Human Rights and Revolutions

Now in a revised and updated edition with added original chapters, this acclaimed book provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the complex links between revolutionary struggles and human rights discourses and practices. Covering events as far removed from one another in time and space as the English Civil War, the Parisian upheavals of 1789, Latin American independence struggles, and protests in late twentieth-century China, the contributors explore the paradoxes of revolutionary and human rights projects. The book convincingly shows the ways in which revolutions have both helped spur new advances in thinking about human rights and produced regimes that commit a range of abuses. Providing an unusually balanced analysis of the changes over time in conceptions of human rights in Western and non-Western contexts, this work offers a unique window into the history of the world during modern times and a fresh context for understanding today''s pressing issues.Contributions by: Florence Bernault, Mark Philip Bradley, Sumit Ganguly, Greg Grandin, James N. Green, Lynn Hunt, Yanni Kotsonis, Timothy McDaniel, Kristin Ross, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Alexander Woodside, Marilyn B. Young, David Zaret, and Michael Zuckert

This is a fine collection of thirteen essays on human rights, each of which can stand on its own, and each author displays impeccable credentials. Together, they have much to offer.

A noteworthy contribution to our understanding of the complexities involved in the human rights discourse.

Altogether, we have here an exemplary set of thoughtful, erudite, and often provocative essays that provides readers with a rich and profound understanding of immensely important and complex issues.

This is an excellent collection on an important topic. The contributions cover an admirably diverse set of times and places.

This is an exemplary collection of essays by a wonderfully diverse—both in their disciplines and their opinions—group of scholars and intellectuals. They demonstrate, above all, that strenuous historical analysis can light up the contemporary political world.

This elegant, wide-ranging collection of essays thoughtfully explores the origins, evolution, and contemporary significance of human rights and provides a much-needed, deeply analytical guide to understanding how to interpret today''s debates. Everyone who cares should read it; everyone will learn something new.

There are some astute insights in this volume.

The rise to prominence of human rights discourse carries much promise, as well as grave threats, in the context of structures of power and dominance. These searching, thoughtful, and highly informative essays inquire into the nature and origin of human rights from varied perspectives, unraveling intricate and often conflicting strands of history, practice, and doctrine. The collection is an impressive contribution to understanding and should be a valuable guide to constructive action as well.