Human Rights and Social Policy in the Twenty-first Century: History of the Idea of Human Rights and Comparison of the United Nations Universal ... United States Federal and State Constitution - Hardcover
Synopsis
This volume traces the history and practice of human rights from ancient times until the present. It identifies major sources and stages of this quest, which has culminated in this century in the unopposed adoption, by the United Nation, of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration is gradually being perceived as customary international law and as a standard by which the policies and practices of different societies ought to be guided and judged. An important aspect of Dr Wronka's study is a comparison of human rights as defined by the United Declaration on the one hand, and by the Constitutions of the United States and its 50 States on the other. This comparison reveals significant gaps between the standards of the Universal Declaration and those of the American Constitution, and the policies and practices based on them.
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Review
[A] well documented general history of international human rights with close analysis of American texts...--From the First Edition "CHOICE "
This study makes a major contribution to our understanding of the relationship between the rights recognized in international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the one hand, and the U.S. and state Constitutions on the other. It also underlines the all-too-often neglected fact that social justice concerns are never very much part of 'human rights' as properly understood.--Philip Alston, New York University
This rich study deserves the close attention of everyone who yearns for a more just and compassionate world.--Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Georgetown University Law Center
...'Human Rights and Social Policy in the 21st Century' offers a unique contribution to evaluation of the impact of U.S. constitutional law as it relates to the implementation of human rights in U.S. social policy.--Yussuf Kly, University of Regina, Canada
This book will not only enrich readers intellectually, but will also motivate them to join local and global movements to promote human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration.--from the foreword by David G. Gill, Brandeis University
I am enormously impressed with Dr. Wronka's accomplishment. By using the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a standard, he has enlarged the discussion of the Bill of Rights, which usually is limited to interpretations of the Ten Amendments, to ask the important question: what about social and economic rights? He understand the limitations of mere words, mere declarations, but knows that noble words can be used to ennoble, to provoke, and to move society forward.--Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States and professor emeritus of Political Science, Boston University
This book should be must reading for anyone with an interest in human rights- whether as a student, activist or scholar. It provides an excellent historical introduction to human rights thinking and a useful catalogue of the strengths and shortcomings of state and federal constitutions in the United States as guarantees of those rights. The author appropriately concludes that the major human rights challenge facing the United States today is to find both the means and the political will to honor economic and social human rights to the same extent we do political and civil rights. In this respect the book gives a badly needed wake-up call and its message is right on target.--Dr. Philip L. Harvey, author of Securing the Right to Employment
About the Author
Joseph Wronka, Ph.D. is Professor in the School of Social Work at Springfield College, Massachusetts and Principal Investigator of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights project at the Heller School for Social Policy, Brandeis University.
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