The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era - Softcover

Micheline R. Ishay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8125033610 ISBN 13: 9788125033615

Publisher: Orient Longman, 2008

Synopsis

Micheline Ishay recounts the dramatic struggle for human rights across the ages in book that brilliantly synthesizes historical and intellectual developments from the Mesopotamian code of Hammurabi to today's era of globalization. As she chronicles the clash of ideas, social movements, and armed conflicts that have played a part in this struggle, Ishay illustrates how the concept of human rights has evolved from one era to another through texts, cultural traditions, and creative expression. Writing with verve and extraordinary range in the only comprehensive history of human rights available, she develops a framework for understanding contemporary issues from the debate over globalization to the intervention in Kosovo to the post-September 11 climate for human rights.

About this title

Review

"Well-written, passionate, and a pleasure to read, this remarkable book is essential to the development of a coherent theory of human rights and might well become an instant classic." - John Vail, University of Newcastle; "Humane and generous in its approach, brilliant in its conception and presentation." - Shlomo Avineri, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; "A definitive account of the history of human rights told from the perspective of those struggling to obtain them. Ishay brings both historical context and conceptual acuity to modern debates about the role of human rights in a multicultural world." - Benjamin Barber, author of Jihad vs. McWorld; "This well-written book, chock-full of knowledge, presents a history of the idea, or ideas, of human rights through the prism of the author's thoughtful views on key controversies that bedevil human rights discourse to this day." - Sir Nigel Rodley, Chair, University of Essex Human Rights Centre; and Member, Human Rights Committee, UN"

About the Author

Micheline R. Ishay is Director of the Human Rights Program at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. She is the author of Internationalism and Its Betrayal (1995), editor of The Human Rights Reader: Major Speeches, Essays, and Documents from the Bible to the Present (1997), and coeditor of The Nationalism Reader (1995).

Edition details

• Publisher: Orient Longman
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8125033610
• ISBN 13: 9788125033615
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480