Article by Article - (Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights) by Johannes Morsink (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book is an article by article account written on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that aims to introduce this iconic text to a new generation of teachers, students, and activists who are seeking to defend our liberal democracies against autocratic populisms that threaten Western civilization as we know it"--

Book Synopsis

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is one of the most important and debated sociopolitical documents of the twentieth century. A leading authority on the UDHR, Johannes Morsink is the author of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent (2000) and Inherent Human Rights: Philosophical Roots of the Universal Declaration (2009). With this new book, Morsink has now written a volume for a new generation of human rights students and activists, one that presents an article-by-article account of the formulation of each article in the UDHR. The author comments perceptively on how they have been argued, argued over, and used in a wide range of political discourses. Comprised of short essays on each of the Declaration's thirty articles, this book constitutes the most accessible and comprehensive approach to this document and explicates the UDHR's continued relevance in contemporary times.

Throughout the book, Morsink explains how this 1948 iconic text can help us in the twenty-first century. He shows us the high moral ground we need to fight evils perpetuated during and after World War II that now present themselves in new garb and does so in a clear and concise manner.

Review Quotes

"Johannes Morsink has written a very useful book for scholars, researchers, and students. He presents short histories of the drafting of each Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drawn almost exclusively from extensive primary research. The reader has the chance to see how the framers debated various proposals and how they compromised on final wording."-- "Human Rights Review"

About the Author

Johannes Morsink is Professor Emeritus of Political Philosophy at Drew University. He is author of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Origins, Drafting, and Intent and Inherent Human Rights: Philosophical Roots of the Universal Declaration, both of which are available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.