Vulnerability and Human Rights

Turner, Bryan S.

ISBN 10: 0271029234 / ISBN 13: 9780271029238

Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006

About this Item

Idioma/Language: Inglés. In the twentieth century, the mass violence of the two world wars followed more recently by the decentralization and privatization of warfare--manifested in terrorism, ethnic cleansing, and other localized forms of killing--have led to a heightened awareness of human being's vulnerability to suffering and the precarious nature of the institutions they create to protect themselves from violence and exploitation. As something they all share amid the diversity of cultural beliefs and values that mark their differences, this common vulnerability provides a ground on which to construct a framework of human rights. Bryan Turner undertakes this task here, developing a sociology of rights from a sociology of the human body. His blending of empirical research with normative analysis constitutes an important step forward for the discipline of sociology, which (like anthropology) has traditionally eschewed the study of justice as beyond the limits of a discipline that pays homage to cultural relativism and the "value neutrality" of positivistic science. This expanded approach accordingly involves a truly interdisciplinary dialogue with the literature of economics, law, medicine, philosophy, political science, and religion. In arguing for a recognition of human rights as ontologically grounded in shared vulnerability, Turner pays special attention to the complex relationships among the state, the social rights of citizens that the state creates, and the human rights of persons as individuals. The conflict between national sovereignty and the universalistic claims of human rights is central to the struggle over human rights today, he shows, but while the protection offered by states and citizenshiphas been declining, they nevertheless remain important for the enforcement of human rights. *** Nota: Los envíos a España peninsular, Baleares y Canarias se realizan a través de mensajería urgente. No aceptamos pedidos con destino a Ceuta y Melilla.

Seller Inventory # 1200436

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Vulnerability and Human Rights
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271029234
• ISBN 13: 9780271029238
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New
• Weight: 222 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Ciencias Políticas

About this title

Synopsis

The mass violence of the twentieth century’s two world wars―followed more recently by decentralized and privatized warfare, manifested in terrorism, ethnic cleansing, and other localized forms of killing―has led to a heightened awareness of human beings’ vulnerability and the precarious nature of the institutions they create to protect themselves from violence and exploitation. This vulnerability, something humans share amid the diversity of cultural beliefs and values that mark their differences, provides solid ground on which to construct a framework of human rights.

Bryan Turner undertakes this task here, developing a sociology of rights from a sociology of the human body. His blending of empirical research with normative analysis constitutes an important step forward for the discipline of sociology. Like anthropology, sociology has traditionally eschewed the study of justice as beyond the limits of a discipline that pays homage to cultural relativism and the “value neutrality” of positivistic science. Turner’s expanded approach accordingly involves a truly interdisciplinary dialogue with the literature of economics, law, medicine, philosophy, political science, and religion.

About the Author

Bryan S. Turner is Director of the Committee for the Study of Religion and Presidential Professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies and Professor of Social and Political Thought at the University of Western Sydney. Among his many publications are the Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, and Sage Handbook of Sociology.