内容简介
HumanRightsisanintroductorytextthatisbothinnovativeandchallenging.Itinvitesstudentstothinkconceptuallyaboutoneofthemostimportantandinfluentialpoliticalconceptsofourtime.Inthisuniqueinterdisciplinaryapproach,MichaelFreemanemphasizesthecomplexwaysinwhichtheexperiencesofthevictimsofhumanrightsviolationsarerelatedtolegal,philosophicalandsocial-scientificapproachestohumanrights.Bytracingthehistoryoftheconcept,thebookshowsthatthereisafundamentaltensionbetweenthephilosophyofhumanrightsandthewayinwhichitisunderstoodinthesocialsciences.Thisanalysisthrowslightonsomeofthemostcontroversialissuesinthefield:Istheideaoftheuniversalityofhumanrightsconsistentwithrespectforculturaldifference?Aretherecollectivehumanrights?Shouldfeministsembrace,reviseorrejecttheideaofhumanrights?Doestheideaofhumanrightsdistractourattentionfromthestructuralcausesofoppressionandexploitation?Whataretheunderlyingcausesofhumanrightsviolations;andwhydosomecountrieshavemuchworsehumanrightsrecordsthanothers?Thebookwillappealtostudentsinthesocialsciences,aswellasstudentsofhumanrightslawwhowantanintroductiontothenon-legalaspectsoftheirsubject.Itwillalsobereadbyscholarsinterestedinethicsandthesocialsciences,aswellasthegeneralreader.Thisisasubstantiallyrevisededitionthattakesaccountofrecenteventssuchasthe‘waronterror’andtheglobaleconomiccrisisof2008.