachers, students, jourbanalists, and anyone interested in the subject.” —ARBA

“High school and college students will find this one-volume encyclopedia easy to use because of its logical organization and clear writing. . . . All of the authors write clearly and without emotional overtones. The book's physical appearance is also attractive, with good use of columns and bold type. Most collections will place this resource in the Reference section, but the book as so well written that it will hold interest when read like a textbook.” —VOYA

“Human Rights offers balanced views and useful information on myriad issues about human rights throughout the world during the latter half of the 20th century.” —Reference & User Services Quarterly

“[H]elpful resource for high school and college students who are researching human rights issues, or for researchers and librarians in need of a handy reference resource.” —SLJ

From the Publisher

Gr 10 Up-As most discussions in the political, economic, and social arena have a human-rights component, it is refreshing to find such a fine addition to the reference literature. This volume is divided into four sections; the first "traces the evolution of our modern concept of human rights" beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing through World War II to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Part two is a thorough examination of this historical document, article by article. Part three provides a detailed overview of the contemporary human-rights movement through essays and alphabetical entries on various government and nongovernmental agencies as well as biographical profiles of numerous activists. The final section consists of short essays on 33 of the most pressing human-rights issues today, including: "AIDS/HIV," "Child Soldiers," the "Death Penalty," and "Indigenous Peoples." Black-and-white photographs are scattered throughout. An appendix offers the text of eight United Nations documents and an extensive index facilitates access. A specialized resource without an equal.-Marsha S. Holden, Highland Community College, Freeport, IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Nine human rights professionals, scholars, and writers trace human rights prior to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the articles of the seminal document; the modern human rights movement that it launched; and some of today's most pressing issues: from AIDS to rape as a military tactic just recently recognized as a human rights violation. Provides information on governmental and nongovernmental organizations from The Africa Fund to the World Organization Against Torture, and biographies of 39 activists (some pictured). Appends a timeline and eight UN documents, including the Declaration. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews