Expanding Human Rights

21st Century Norms and Governance

Elgar Studies in Human Rights

Edited by Alison Brysk, Distinguished Mellichamp Professor of Global Governance and Michael Stohl, Professor of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, US

The 21st century demands expanding rights, as the established human rights regime is necessary but not sufficient. This project will analyze the global dynamics of the mobilization of new actors, claims, institutions and modes of accountability. Our multi-disciplinary, multi-method analysis draws from a full range of global experience, with balanced attention to civil-political and social-economic rights; from LBGT movements in the new Europe to campaigns for the right to food in India.

‘Rather than focus on states, international and regional organizations, and major nongovernmental organizations, this volume looks more to the edges and margins of the struggle for human rights. An excellent group of authors offer a diverse but coherent set of perspectives on how new actors, new claims, and new responsibilities are (and in a few cases are not) expanding the meaning and range of human rights in order to make human rights a more effective tool in a greater range of struggles for social justice.’
– Jack Donnelly, University of Denver, US

‘This volume brings together first-rate, novel approaches to the myriad of changes and challenges operative in human rights practice unfolding in diverse thematic and geographic arenas. By pushing scholars to expand the parameters of their focus and guiding queries, and to attend more to process and leverage in normative change about rights, it enriches our scholarship significantly. And it presents the reader with an ongoing agenda for both disciplinary and multidisciplinary human rights research in the future.’
– George A. Lopez, University of Notre Dame, US

‘A prevalent view holds that internationally recognized human rights are currently much violated, hence one should institute a moratorium on new rights claims until existing norms become more effective. By comparison, in this volume Brysk, Stohl, and their colleagues argue mostly for new perspectives, new rights, and new or newly invigorated procedures for implementation. At the same time some authors here continue to emphasize the power of the repressive state to block progress. The resulting mix of views provides a stimulating commentary on human rights in our times.’
– David P. Forsythe, University of Nebraska, US