Reclaiming Human Rights in a Changing World Order - (Insights: Critical Thinking on International Affairs) by Christopher Sabatini (Paperback)

About the Book

China, Russia, and other nondemocratic regimes have become increasingly bold in acting as if agreed-upon international human rights standards no longer exist, or at least do not apply to them. More broadly, domestic political movements based on nationalism, religion, and popul...

Book Synopsis

China, Russia, and other nondemocratic regimes have become increasingly bold in acting as if agreed-upon international human rights standards no longer exist, or at least do not apply to them. More broadly, domestic political movements based on nationalism, religion, and populism are challenging human rights norms on nearly every continent.

Review Quotes

How can the universal human rights movement reclaim momentum when it seems to be under siege everywhere? As challenges volley in from China and Russia, pandemics, populism, evangelism, emerging technologies, sovereign backlash, and regional geopolitical skepticism all undermine the legitimacy of the human rights orthodoxy. These trends have given rise not just to concerted pushback against universalism, norm development, transparency, and effective human rights institutions, but to the ominous rise of illiberal counterinstitutions aggressively mouthing slanted "counternorms." This volume assembles an impressive cast of discerning and thoughtful analyst/activists who recommend plausible steps to reform, rebuild, and modernize the international human rights system. The whole and the parts are urgently needed and reward careful reading.

Reclaiming Human Rights offers a timely reminder of the continuing relevance of human rights for millions of people worldwide. It provides valuable analysis of the capacity of states, international institutions, and various nonstate actors to defend human rights robustly and confront head-on those forces that seek to undermine them. Informed by workshops, including those with young people from all over the world, the book offers a refreshing appraisal of human rights. It speaks for a new generation of motivated students and professionals who recognize the enormous potential that can be harnessed through a genuine commitment to, and struggle for, universal human rights.

Sabatini, the editor of this impressive volume of essays, argues that this regime has been strikingly resilient, surviving the Cold War, the unipolar dominance of the United States, and the current rise of the global South.

Without human rights there can be no peace, security or sustained development. The global challenge today is how international and regional regimes to protect human rights can be reformed to withstand the assault from autocrats and demagogues. With an unromanticized understanding of past shortcomings, this book identifies and addresses many of the great threats we face today, including those derived from technology, populism, and malign actors. This book should be read by scholars, policymakers, and activists who seek not just to preserve embattled global, regional, and domestic human rights but also to improve their realization for the many that experience them as distant promises.

About the Author

Christopher Sabatini issenior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House. He is also on the advisory board of Americas Watch.