1 online resource (xxiii, 450 pages) :

Recounts the dramatic struggle for human rights across the ages, synthesizing historical and intellectual developments from the Mesopotamian Codes of Hammurabi to today's era of globalization. Chronicles the clash of social movements, ideas, and armies that have played a part in this struggle, illustrating how the history of human rights has evolved from one era to the next through texts, cultural traditions, and creative expression. Develops a framework for understanding contemporary issues from the debate over globalization to the intervention in Kosovo to the climate for human rights after September 11, 2001. Incorporates notable documents---writings, speeches, and political statements---from activists, writers, and thinkers throughout history in exploring six core questions that have shaped human rights debate and scholarship: 1) What are the origins of human rights?; 2) Why did the European vision of human rights triumph over those of other civilizations?; 3) Has socialism made a lasting contribution to the legacy of human rights?; 4) Are human rights universal or culturally bound?; 5) Must human rights be sacrificed to the demands of national security?; 6) Is globalization eroding or advancing human rights?

Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-430) and index

Preface to the 2008 Edition -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction

1. EARLY ETHICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMAN RIGHTS -- Religious and Secular Notions of Universalism -- Liberty: The Origins of Tolerance -- Equality: Early Notions of Economic and Social Justice -- How to Promote Justice? -- Fraternity, or Human Rights for Whom?

2. HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LIBERAL AND SECULAR PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS -- From Ancient Civilizations to the Rise of the West -- Freedom of Religion and Opinion -- The Right to Life -- The Right to Private Property -- The State and Just-War Theory -- Human Rights for Whom?

3. HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE INDUSTRIAL AGE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOCIALIST PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS -- The Industrial Age -- Challenging the Liberal Vision of Rights -- Universal Suffrage, Economic and Social Rights -- Challenging Capitalism and the State -- Human Rights for Whom?

4. THE WORLD WARS: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS AND THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION -- The End of Empires -- The Right to Self-Determination -- Institutionalizing Human Rights -- Human Rights for Whom?

5. GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS -- Globalization and Protest Movements -- Defining Rights in the Era of Globalization -- After September 11: Security versus Human Rights -- Human Rights for Whom?

6. PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: THE CHANGING ARENA OF STRUGGLE -- Medievalism and the Absence of Civil Society -- The Emergence of Civil Society during the Enlightenment -- The Expansion of Civil Society in the Industrial Age -- The Anti-Colonial Struggle -- The Globalization of Civil Society? Or an Assault on the Private Realm?

Appendix: A Chronology of Events and Writings Related to Human Rights

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCOhost, viewed January 21, 2016)

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