Human Rights and Revolutions - Softcover

The rise to prominence of human rights discourse carries much promise, as well as grave threats, in the context of structures of power and dominance. These searching, thoughtful, and highly informative essays inquire into the nature and origin of human rights from varied perspectives, unravelling intricate and often conflicting strands of history, practice, and doctrine. The collection is an impressive contribution to understanding, and should be a valuable guide to constructive action as well.--Noam Chomsky With human rights now at the top of the international agenda, we must consider whether the concept is universal or bound by history and culture with different meanings around the world. This elegant, wide-ranging collection of essays thoughtfully explores the origins, evolution, and contemporary significance of human rights and provides a much-needed, deeply analytical guide to understanding how to interpret today's debates. Everyone who cares should read it; everyone will learn something new.--Daniel Chirot, University of Washington This is an excellent collection on an important topic. The contributions cover an admirably diverse set of times and places.--Kenneth Pomeranz, University of California Irvine "American Historical Review " This is an exemplary collection of essays by a wonderfully diverse (both in their disciplines and their opinions) group of scholars and intellectuals. They demonstrate, above all, that strenuous historical analysis can light up the contemporary political world.--Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University

This original and important book examines the paradoxical yet fundamental relationship between revolutions and the discourse of human rights as it has developed over the last four centuries. In a multidisciplinary collection of essays, which includes pieces by activists as well as scholars, contributors compare times and places as remote from each other as seventeenth-century England and contemporary Kosovo, bringing to bear ideas and methodologies associated with disciplines ranging from cultural history to political philosophy. In doing so, they seek to shed light on a crucial conundrum: on the one hand, revolutionary regimes often have been responsible for horrific human rights abuses, and yet on the other, revolutionary struggles often serve as a crucible to elevate appreciation for the importance of human rights.