In the West we frequently pay lip service to universal notions of human rights. But do we ever consider how these work in local contexts and across diverse cultural and ethical structures? Do human rights agendas address the problems many people face, or are they more often the imposition of Western values onto largely non-Western communities?
Human Rights in a Global Perspective develops a social critique of rights agendas. It provides an understanding of how rights discussions and institutions can construct certain types of subjects such as victims and perpetrators, and certain types of act, such as common crimes and crimes against humanity. Using examples from the United States, Europe, India and South Africa, the authors restore the social dimension to rights processes and suggest some ethical alternatives to current practice.

The West often pays lip-service to universal notions of human rights without considering how these work in local contexts and across diverse cultural and ethical structures. Do human rights agendas helpfully address the problems people face, or are they more often seen as the imposition of Western values onto largely non-Western communities?
The aim of this volume is to understand, from an anthropological perspective, the consequences of the rise of rights discussions and institutions in both local and global politics. Its chapters develop what could be termed a social critique of rights agendas and the legal process, examining how these construct certain types of subjects, such as victims and perpetrators, and certain types of act, such as common crimes versus crimes against humanity. Bringing ethnographic perspectives from Europe, North America, India and South Africa, this volume restores the social dimension to rights processes, and suggests some ethical alternatives to current practice.

Do people everywhere have the same, or even compatible, ideas about multiculturalism, indigenous rights or women's rights? The authors of this book move beyond the traditional terms of the universalism versus cultural relativism debate. Through detailed case studies from around the world (Hawaii, France, Thailand, Botswana, Greece, Nepal and Canada) they explore the concrete effects of rights talk and rights institutions on people's lives.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to deal with the human rights violations of apartheid. However, the TRC's restorative justice approach did not always serve the needs of communities at a local level. Based on extended anthropological fieldwork, this book illustrates the impact of the TRC in urban African communities in Johannesburg. It argues that the TRC had little effect on popular ideas of justice as retribution. This provocative study deepens our understanding of post-apartheid South Africa and the use of human rights discourse.

A world characterized by ethno-nationalist struggles, civil wars, and political violence has led anthropologists to examine in more detail the relationships between state violence, ideas about culture, and the activities of human rights organizations. This text considers recent theoretical insights into the politics of identity and traces the concrete interconnections created by the globalization of human rights. Drawing on case studies from around the world - Guatemala, Mauritius, Amazonia, Hawaii, Iran, the United States and Mexico - this collection documents how transnational human rights discourses and legal institutions are materialized, imposed, resisted and transformed in a variety of contexts.

Do people everywhere have the same, or even compatible, ideas about multiculturalism, indigenous rights or women's rights? The authors of this book move beyond the traditional terms of the universalism versus cultural relativism debate. Through detailed case studies from around the world (Hawaii, France, Thailand, Botswana, Greece, Nepal and Canada) they explore the concrete effects of rights talk and rights institutions on people's lives.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to deal with the human rights violations of apartheid. However, the TRC's restorative justice approach did not always serve the needs of communities at a local level. Based on extended anthropological fieldwork, this book illustrates the impact of the TRC in urban African communities in Johannesburg. It argues that the TRC had little effect on popular ideas of justice as retribution. This provocative study deepens our understanding of post-apartheid South Africa and the use of human rights discourse.