Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements (ASA Monographs)

Jon P. Mitchell, Richard A. Wilson

ISBN 10: 0415304091 / ISBN 13: 9780415304092

Published by Routledge 2003-06-05, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-TNFPD-9780415304092

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements (ASA Monographs)
• Publisher: Routledge 2003-06-05
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415304091
• ISBN 13: 9780415304092
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In the West we frequently pay lip service to universal notions of human rights. But do we ever consider how these work in local contexts and across diverse cultural and ethical structures? Do human rights agendas address the problems many people face, or are they more often the imposition of Western values onto largely non-Western communities?
Human Rights in a Global Perspective develops a social critique of rights agendas. It provides an understanding of how rights discussions and institutions can construct certain types of subjects such as victims and perpetrators, and certain types of act, such as common crimes and crimes against humanity. Using examples from the United States, Europe, India and South Africa, the authors restore the social dimension to rights processes and suggest some ethical alternatives to current practice.

About the Author

Richard A. Wilson is Reader in Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex. He has written and edited numerous works on political violence and human rights, including Human Rights, Culture and Context (1997), Culture and Rights (2001) and The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa (2001). Jon P. Mitchell is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex. His books include Ambivalent Europeans (Routledge, 2001).