The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. A burgeoning human rights movement followed, yielding many treaties and new international institutions and shaping the constitutions and laws of many states. Yet human rights continue to be contested politically and legally and there is substantial philosophical and theoretical debate over their foundations and implications. In this volume, distinguished philosophers, political scientists, international lawyers, environmentalists and anthropologists discuss some of the most difficult questions of human rights theory and practice: what do human rights require of the global economy? Does it make sense to secure them by force? What do they require in jus post bello contexts of transitional justice? Is global climate change a human rights issue? Is there a human right to democracy? Does the human rights movement constitute moral progress? For students of political philosophy, human rights, peace studies and international relations.

'… [a] superb book … bring[s] together 23 timely and substantive papers, organized around seven pressing yet perennial questions … The readability of Holder and Reidy's introduction, along with their perspicacious selection and grouping of readings, make this an ideal teaching text and also a valuable research volume. Summing up: highly recommended.’

D. B. Boersema Source: Choice

'Cindy Holder and David Reidy have done a fine job assembling very useful discussions on many of the questions about human rights that keep philosophers, lawyers, political scientists, anthropologists and others busy.'

Source: Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

'I highly recommend [the book] to anyone interested in human rights or in political philosophy generally.'

Adam Hosein Source: Ethics