Political History Commons^™

Human Rights Education: The Third Leg Of Post-Conflict/Transitional Justice, David E. Guinn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Emerging out of the same foment of war and violence that led to the recognition of international human rights, post-conflict or transitional justice represents one of the most important political developments in efforts to advance human civilization to arise during the course of the twentieth century.

© David E. Guinn. All rights reserved.

This paper may be freely circulated in electronic or hard copy provided it is not modified in any way, the rights of the author not infringed, and the paper is not quoted or cited without express permission of the author. The editors cannot guarantee a stable URL …

Joel R. Pruce On The Human Rights Reader: Major Political Essays, Speeches And Documents From Ancient Times To The Present (Second Edition), By Micheline R. Ishay. New York, Ny: Routledge, 2007. 592pp., Joel R. Pruce

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Human Rights Reader: Major Political Essays, Speeches and Documents from Ancient Times to the Present (Second Edition), by Micheline R. Ishay. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. 592pp.

The Roma: During And After Communism, Florinda Lucero, Jill Collum

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Roma are an interconnected ethnic and cultural group that migrated out of India more than ten centuries ago. In the Czech Republic, they may have been present since the 15th century. Although relations within Czech lands began honorably, they quickly disintegrated into enmity and within a century Czechs could kill the Roma with impunity. Legislation restricting Roma movement came about in 1927 with Law 117: the “Law on Wandering Gypsies,” which stated that the Roma were now required to seek permission to stay overnight in any given location. In the run-up to World War II, parallel restrictions to those …

Totalitarianism: The Case Of Turkmenistan, Hayden Gore

Human Rights & Human Welfare

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, Saparmurat Niyazov, the former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan and self-styled “Turkmenbashi” (Father of All Turkmen), became the country’s first president, quickly fashioning Turkmenistan into one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Declared president-for-life after a dubious parliamentary election in which he selected all of the candidates, Niyazov has created a Stalinistic personality cult to glorify his image and to solidify his control over the state. His “reforms” have outlawed political dissent, marginalized ethnic and religious minorities, gutted the public health system, and enforced a campaign …

International Monetary Fund, Kris Kirby

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Just as the United Nations (U.N.) was created in direct response to the human atrocities and international conflict of World War II, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to help repair the decimation that was experienced by the developed nations that became involved in the war. While both organizations have seemingly similar objectives (i. e. , post-war reconstruction and creation of an environment for lasting peace), the Articles of Agreement of the IMF, however, contains no explicit mention of human rights.

Karen A. Mingst On The U.N. Security Council: From The Cold War To The 21st Century. Edited By David M. Malone. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner, 2004. 745pp., Karen A. Mingst

Human Rights & Human Welfare

No abstract provided.

David E. Guinn On The Wilson Chronology Of Human Rights: A Record Of The Human Striving For Freedom From Ancient Times To The Present. Edited By David Levinson. Bronx, Ny: H.W. Wilson, 2003. 581pp., David E. Guinn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Wilson Chronology of Human Rights: A Record of the Human Striving for Freedom from Ancient Times to the Present. Edited by David Levinson. Bronx, NY: H.W. Wilson, 2003. 581pp.

Aaron Peron Ogletree On The Tiananmen Papers Compiled By Zhang Liang, Edited By Andrew Nathan And Perry Link. New York: Public Affairs, 2001. 513pp., Aaron Peron Ogletree

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Tiananmen Papers compiled by Zhang Liang, edited by Andrew Nathan and Perry Link. New York: Public Affairs, 2001. 513pp.

Background For The “War On Terror”

Human Rights & Human Welfare

September 11 changed the United States’ understanding of terrorism. Prior to these attacks, Americans typically viewed terrorist events and actors through the lens of foreign affairs, quite removed from “everyday” concerns. Terrorist events involving Americans did occur, occasionally on American soil, but a sense of American invulnerability never truly wavered. September 11 challenged this presumption; as well as perspectives on the history of terrorism, compelling some to reexamine past events in order to find portents of the future tragedy.

The Promise And Limitations Of International Human Rights Activism, Rebecca Evans

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Breaking Silence: The Case that Changed the Face of Human Rights by Richard Alan White. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2004. 320 pp.

Afghanistan, Greg Sanders

Human Rights & Human Welfare

After September 11, Afghanistan became the first battleground of the War on Terror when the Taliban government refused to turn over Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members. Human rights concerns about these events fall in two areas. First, did the United States violate human rights when it launched Operation Enduring Freedom to overthrow the Taliban and during the subsequent occupation? Second, have the occupation forces and new regime of under the leadership of Hamid Karzai done enough to improve the previously miserable human rights situation in Afghanistan?

Tyler Johnson On Witness To The Truth: John H. Scott's Struggle For Human Rights In Louisiana By John Henry Scott With Cleo Scott Brown. Columbia: University South Carolina Press, 2003. 336pp., Tyler Johnson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Witness to the Truth: John H. Scott's Struggle for Human Rights in Louisiana by John Henry Scott with Cleo Scott Brown. Columbia: University South Carolina Press, 2003. 336pp.

Tyler Johnson On Sons Of Mississippi: A Story Of Race And Its Legacy By Paul Hendrickson. New York: Knopf, 2003. 368pp., Tyler Johnson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Sons of Mississippi: A Story of Race and its Legacy by Paul Hendrickson. New York: Knopf, 2003. 368pp.

State Sovereignty And Human Rights, Jack Donnelly

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sovereignty and human rights typically are seen as fundamentally opposed: the rights of states pitted against the rights of individuals; 1648 (the Peace of Westphalia) versus 1948 (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

This paper may be freely circulated in electronic or hard copy provided it is not modified in any way, the rights of the author not infringed, and the paper is not quoted or cited without express permission of the author. The editors cannot guarantee a stable URL for any paper posted here, nor will they be responsible for notifying others if the URL is changed or the …

Matthew S. Weinert On Slavery And Emancipation Edited By Rick Halpern And Enrico Del Lago. Oxford, Uk: Blackwell Publishing, 2002. 416pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Slavery and Emancipation edited by Rick Halpern and Enrico del Lago. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2002. 416pp.

Negotiating Toleration: Engagement, Enforcement, And The Politics Of Recognition, Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Toleration and Identity: Foundations in Early Modern Thought by Ingrid Creppell. New York: Routledge, 2003. 212pp.

and

How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West by Perez Zagorin. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. 371pp.

Explaining Rwanda’S 1994 Genocide, Paul Magnarellav

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001. 364 pp.

and

John A. Berry and Carol Pott Berry (eds.), Genocide in Rwanda: A Collective Memory. Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1999. 201 pp.

Publish Not Punish: The Contested Truth Of The South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

After the TRC: Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, Wilmot James and Linda van de Vijver, Editors. Athens: Ohio University Press and Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, 2000. 228pp.

and

Looking Back, Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Charles Villa-Vicencio and Wilhelm Verwoerd, Editors. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press and London: Zed Books, 2000. 322pp.

The Deconstruction Of Refugees And The Reconstruction Of History, Peter W. Van Arsdale

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of States and Strangers: Refugees and Displacements of Statecraft, by Nevzat Soguk. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (Borderlines Series, No. 11) 1999. 328 pp.

I would characterize Nevzat Soguk as either a neo-liberal operating in the guise of a postmodern deconstructionist, or a post-modern deconstructionist operating in the guise of a neoliberal. This is not a trivial distinction, nor an attempt to play semantic games, but my attempt to classify a brilliant theorist (known for his work in political science) whose book has a great deal of merit—but whose writing at times seems aimed more at discursive analysis …

Universality By Consensus: The Evolution Of Universality In The Drafting Of The Udhr, Amy Eckert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Drafting, Origins & Intent by Johannes Morsink. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights), 2000. 400pp.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has helped to define human rights standards and bring them to the forefront of global concern. Yet the UDHR continues to suffer from charges of cultural imperialism. While many scholars have answered these charges with philosophical justification for universal human rights, Johannes Morsink takes another approach to the question of cultural relativism in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting & Intent.

Assessing The Concept Of Human Rights In Africa, Paul J. Magnarella

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of Human Rights in Africa: The Conflict of Implementation by Richard Amoako Baah. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000. 123pp.

The title of this book is somewhat more expansive than its contents. The author, a native Ghanaian who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and teaches government at South Texas College, reports on an interesting study of human rights/human dignity conceptualizations among the Akan people of Ghana. The Akan constitute about 60% of Ghana’s 14 million people and consist of five major groups: Fanti, Ashanti, Akim, Brong, and Akwapim. A sizable Akan population also lives …