“A tour de force.”—Gordon S. Wood, New York Times Book Review How were human rights invented, and how does their tumultuous history influence their percep

For much of history, strangers were seen as barbarians, seldom as fellow human beings. The notion of common humanity had to be invented. Drawing on global think

This volume explores the place of human rights in history, providing an alternative framework for understanding the political and legal dilemmas that these conf

Human rights offer a vision of international justice that today’s idealistic millions hold dear. Yet the very concept on which the movement is based became fa

Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cu