That the World May Know: Bearing Witness to Atrocity - Hardcover

Dawes, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674026233 ISBN 13: 9780674026230

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2007

Synopsis

Listen to a short interview with James DawesHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

After the worst thing in the world happens, then what? What is left to the survivors, the witnesses, those who tried to help? What can we do to prevent more atrocities from happening in the future, and to stop the ones that are happening right now? That the World May Know tells the powerful and moving story of the successes and failures of the modern human rights movement. Drawing on firsthand accounts from fieldworkers around the world, the book gives a painfully clear picture of the human cost of confronting inhumanity in our day.

There is no dearth of such stories to tell, and James Dawes begins with those that emerged from the Rwandan genocide. Who, he asks, has the right to speak for the survivors and the dead, and how far does that right go? How are these stories used, and what does this tell us about our collective moral future? His inquiry takes us to a range of crises met by a broad array of human rights and humanitarian organizations. Here we see from inside the terrible stresses of human rights work, along with its curious seductions, and the myriad paradoxes and quandaries it presents.

With pathos, compassion, and a rare literary grace, this book interweaves personal stories, intellectual and political questions, art and aesthetics, and actual "news" to give us a compelling picture of humanity at its conflicted best, face-to-face with humanity at its worst.

About this title

About the Author

James Dawes is DeWitt Wallace Professor of English at Macalester College.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674026233
• ISBN 13: 9780674026230
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304