The notion of "human rights" is widely used in political and moral debates. The core idea, that all human beings have some inalienable basic rights, is appealing and has an important practical function: It allows moral criticism of various wrongs and calls for action in order to prevent them. The articles in this collection take up a tension between the wide political use of human rights claims…
This study offers a critical approach to the connections between the law, politics, and morality as they figure in human rights discourse. It argues that human rights must be understood – ethically, politically, and legally – through the prism of reasonable skepticism towards the legitimacy of contemporary institutions for the protection of human rights. The colonial legacy of human rights,…
It was in ancient Greek philosophy where the idea arose that there is a supreme law before which any civil law created by human societies has to be justified. Since then the concept of natural law not only remained one of the paradigms of Western civilization but has shaped the development of international legislation in general. The understanding of the significance of the idea of a natural la…
Combines an overview of the key theoretical models of democracy and human rights with a state-of-the-art survey which reports on trade-offs between achievements, set-backs and challenges in some of the world's 'hotspots'. The 20th century has been described as the bloodiest in human history, but it was also the century in which people around the world embraced ideas of democracy and human right…
Despite the increasing concern for the issue of respect for persons displayed over the last decades by political philosophers, human-right thinkers, social and ethical theorists, a comprehensive treatment of the problem from a historical-philosophical perspective is conspicuously absent. The present collection of essays aims to contribute to the fulfillment of this gap by offering a reconstruct…
The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) is the first human rights treaty to explicitly acknowledge the right to education for persons with disabilities. In order to realize this right, the convention’s Article 24 mandates state parties to ensure inclusive education systems that overcome outright exclusion as well as segregation in special educat…
Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book proposes a conception of social justice according to international human rights law. Social rights include everyday rights such as housing, food, fuel and social security. Drawing on extensive research with frontline practitioners, the book frames access to social justice as a journey that should end with the realisation of an…
The Human Rights and Business Country Guide provides country-specific guidance to help companies respect human rights and contribute to sustainable development. To effectively manage their potential human rights impacts, companies need comprehensive information about the local human rights context in which they operate. The Country Guide offers a systematic overview of key human rights issues t…
Since 1948, the study of human rights has been dominated by legal scholarship that has sought to investigate the development of human rights law, emerging jurisprudence, regional systems, the decisions and recommendations of human rights mechanisms and institutions and to a lesser extent the ‘compliance gaps’ between state commitments and actions. Even so, in all of these spheres there are …
Based on the experience of the Innu resident in Quebec and Labrador, this book is intended to be a work of advocacy for the full extent of the rights of indigenous peoples whose landholdings have been devastated in the Canadian land claims process. As things stand at present, the Innu who are resident in government villages in Quebec have lost their rights to …
Peru's industrial mining sector is highly conflictual and characterized by social disputes. Many of these conflicts are fought not only in politics but also in the courts, as activists attempt to hold corporate and state actors liable for human rights violations. At the same time, they face an increasing criminalization of their protests. Law is thus both an emancipatory tool for activists to a…
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings. They define relationships between individuals and power structures, especially the State. Human rights delimit State power and, at the same time, require States to take positive measures ensuring an environment that enables all people to enjoy their human rights. History in the past 250 years has been shaped by the struggle to create such an…
This chapter is intended to provide practical guidance on the protection of persons who come into contact with HROs in the context of human rights monitoring and fact-finding activities (hereinafter: cooperating persons), and who may face threats or be subjected to reprisals as a result of that interaction. The focus of this chapter, and of the Manual, is on activities carried out by HROs work…
Attaining equality between women and men and eliminating all forms of discrimination against women are fundamental human rights and United Nations values. Women around the world nevertheless regularly suffer violations of their human rights throughout their lives, and realizing women’s human rights has not always been a priority. Achieving equality between women and men requires a comprehensi…
One of the principal purposes of the United Nations, as set out in the United Nations Charter, is to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. There has been a marked shift in recent years in the United Nations approach to human rights. The 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action called upo…