Human Rights, the Family and Internationalism Since the Nineteenth Century

This book examines one of the key issues that continues to shape global considerations of human rights today: how the family has historically served as a protected category. It sheds important light on the historical diffusion of cultural and legal norms on the family and sexuality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, considering how they emerged and spread across the globe along with novel ideas about human rights. Bringing together historians, political scientists, legal scholars and historical sociologists, the book features chapters that consider various mechanisms through which norms on the family intersected with ideas about human rights, for example, through new international law and international institutions; social movements targeting issues related to religion, gender and sexuality; empires and their collapse; migration and war; and, the role of intellectuals, amongst others. It features case studies on regions around the globe, as well as on relevant internationalorganisations and individuals who have been influential in this area. In doing so, Human Rights, the Family and Internationalism Since the Nineteenth Century interrogates the relationship between human rights related to the family and broader debates related to gender and sexuality.