The Politics of Human Rights

In the past, violations of human rights were commonly portrayed as atrocities perpetrated by tyrannical dictatorships. Today, the images of torture at Abu Ghraib gaol, and the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, put the lie to this assumption. State violations of human rights have a global reach. This new edition of Tony Evan's introduction to the politics of human rights examines the impact globalization is having on human rights worldwide. He argues that the state’s role in protecting and promoting rights has been severely weakened under globalization – and that the emerging global order may be a cause of many human rights violations. As the value of the market grows, the value of individual human rights decreases. Tony Evans departs from traditional interpretations of human rights by focusing on the political economy of human rights, rather than on the philosophical or legal aspects. He analyses how issues related to globalization, such as the environment, population movement patterns and free trade impact on individual human rights. Rejecting liberal assumptions about globalization, Evans argues that human rights continue to be determined by hierarchies of knowledge and power.

Tony Evans is a Reader in Global Politics at the University of Southampton. His previous books include US Hegemony and the Project of Universal Human Rights (Macmillan, 1996) and Human Rights Fifty Years On: A Reappraisal (Manchester, 1998).