Suffrage Days focuses on a number of figures whose role in this agitation has been ignored or neglected. These include the free-thinker Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy; the founder of the women's movement in the United States, Elizabeth Cady Stanton; the working class orator, Jessie Craigen and the socialist suffragists, Hannah Mitchell and Mary Gawthorpe. Through the lives of these figures Holton vividly uncovers the complex origins of the movement and associated issues of gender.

Feminist Political Ecology explores the gendered relations of ecologies, economies and politics in communities as diverse as the rubbertappers in the rainforests of Brazil to activist groups fighting racism in New York City.
Women are often at the centre of these struggles, struggles which concern local knowledge, everyday practice, rights to resources, sustainable development, environmental quality, and social justice.
The book bridges the gap between the academic and rural orientation of political ecology and the largely activist and urban focus of environmental justice movements.

Feminist Political Ecology explores the gendered relations of ecologies, economies and politics in communities as diverse as the rubbertappers in the rainforests of Brazil to activist groups fighting racism in New York City.
developed and the developing worlds. Women are often at the centre of these struggles, struggles which concern local knowledge, everyday practice, rights to resources, sustainable development, environmental quality, and social justice.
The book bridges the gap between the academic and rural orientation of political ecology and the largely activist and urban focus of environmental justice movements. The aim is to bring together the globalising frameworks of feminist analysis with the specificities of women's activism and experiences around the world.

The idea of human rights is powerful. Deriving in its modern form from the Enlightenment, this doctrine has come to denote individual rights against government oppression, including the right to freedom of thought, religion, speech, assembly, and to a fair system of criminal justice. But even in this basic political sense "human rights" means different things in different historical and cultural contexts and advocacy of such rights has frequently been challenged as subjective. In "Justifying Ethics "Jan Gorecki offers a thoroughgoing critique of the most common attempts to formulate objective standards through appeals to human nature, religion, and reason.

Gorecki opens his inquiry by considering the role of norm-making concepts in the history of ethical thought, how standards of rights were claimed to conform with human nature and reason or have been stipulated by an external authoritative source such as God or social contract. He then shows how such justifications may be discounted on analytical or practical grounds using such instances as divine will, Kantian reason, and the truth value of moral judgments.

With respect to empirically grounded appeals to human nature, Gorecki argues against the notion that the innate plasticity of human behavior and potential for social diversity is sufficient grounds for human rights activity without objective justification. Whatever its difficulties, the search for justification remains essential in enhancing the persuasiveness of ethical action that aims at the moral "contagion" of the people by the human rights experience and the transition from moral acceptance to legal implementation.

Broad in intellectual scope, "Justifying Ethics "draws upon moral and political philosophy, social policy, psychology, history, jurisprudence, and international law to clarify the prerequisites for the success of human rights activity. The book will be of special interest to political theorists, philosophers, sociologists, and human rights activists.

Examining the prevalent issue of domestic violence, this book breaks down the reasons behind the ineffectiveness of existing human rights instruments and the gaps in current legal systems failing those in need. Through a variety of key case studies, it reveals significant gaps in the legal conceptualisation of domestic violence between human rights standards on the one hand and the national legal systems examined—those of Ireland and Lithuania—on the other. The book reveals that, contrary to gender-based universal human rights approaches and despite recent legislative reforms, the legal concept of domestic violence is gender-blind. It fails to capture gender-based empirical realities on the ground, rendering national legal systems devoid of an empirically informed theoretical basis for addressing the problem. Despite the differences in the contextual backgrounds of the two case study countries, the legislation on domestic violence is underpinned by patriarchal beliefs in both. This book employs a gender-based examination of the issue that will be of key interest to scholars, legal practitioners, civil society actors, and students of feminist legal theory, gender equality, gender in international law, gender and human rights and conceptual democracy.

This book examines transnational civil society-based democracy-promoting resistance activities in Asia in a global era, focusing on the cases of Myanmar and Palestine. The work contributes to our understanding of the nexus between globalization, power and democracy by examining: (i) the ways in which globalization/global governance are influencing various resistance practices of the civil societies in Myanmar and Palestine, and what this means for local democracy promotion; and (ii) the ways in which these two civil societies influence and have a democracy-promoting impact on their respective communities. It is guided by the overarching question of how civil society-based resistance contributes to local democracy in Myanmar and Palestine. The book is structured as follows: both civil resistance cases begin with an overview of each country’s non-violent resistance history, and the findings are then presented for the two cases, i.e., the pro-democracy movements in the Saffron uprising in Myanmar and the Bil’in village struggle against the Israeli Security Barrier plans to build through their farmlands. Then follows a presentation of the life-story interview made with two members from the respective campaigns. A concluding chapter proposes some new theoretical insights for how civil resistance can impact on democracy. The book empirically and theoretically contributes to our understanding of how civil society-based resistance and democracy interrelate in a global era. This book will be of much interest to students of civil resistance, democracy, Asian studies, Middle Eastern studies and international relations in general.

The Punta del Este Declaration, and this book dedicated to elaborating upon it, is devoted to exploring the ways that human dignity for everyone everywhere can be a useful tool in helping to address the challenges and strains facing human rights in the world today. In 2018, an initiative was instigated to revitalize the human rights project by way of engaging the notion of human dignity. This resulted in the Punta Del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere (Punta Del Este Declaration), a declaration co-authored by over 30 human rights experts from all over the world. The Punta Del Este Declaration simplifies and brings coherence to the concept of human dignity in 10 brief statements that capture the many dimensions and aspects of human dignity and the practical ways that human dignity is useful in the promotion of human rights. This book provides an overview of how the notion of human dignity has been used to strengthen human rights. It discusses how human dignity playsmany different roles in human rights discourse and has the force to revitalize the human rights project; it is the foundational principle upon which the human rights project is built. But it is also the telos, or end goal, of human rights. At the same time, it is an important evaluative mechanism for assessing how well a country is doing in the implementation of human rights. The book will be a valuable resource for all those working in the areas of International Human Rights Law, Legal Philosophy, and Law and Religion.

Currently, there are over 15 million legally designated refugees all over the world and it is documented that 75 percent of those refugees are women, yet most of the existent literature does not focus on this group as women. Most of the literature focuses on political, economic, and social issues with very little reference to the mental health implications of the refugees'experiences as women. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health begins to fill this paucity of information on female refugees'experiences. A book of immediate interest, Refugee Women and Their Mental Health focuses on understanding the plight of women refugees around the world, with an emphasis on mental health. The book adds successful and innovative treatment and recovery models for these women survivors.Some of the chapters are written by women who are therapists/psychologists now and who have been refugees themselves. This adds additional insight into the plight and resulting mental health problems of refugee women. The chapters cover a vast range of topics: torture and sexual abuse as refugees/victims of state violence elderly women refugees immigration law and women refugees first-person narratives the transformation of identity successful creative treatment programsIt becomes clear that women refugees from all over the world under different political events and circumstances share common values and have similar mental health needs. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health explores processes of recovery from the traumas experienced by these women and offers a variety of models for the application of feminist theory to the plight of women refugees. Experienced therapists of women and those in training to be therapists will want to read this book. The topics of refugee women rarely comes up in training programs, so the information in this book is vital for therapists, policy makers, and other service providers and professors of psychology of women, immigration and social work issues, and women and mental health issues.

The persecution of the Yezidis, a religious community originating in Upper Mesopotamia, has been ongoing since at least the 10th century. On 3 August 2014, Islamic State attacked the Yezidi community in Sinjar, Kurdistan. Thousands were enslaved or killed in this genocide, and 100,000 people fled to Mount Sinjar, permanently exiled from their homes. Here, Thomas Schmidinger talks to the Yezidis in Iraq who tell the history of their people, why the genocide happened and how it affects their lives today. This is the first full account of these events, as told by the Yezidis in their own words, to be published in English. The failure of the Kurdistan Peshmerga of the PDK in Iraq to protect the Yezidis is explored, as is the crucial support given by the Syrian-Kurdish YPG. This multi-faceted and important history brings the fight and trauma of the Yezidis back into focus, calling for the world to remember their struggle.

This book explores the range of meanings attributed to the terms ‘judicial activism’ and ‘populism’ in contemporary times and examines the potential interplay between these two phenomena. Drawing upon various political examples, it discusses the implication of populist movements for democratic institutions, policies, and processes. The chapters in this volume examine the impact of populism on judicial decision-making in various socio-cultural contexts. The contributing authors explore the implications of populist beliefs, including those which promote anti-democratic perspectives, on the integrity, independence, and the role of the judiciary in a democratic society. This volume offers unique international perspectives on the concern that populist initiatives may be and continue to be a threat to democratic foundational values and principles. Judicial Activism in an Age of Populism will be a beneficial read for students of Politics, Sociology, Public Administration and Management, and Law and Society. It was originally published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. Left untreated, it can cause progressive and permanent disability. But a diagnosis of leprosy can have consequences that go far beyond the disease's physical manifestations. The age-old stigma associated with leprosy can result in severe social discrimination that robs people of opportunities in life and condemns them to society's margins. This book is the most detailed account yet of Yohei Sasakawa's quest, over two decades as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, to work for a world without leprosy and the discrimination it causes. It chronicles his travels to remote communities around the world to hear directly from those affected by the disease, as well as his meetings with policy- makers, government leaders and heads of state to advocate for renewed commitment to the fight against leprosy, including measures to protect the human rights of those it affects. While much progress has been made, completing 'the last mile' in leprosy eradication is the hardest part of the journey. Making the Impossible Possible highlights the author's unflagging resolve to ensure that all involved stay the course.

This book analyses the contemporary effects of anti-trafficking policies on children trafficked for labour. It explores different dimensions of private and public apparatuses through which the governmentality of child trafficking manifests itself at a regional and interregional level. It investigates questions linked to the diffusion of the child trafficking norm between and within regions and stakeholders; to the criminalisation and vulnerabilisation of child traffickees; and to private governance of anti-trafficking initiatives, in particular concerning social sustainability of business supply chains. Drawing on extensive fieldwork with government, police, justice, civil society, multilateral organizations and businesses in the EU and in the ASEAN, the book argues that child traffickees are subjected not only to physical and psychological violence, but also to structural violence. The book concludes with suggestions to improve current anti-trafficking regimes. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in EU Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Regionalism, Human Rights, Law, International Relations, and International Political Economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped life across the world, placing people at risk as our responses to it alter not only health and wellbeing but also governance, economies, social relations, and our interaction with the natural environment. This volume draws globally recognized human rights scholars and practitioners into dialogue over the costs and consequences of the pandemic. With insights and data from fields as diverse as medicine, anthropology, political science, social work, business, and law, these contributors help us make sense of the pandemic's ongoing effects and its potential impact on future systems and processes. Drawn from two special issues of The Journal of Human Rights-one published within eight months of the first lockdowns, the other published almost two years into the pandemic-this book offers one of the most comprehensive collections of such research available. It will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of Politics, Sociology, Social Work, Economics, Anthropology, Social and Political Geography, and Public Policy.

A human rights lawyer travels to hot zones around the globe, before and after the September 11 attacks, to document abuses committed by warlords, terrorist groups, and government counterterrorism forces. Whether reporting on al Qaeda safe houses, the mechanics of the Pentagon's smartest bombs, his interviews with politicians and ordinary civilians, or his own brush with death outside Kabul, John Sifton wants to help us understand violence-what it is, and how we think and speak about it. For the human rights community, the global war on terror brought unprecedented challenges. Of special concern were the secret detention centers operated by the CIA as it expanded into a paramilitary force, and the harsh treatment of prisoners throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. In drafting legal memoranda that made domestic prosecution for these crimes impossible, Sifton argues, the United States possessed not only the detainees but the law itself. Sifton recounts his efforts to locate secret prisons and reflects on the historical development of sanctioned military or police violence-from hand-to-hand combat to the use of drones-and the likelihood that technology will soon enable completely automated killing. Sifton is equally concerned to examine what people have meant by nonviolent social change, and he asks whether pure nonviolence is ever possible. To invoke rights is to invoke the force to uphold them, he reminds us. Ultimately, advocates for human rights can only shame the world into better behavior, and their work may involve advocating the very violence they deplore.

This special issue of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment revisits Professor Christopher D. Stone's iconic 1972 article, and features an introduction by Professor Philippe Sands QC, a set of elegant and thought-provoking reflections on the original article by Baroness Mary Warnock, Professor Ngaire Naffine and Professor Lorraine Code, and an equally elegant and thought-provoking response to their reflections from Professor Stone himself. This thoughtful collection of essays will be a valuable addition to contemporary debates concerning the crucial search for new relationships between humanity and the living world and between human rights and the environment. The renowned contributors offer rich reflections on questions of legal standing, legal subjectivity and epistemology raised by Stone's article, and which have greater salience than ever as we face the environmental and human challenges of the 21st century. Contributors: L. Code, A. Grear, N. Naffine, P. Sands, C.D. Stone, M. Warnock

This book presents a comprehensive examination of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and provides an analysis of the level of its reflection in regional human rights systems. The work explores the development of the role of the individual in human rights protection since the 1998 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It locates the nature, activities and need for protection of human rights defenders within the current international legal framework and outlines the place and scope for a specific right to promote and protect human rights. It traces the origins of the right and the main international instruments that define it, both at national and international level. Finally, it considers the impact that the right to defend human rights can have on constitutional and international law. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of International Human Rights Law and Constitutional Law.

What role does dialogue play in peacebuilding? How can community-based activities contribute to broader peace processes? What can participatory research methods add to local efforts to build peace? In this book, the authors examine these questions through their work with two different Colombian communities who have pursued dialogue amidst ongoing violence, environmental injustice and socio-economic challenges. By reflecting on what people in these contrasting places have achieved through participatory peacebuilding, the authors explore different forms of local agency, the prospects for non-extractive academic engagement, and practical and theoretical lessons for participating in peace in other conflict-affected settings.

'Intensely moving, vital and artful' - Guardian 'A dizzying ride . . . both timely and beguiling' - Sunday Times At a moment in which basic rights are once again in danger, Olivia Laing conducts an ambitious investigation into the body and its discontents, using the life of the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich to chart a daring course through the long struggle for bodily freedom, from gay rights and sexual liberation to feminism and the civil rights movement. Drawing on her own experiences in protest and travelling from Weimar Berlin to the prisons of McCarthy-era America, Laing grapples with some of the most significant and complicated figures of the past century, among them Nina Simone, Sigmund Freud, Susan Sontag and Malcolm X. Everybody is a crucial examination of the forces arranged against freedom and a celebration of how ordinary human bodies can resist oppression and reshape the world. Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 'An ambitious, absorbing achievement that will make your brain hum' - Evening Standard 'Laing's gift for weaving big ideas together with lyrical prose sets her alongside the likes of Arundhati Roy, John Berger and James Baldwin. In other words, she is among the most significant voices of our time.' - Financial Times

This book contributes to existing debates on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) by demonstrating new advocacy strategies and the greater interconnectedness of various R2P proponents. In 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a new resolution on R2P, which reaffirmed its commitment from the 2005 World Summit Outcome and put R2P on the annual agenda. For many R2P proponents, this was another manifestation of worldwide R2P relevance and of growing support among UN members to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Yet the existing crises in Myanmar, Venezuela, Belarus, Syria and many others revealed the widening gap between the discourse and practice. This book aims to find out what keeps the concept alive despite its indisputable pitfalls. In contrast to existing studies that treat the R2P endorsement or contestation as intertwined processes of norm evolution, it argues that the status of R2P has been accomplished by the conscious politics of its advocates operating in complex global networks. As such, the book puts emphasis on the agency of R2P champions and examines who keeps the idea resonating and how they manage to preserve its worldwide relevance. Rather than proposing a new model of advocacy, the book aims to pinpoint the politics of R2P's circulation, the importance of individual R2P champions and their interconnectedness through innovative forms of cooperation within complex networks. This book will be of much interest to students of the R2P, diplomacy, human rights, foreign policy and International Relations.

How can we make sense of human rights in China's authoritarian system? In this insightful book, China law expert Eva Pils offers a nuanced account of this contentious area, examining human rights as a set of social practices involving a variety of actors, including officials of the system and civil society actors. Drawing on a wide range of resources including years of interaction with Chinese human rights defenders, Pils discusses sources of human rights violations, as well as institutional avenues of protection and social practices of human rights defence. Three central areas are given special attention: liberty and integrity of the person and the right not to be tortured; freedom of thought and expression; and inequality and socio-economic rights. Pils argues that the Party-State system is inherently opposed to human rights principles in all these areas. Yet, civil society actors have developed social practices of human rights advocacy whose political significance is not entirely dependent on the Party-State. Despite authoritarianism's lengthening shadows, China's human rights movement has so far proved resourceful and resilient, and the trajectories discussed in this book will continue to shape ongoing struggles.

This book rethinks the body in global politics and the particular roles bodies play in our international system, foregrounding processes and practices involved in the continually contested (re/dis)embodiment of both human bodies and collective bodies politic. Purnell provides a new, innovative, and detailed theory of bodily (re)making and un-making that shows how bodies are simultaneously (re)made and moved and (re)make and move other bodies and things. Presented in the form of reflective/reflexive and theoretically innovative essays, the book explores: bodies in general and their precarious, excessive, ontologically insecure, and emotional facets; the fleshing out of contemporary necro(body)politics; and the visual-emotional politics embodied through the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical analyses feed into contemporary IR debates on British and American politics and international relations and the Global War on Terror, while also speaking to broader and interdisciplinary, theoretical literature on bodies/embodiment, visual politics, biopolitics, necropolitics, and affect/emotion, and feelings.