Much has been written about the issue of religious freedom and church-state relations. The contributors to this book, however, take up another side of the question: what has been the impact of religion on human rights. Representatives from various religious traditions address a broad range of topics, from environmental rights to the basic validation of human rights, to the rights of women in India and Iran and within Orthodox Judaism, to the global imposition of criminal justice, to pressures for democratization within the Catholic Church in Latin America. The six major essays, along with their accompanying "replies" answer questions and raise issues in a provocative and compelling debate.

Much has been written of about the issue religious freedom and church-state relations. This book, however, takes up another side of the question: what has been the impact of religion on human rights, and in particular on women's human rights and development? Representatives from various religious traditions address questions such as: the theological venus the secular validation of human rights; reconciling Islamic feminism with the religion of Islam; harmonizing confessional with liberationist directions within the Catholic Church; establishing inter-religious dialogue amidst the clamor of politicized Hindu-Moslem communal hostility; a human-centered vs a nature-centered environmentalism. Contributors explore different of these questions in a provocative and compelling debate.

Leading specialists and activists from Russia and the USA join, in this volume, to offer a searching assessment of human rights in their own countries and in the world at large. They reflect on past history, present problems associated with system breakdown and decline, and the obstacles and opportunities on the way to the realisation of human rights in this uncertain post-Cold War era and the millennium that is now dawning. The participants in the discussions detailed here include Yelena Bonner, Viktor Chkhikvadze, Norman Dorsen, Riane Eisler, David Forsythe, Paula Garb, Charles Henry, Susan Heuman, Irina Lediakh, Vladimir Kudriavtsev, Pavel Litvinov, Richard Schifter, Henry Shue, Evgenii Skripilev, Vladimir Vlashihin, Oleg Vorobiev and the editors.

Leading specialists and activists from Russia and the USA join, in this volume, to offer a searching assessment of human rights in their own countries and in the world at large. They reflect on past history, present problems associated with system breakdown and decline, and the obstacles and opportunities on the way to the realisation of human rights in this uncertain post-Cold War era and the millennium that is now dawning. The participants in the discussions detailed here include Yelena Bonner, Viktor Chkhikvadze, Norman Dorsen, Riane Eisler, David Forsythe, Paula Garb, Charles Henry, Susan Heuman, Irina Lediakh, Vladimir Kudriavtsev, Pavel Litvinov, Richard Schifter, Henry Shue, Evgenii Skripilev, Vladimir Vlashihin, Oleg Vorobiev and the editors.

Freedom's Ordeal The Struggle for Human Rights and Democracy in Post-Soviet States Peter Juviler "This is an extremely valuable survey of the tortuous struggle for human rights in post-Soviet states. . . . Highly recommended."--"Choice" "While one often hears how bad the situation in Russia is, Juviler's grand survey of it from the perspective of democratic institutions and human rights brings a wide array of facts and little-known details that give a truly illuminating picture of a country in strikingly poor condition."--"Journal of Law and Society" "Informative and interesting."--"Slavic Review" Fifteen countries have emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Freedom's Ordeal" recounts the struggles of these newly independent nations to achieve freedom and to establish support for fundamental human rights. Although history has shown that states emerging from collapsed empires rarely achieve full democracy in their first try, Peter Juviler analyzes these successor states as crucial and not always unpromising tests of democracy's viability in postcommunist countries. Taking into account the particularly difficult legacies of Soviet communism, "Freedom's Ordeal" is distinguished by its careful tracing of the historical background, with special attention to human rights before, during, and after communism. Juviler suggests that the culture and practices of despotism may wither wherever modernization conflicts with tyranny and with the curtailment or denial of democratic rights and freedoms. Peter Juviler is Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and Codirector of the Human Rights Center at Columbia University. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights 1997 312 pages World Rights Political Science