Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide - Hardcover

Hamilton, Rebecca

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230100228 ISBN 13: 9780230100220

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Synopsis

Around the world, millions of people have added their voices to protest marches and demonstrations because they believe that, together, they can make a difference. When we failed to stop the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, we promised to never let such a thing happen again. But nine years later, as news began to trickle out of killings in western Sudan, an area known as Darfur, the international community again faced the problem of how the United Nations and the United States government could respond to mass atrocity.

Rebecca Hamilton passionately narrates the six-year grassroots campaign to draw global attention to the plight of Darfur’s people. From college students who galvanized entire university campuses in the belief that their outcry could save millions of Darfuris still at risk, to celebrities such as Mia Farrow, who spurred politicians to act, to Steven Spielberg, who boycotted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Hamilton details how advocacy for Darfur was an exuberant, multibillion-dollar effort. She then does what no one has done to date: she takes us into the corridors of power and the camps of Darfur, and reveals the impact of ordinary people’s fierce determination to uphold the mantra of “never again.” Fighting for Darfur weaves a gripping story that both dramatizes our moral dilemma and shows the promise and perils of citizen engagement in a new era of global compassion.

About this title

Review

'My deepest conviction is that we have both a responsibility to remember and a responsibility to protect. Genocide is not inevitable or unstoppable - unless we choose to let it happen.' - Mia Farrow, from the Foreword
 
'Rebecca Hamilton is the model of an 'upstander,' one who raises her voice and acts when people - whether near or far, Western or African - are most in need of help.' - LGen. the Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, author of Shake Hands with the Devil

'A masterful feat of original research and reporting, Fighting for Darfur is an authoritative account of the impact of the first sustained citizens' movement against genocide. With Hamilton's fierce determination to get beyond self-congratulatory slogans and taken-for-granted assumptions about what is required to save lives at risk, she provides insights that will be invaluable for concerned citizens, human rights advocates and policymakers alike for years and years to come. Essential reading for anyone who wants to help build a better world.'

—Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Book Description

The inspirational story of how regular citizens can affect foreign policy, and reignite our leaders with a sense of passion and morality

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0230100228
• ISBN 13: 9780230100220
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272