Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Making Human Rights a Reality

Emilie M. Hafner-Burton (University of California, San Diego), Making Human Rights a Reality (Princeton University Press, 2013).

"Emilie Hafner-Burton argues that more progress is possible if human rights promoters work strategically with the group of states that have dedicated resources to human rights protection. These human rights 'stewards' can focus their resources on places where the tangible benefits to human rights are greatest. Success will require setting priorities as well as engaging local stakeholders such as nongovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions. . . . To date, promoters of international human rights law have relied too heavily on setting universal goals and procedures and not enough on assessing what actually works and setting priorities . . . with a different strategy, human rights stewards can make international law more effective and also safeguard human rights for more of the world population."
From publisher's website