Congratulations to the editors , Anna Grear and Conor Gearty, on Choosing a Future: The Social and Legal Aspects of Climate Change. It is a fine publication and a superb contribution to a growing evidence base to support climate justice. I appreciate the hard work and dedication that went into such an ambitious publication; one that will certainly inform ongoing discussions on how to remedy the climate crisis. The focus as we approach 2015 must be on how to solve the climate crisis is a way that is fair and informed by human rights. This is the only approach that will ensure that climate actions are good for the planet and for people. This publication-and the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment generally-is a great contribution to the international discourse.' - Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice, IrelandThe issue is no longer whether climate change is happening; it is rather what we should now be doing about it. Drawing together key thinkers and policy experts, this unique volume - also a Special Issue of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment - engages with the human dimensions of climate change, offering a timely intervention into contemporary debates about the challenging relationship between law and society in a time of climate crisis. The result is an imaginative, well-informed and provocative collection of contemporary engagements with the greatest challenge of the age, concerned not only to understand the current crisis but to offer perspectives on how it can be addressed. At the heart of this volume is the conviction that change is urgent, possible and morally imperative.

The work of Stanley Cohen over four decades has come to acquire a classical status in the fields of criminology, sociology, and human rights. His writing, research, teaching, and practical engagement in these fields have been rigorously analytical and intellectually inspiring. It amounts to a unique contribution, immensely varied yet with several unifying themes, having made and continuing to make a lasting impact around the world. His work thus has a protean character and scope which transcend time and place. This book of essays in Stanley Cohen's honor builds upon and reflects some of his many-sided contributions. Crime, Social Control and Human Rights with the Forward by Noam Chomsky contains chapters by some of the world's leading thinkers as well as the rising generation of scholars and practitioners whose approach has been shaped in significant respects by Stanley Cohen. The book examines the main themes Stanley Cohen has explored and developed.

Does the apparent victory, universality and ubiquity of the idea of rights indicate that such rights have transcended all conflicts of interests and moved beyond the presumption that it is the clash of ideas that drives culture? Or has the rhetorical triumph of rights not been replicated in reality? The contributors to this book answer these questions in the context of an increasing wealth gap between the metropolitan elites and the rest, a chasm in income and chances between the rich and the poor, and walls which divide the comfortable middle classes from the 'underclass'. Why do these inequalities persist in our supposed human rights-abiding societies? In seeking to address the foundations, genealogies, meaning and impact of rights, this book captures some of the energy, breadth, power and paradoxes that make deployment of the language of human rights such an essential but changeable part of so many of our contemporary discourses.

Human rights are considered one of the big ideas of the early twenty-first century. This book presents in an authoritative and readable form the variety of platforms on which human rights law is practiced today, reflecting also on the dynamic inter-relationships that exist between these various levels. The collection has a critical edge. The chapters engage with how human rights law has developed in its various subfields, what (if anything) has been achieved and at what cost, in terms of expected or produced unexpected side-effects. The authors pass judgment about the consistency, efficacy and success of human rights law (set against the standards of the field itself or other external goals). Written by world-class academics, this Companion will be essential reading for students and scholars of human rights law.

Over four decades, the work of Stanley Cohen has come to acquire a classical status in the fields of criminology, sociology, and human rights. His writing, research, teaching, and practical engagement in these fields have been at once rigorously analytical and intellectually inspiring. It amounts to a unique contribution, immensely varied yet with several unifying themes. It has made, and continues to make, a lasting impact around the world. His work thus has a protean character and scope which transcend time and place. Now in paperback, this festschrift of essays in Stanley Cohen's honor builds on and reflects some of his many-sided contributions. It contains chapters by some of the world's leading thinkers as well as the rising generation of scholars and practitioners whose approach has been shaped in significant respects by Cohen.

Does the apparent victory, universality and ubiquity of the idea of rights indicate that such rights have transcended all conflicts of interests and moved beyond the presumption that it is the clash of ideas that drives culture? Or has the rhetorical triumph of rights not been replicated in reality? The contributors to this book answer these questions in the context of an increasing wealth gap between the metropolitan elites and the rest, a chasm in income and chances between the rich and the poor, and walls which divide the comfortable middle classes from the 'underclass'. Why do these inequalities persist in our supposed human rights-abiding societies? In seeking to address the foundations, genealogies, meaning and impact of rights, this book captures some of the energy, breadth, power and paradoxes that make deployment of the language of human rights such an essential but changeable part of so many of our contemporary discourses.

Human rights are considered one of the big ideas of the early twenty-first century. This book presents in an authoritative and readable form the variety of platforms on which human rights law is practiced today, reflecting also on the dynamic inter-relationships that exist between these various levels. The collection has a critical edge. The chapters engage with how human rights law has developed in its various subfields, what (if anything) has been achieved and at what cost, in terms of expected or produced unexpected side-effects. The authors pass judgment about the consistency, efficacy and success of human rights law (set against the standards of the field itself or other external goals). Written by world-class academics, this Companion will be essential reading for students and scholars of human rights law.

In this set of three essays, originally presented as the 2005 Hamlyn Lectures, Conor Gearty considers whether human rights can survive the challenges of the war on terror, the revival of political religion, and the steady erosion of the world's natural resources. He also looks deeper than this to consider the fundamental question: How can we tell what human rights are? In his first essay, Gearty asks how the idea of human rights needs to be made to work in our age of relativism, uncertainty and anxiety. In the second, he assesses how the idea of human rights has coped with its incorporation in legal form in the UK Human Rights Act, arguing that the record is much better and more democratic than many human rights enthusiasts allow. In his final essay, Gearty confronts the challenges that may destroy the language of human rights for the generations that follow us.

This book provides a fresh, clear, and stimulating approach to civil liberties by tying the law and practice of the subject firmly to democratic and political rights. The author examines the key civil liberties of our democratic age: the right to vote; the rights to life, liberty and security of the person; the freedoms of thought, conscience, expression, association and assembly; the prohibition on torture and inhuman and degrading treatment; and discusses the contemporary challenges that civil liberties face, including globalisation and the war on terror.

This book traces the origins of the term civil liberties, unpicking its various layers of meaning and explaining what it has come to mean today. Gearty argues that the protection of civil liberties is a vital front in the struggle to preserve political freedom and that a proper understanding of and commitment to civil liberties has never been more important. Civil Liberties provides a fresh, clear, and stimulating approach to civil liberties by tying the law and practice of the subject firmly to democratic and political rights. The author examines the key civil liberties of our democratic age: the right to vote; the rights to life, liberty and security of the person; the freedoms of thought, conscience, expression, association and assembly; the prohibition on torture and inhuman and degrading treatment; and discusses the contemporary challenges that civil liberties face, including globalisation and the war on terror

The Human Rights Act 1998 was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by New Labour. Some ministers believe that it is the greatest thing that they have done, whereas others view it as a dangerous mistake. This volume explains what the Act is about, where it fits into Britain's constitutional tradition, and explores whether or not it has achieved its goals. The Act has now been in force for three years, and a large body of case law has built up around it. The Act has enjoyed its fair share of controversies and has produced its own range of disappointments. It has become part and parcel of law courses in all universities, and has attracted the attention of practitioners from all areas of practice. It is now part of Britain's constitutional furniture, of interest and relevance not only to lawyers but also to political scientists, contemporary historians, and the general public. This book takes a fresh look at the place of the Human Rights Act in Britain's constitutional order. It locates the measure in its political and historical context and analyses the case law from the perspective not only of principle but also of practical experience. It examines the effect of the Act, and provides the reader with the tools to make informed predictions on the likely outcome of cases.

In the 2015 UK General Election, the Conservative party pledged to reset the UK's relations with Europe, holding an in-out referendum on membership of the European Union and repealing the Human Rights Act, to be replaced with a UK Bill of Rights. With the decision now taken to leave the EU, the future of the Human Rights Act and the UK's relations to the European Convention on Human Rights remains uncertain. Conor Gearty, one of the country's leading experts on human rights, here dissects the myths and fantasies that drive English exceptionalism over Europe, and shape the case for repealing the Human Rights Act. He presents a passionate case for keeping the existing legal framework for protecting human rights and our relationship with the European Convention. Analysing the reform agenda from the perspective of British law, history, politics, and culture, he lays bare the misunderstandings of the human rights system that have driven the debate so far. Structured in three parts, the book first exposes the myths that drive the anti-Human Rights Act argument. Second, Gearty outlines how the Act operates in practice and what its impact really is on the ground. Third, he looks to the future and the kind of Britain we want to live in, and how, for all its modesty, the survival or otherwise of the Human Rights Act will play a pivotal part in that future.

The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (February 2015) makes it compulsory for schools to implement anti-radicalisation measures to help prevent young people from being drawn into terrorism. As the increasingly frequent press stories of school children being radicalised show, teachers urgently need a resource that enables them to recognise, debate and disrupt extremist narratives within the context of the classroom. This practical handbook provides a reliable and objective resource to enable lower secondary school teachers to tackle the complex subjects of terrorism and radicalisation with confidence. It sets political violence within a broad context of perceived injustice, using familiar emotions of anger and disappointment to introduce the notion of grievance, a precursor of all forms of terrorism. The text covers issues of citizenship, human rights and respect, civil and political engagement, the nature of identity and how we identify with others. It examines different forms of violence from bullying to the most recent examples of 21st century terrorism. Historical precedent is used to illustrate a variety of contexts in which political violence has occurred, from Assassins through Suffragettes to militancy in South Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. The handbook considers the causes and consequences of terrorism and helps teachers to explain to children what terrorists do and why they do it; how to differentiate between the reasons, goals and methods of terrorists; why the media and terrorism are inextricably linked; what makes terrorism start and, crucially, what factors bring a cycle of terrorism to an end. Pupils are invited to reflect on the destructiveness of terrorism for both victims and aggressors and, taking Northern Ireland and South Africa as examples, to consider the process of reconciliation. The handbook tackles the problem of defining 'terrorism', a term which is value-laden and subjective, and which has eluded international consensus. Pupils are encouraged to explore the reasons for this, and to debate fact and bias through an examination of the role of the media in reporting terrorism. The role of social media within the process of radicalisation is also studied. Fictional storylines and classroom activities are provided to stimulate creative thinking and interactive participation.

Debating Law is a new series that gives scholarly experts the opportunity to offer contrasting perspectives on significant topics of contemporary, general interest. In this second volume of the series, Conor Gearty argues that for rights to work effectively in the wider promotion of social justice, they need to be kept as far away as possible from the courts. He acknowledges the value of rights language in legal and political debate and accepts that human rights are not solely civil and political, with social rights language clearly having a progressive, emancipatory dimension. However he says that lawyers - even well-intentioned lawyers - damage the achievability of the kind of radical transformation in the priorities of states that a genuine commitment to social rights surely necessitates. Virginia Mantouvalou argues that social rights, defined as entitlements to the satisfaction of basic needs, are as essential for the well-being of the individual and the community as long-established civil and political rights. The real challenge, she suggests, is how best to give effect to social rights. Drawing on examples from around the world, she argues for their 'legalisation', and examines the role of courts and the role of legislatures in this process, both at a national and a international level.