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In 1946 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, headed by Eleanor Roosevelt, began to formulate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The ideals compiled by the commission have become beacons of dignity and hope for people the world over. For the first time ever, essential human rights, as codified in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, are being presented in a book specifically for children. Joy Berry’s Mine & Yours: Human Rights for Kids, created in association with Amnesty International USA, defines and explains for kids their rights, and teaches them how to assert their rights with integrity and responsibility. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great way to introduce or solidify the concept human rights
I purchased this book to use with my students (freshman) for a human rights/civil rights unit in my reading/English class.

Even though it seems to be written for children, it is VERY comprehensive - there is a lot of detailed information with adult words and concepts, and it is fairly long.I had to paraphrase some of the words and concepts even for my higher/grade level students.My advice for people using this as a teaching tool would be to divide the book into chunks and then do a reflection/review activity between readings instead of reading the whole thing in one sitting - it's just too much information for some students to absorb in one sitting.

The pictures were probably the best part of the book - they kept my students interested.A lot of my students in my English class are also in my Global Studies class, so they were guessing which cultures and/or religions the students in the illustrations represented and why they thought so.

All in all, a great concept and a great teaching tool if presented in smaller parts.

Thank you mom
My mom bought this book for us.It is really great and I learned a lot.We guessed where the kids where from and looked up countries on a map.Every kid should read this book.

Mine & Yours: Human Rights for Kids
We read this book with my girl scout troup.We are learning about how to connect with other girls and kids around the world.Americans don't always learn about people in other countries. We want to be less ignorant and to learn about human rights! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Compelling underappreciated story of the civil rights movement
In Shadows of Youth, Andrew Lewis upends the traditional narrative of the modern civil rights movement.He puts the hopeful teenagers of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who risked their lives with the sit-ins, the freedom rides, and Freedom Summer at the center of the story.Through intertwined biographic sketches of SNCC's young leaders -- Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, Bob Moses, Marion Berry, Julian Bond and John Lewis -- this book shows the close relationship between rising postwar optimism, consumerism, the rise of youth culture and the civil rights movement.The Shadows of Youth captures both the danger and the pure fun excitement of heady early Movement days among a generation on the precipice of sweeping change, a generation raised on the promises of the American dream and determined to find it.What also sets this story apart from others of the Movement is its attention to the later careers of these leaders to ask not just what happened to them, but how did the shadow of their early activism extend over their entire lives.Highly readable, instantly engaging.Shadows of Youth is completely accessible to the novice reader as well as to those more steeped in the historiography of the Movement.

Fresh new history of Civil Rights
If your knowledge of the Civ. Rights movement centers on Rev. King and his speeches, his version of civil disobedience, this book is a bit of a revelation.The younger, more secular wing of the movement, here embodied in the SNCC, represents an equally vital and compelling strand of modern US and Af-AM history. Author Lewis tells a rich tale of teenagers who turned themselves from consumers and spectators on the margins of the New South into revolutionary actors who, by simply insisting on their right to sit at the Woolworth's counter and eat a burger, ignited a whole game-changing set of protests and programs. A very involving story that narrates the events of the early 60s from the inside out, bringing you into the heady days of youth, and then, in the second half, bringing you out again to a more sober, mixed, but perhaps no less heroic legacy for the major players of SNCC: Julian Bond, Marion Barry, John Lewis, and others....Beautifully balanced between readable narrative and fresh historical interpretation. Anyone with an interest in how the events of the 60s have continued to shape our own era will find this book essential reading.

Best short history of the civil rights movement
This is a fascinating story about a group, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, that I didn't know much about. So much of the civil rights movement story seems to be only about Martin Luther King, but this fills in the gaps. What I really liked about this book was how beautifully written and full of interesting characters it was. Lewis gives us the big events but he gives it to us from the perspective of the college students who were really leading the civil rights movement. I was blown away by their courage and toughness under fire. This is really a great adventure story masquerading as a history book. ... Read more

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In Backfire: How The Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement, the leading historian of the Ku Klux Klan brings the story of America's oldest terrorist society up-to-date. David Chalmers skillfully shows how Klan violence actually aided the civil rights movement of the 1960s and revolutionized the role of the national government in the protection of civil rights. He follows the forty-year struggle to punish Klan murderers through the courts of Alabama, Georgia, and the U.S. Supreme Court, and how Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center finally found a way to bring the Klan down. As it looks to the future, Backfire examines the emergence of today's violent conspiracies of the white supremacist Right. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Missed an opportunity
Chalmers' Backfire is intended to illustrate how the Klan's activities backfired and actually helped the Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s.Chalmers cites examples, but fails to provide and in-depth analysis to support his thesis.He spends the second half of the book discussing the downfall of the Klan and the continued rise of the movement after loosing one of its most prominent faces, Dr. King.

The entire book is filled with useful information, but half digresses from a strong thesis.Supporting his thesis throughout the book would have made his case that much stronger. ... Read more

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Arguably the most tumultuous time in recent American history, the Civil Rights years inspired the most rational and irrational of human behaviors and set the stage for sweeping reform in the nation's race relations. Juan Williams's moving chronicle of the movement stands as the definitive history of the era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The Civil Rights Primer
This companion book deserves space on your library if you are serious about history or what solid documentation for future reference.The Eyes on the Prize series was revolutionary as it wove a critical piece of modern history which was easy for anyone to absorb.The book comes with solid pictures and other tidbits which put you right in the drama which unfolded on the national scene.I have my differences with Juan Williams, however he did a good job in writing the book.

Bad
This book was in very poor condition. Not what I expect. I will never purchase another book from this vendor.

fast shipping..
this book came at a reasonable time.i can't comment on the contents of the book seeing as it was for me. But the person I bought for was very happy with the book condition and its new looking cover..even if the book itself was used.

A WORTHY COMPANION
This is a very good book on its own. But, as a companion to the series Eyes On The Prize, it's priceless. A book that should be in every american home. A part of United States history that should be required reading in our schools. Wake Up, America.

A great insight into the civil rights movement
The book really showed all of the little steps, and big sacrifices, that individuals made which cumulatively created the momentum that allowed for the success of The Civil Rights Movement. I thought is was a thorough book which was very well written and was very moving. Also it serves as a reminder to the reader what types of individual actions are needed in order to affect a change at the government level. ... Read more

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A multidisciplinary group of scholars examines how the actions of the United States as a global leader are worsening pressures on people worldwide to migrate, while simultaneously degrading migrant rights. Uniting such diverse issues as market reform, drug policy, and terrorism under a common framework of human rights, the book constitutes a call for a new vision on immigration. ... Read more

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"The question often asked is 'where is a good starting place for learning about international human rights?' The answer now is Donnelly's International Human Rights. Eminently readable, chock-full of information, Donnelly's book is a must-read." (Human Rights Quarterly)

In this new edition, Jack Donnelly updates his classic text on the rise of human rights issues since World War II to reflect the new challenges posed by globalization and the war on terrorism. The third edition includes two entirely new chapters on the Universality of Human Rights and Terrorism, and focuses on the recent emergence of nonstate actors such as the UN and NGO's. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Human Rights 101
I originally read this book for a class at Vassar College my freshman year.Yes, this book can be dry, and it is not a quick read by any stretch of the imagination, yet, it also clearly portrays the basic theoretical paradigms behind the contemporary study of human rights.Quite evidently, this book is meant to be a text for courses on the subject matter, and in terms of this objective it succeeds.

Very Good Introduction to International Human Rights
Jack Donnelly porvides a very good introduction to human rights as an issue in world politics. Particularly his treatment of human rights in foreign policy is excellent. Worth reading.

not very interesting
i had this book to read for a class at james madison university and if your living and breathing...don't read this book. it was dry and didn't grab my attention at all.if you want facts, then this is the book for you.if you want good reading,pick another book. ... Read more

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No other book about the civil rights movement captures the drama and impact of the black struggle for equality better than Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968. Two of the most respected scholars of African-American history, Steven F. Lawson and Charles Payne, examine the individuals who made the movement a success, both at the highest level of government and in the grassroots trenches. Designed specifically for college and university courses in American history, this is the best introduction available to the glory and agony of these turbulent times. ... Read more

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Bringing together key selections that represent the full range of philosophical debates, policy analyses, and first-hand accounts, the editors offer a comprehensive and accessible set of readings on the major themes and issues in the field of international human rights. The reader has been carefully designed to enhance students' understanding not only of human rights, but also of differing perspectives on the topic. This title offers a comprehensive and accessible set of readings on the major themes and issues in the field of international human rights. ... Read more

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This widely acclaimed interdisciplinary coursebook presents a diverse range of carefully edited primary and secondary materials alongside extensive text, editorial commentary, and study questions. International Human Rights in Context, Third Edition, thoroughly covers the basic characteristics of international law; evolution of the human rights movement; civil, political, economic, and social rights; the humanitarian laws of war; globalization; self-determination; women's rights; universalism and cultural relativism; intergovernmental and nongovernmental institutions; implementation and enforcement; internal application of human rights norms; and the spread of constitutionalism.
Extensively revised and restructured, this third edition incorporates new themes and topics including human rights in relation to terrorism and national security; responsibility of non-state actors for human rights violations; recent substantial changes in sources and processes of international law; achieved and potential reform within UN human rights institutions; and theories about international organizations and their influence on state behavior. It is also accompanied by a website housing the Annex of Documents.
Its scope, challenging enquiries, and clarity make International Human Rights in Context, Third Edition, an indispensable resource for human rights students, scholars, advocates, and practitioners alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Thorough but Overly Dense
My Professor required this textbook as the main textbook for "International Human Rights Law."The book contains almost everything you would need to have a grasp of current international human rights law, but does not contain enough commentary to help a student truly put all the pieces together and think critically about those pieces.Unfortunately, unless you are reading this book in the context of a law school or graduate level course, you simply cannot use this book to gain a good general grasp of the development of human rights law or thought.However, if you are simply looking to have one book (albeit a very large book) that contains all of the most important cases, writings, treatises, etc., in one location, this is that book.

PSLX219
Purchased this book for a graduate level class--it was terrific. The reading was interesting and informative. It gave just enough depth into the cases reviewed.

Human Rights Concerns
This book contains information about numerous human rights concerns from all around the world. In addition, it contains numerous articles and many documents. It is a wonderful research took that can be used by persons first learning about human rights, as well as by those persons who are working on post-undergraduate degrees

Thought-provoking
This is a really good human rights textbook.It covers a wide range of human rights issues, and has a lot of interesting articles.However I found some of the chapters rather difficult because of the legal jargon.Some of the things you have to read over more than once.The questions in the text focus on your personal opinions, so doing homework from this book is not so bad once you understand the questions (which for my slow brain was a challenge.)It is also very useful as a doorstop.:)

A book worth reading, not for the fainted heart
A book mixing a variety of topics on the hot subject of child labor, it combines all the right elements to attract the reader.Though the lengh of the book is a little long its great ideas and intriguing subject keep youreading.This is an enjoyable book to read on a lazy day. ... Read more

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In recent years, aggrieved groups around the world have routinely portrayed themselves as victims of human rights abuses. Physically and mentally disabled people, indigenous peoples, AIDS patients, and many others have chosen to protect and promote their interests by advancing new human rights norms before the United Nations and other international bodies. Often, these claims have met strong resistance from governments and corporations. More surprisingly, even apparent allies, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other nongovernmental organizations, have voiced misgivings, arguing that rights "proliferation" will weaken efforts to protect their traditional concerns: civil and political rights.

Why are certain global problems recognized as human rights issues while others are not? How do local activists transform long-standing problems into universal rights claims? When and why do human rights groups, governments, and international organizations endorse new rights? The International Struggle for New Human Rights is the first book to address these issues.

Focusing on activists who advance new rights, the book introduces a framework for understanding critical strategies and conflicts involved in the struggle to persuade the human rights movement to move beyond traditional problems and embrace pressing new ones.

Essays in the volume consider rights activism by such groups as the South Asian Dalits, sexual minorities, and children of wartime rape victims, while others explore new issues such as health rights, economic rights, and the right to water. Examining both the successes and failures of such campaigns, The International Struggle for New Human Rights will be a key resource not only for scholars but also for those on the front lines of human rights work.

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Human Rights in the International Public Sphere has an interdisciplinary focus and can be used as a text in communication studies, cultural studies, political science, current events, discourse analysis, area and international studies, and other courses in the social sciences and humanities. ... Read more

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In June 1963, in the midst of national turmoil brought about by civil rights demonstrations, John Kennedy sent his administration's first major civil rights bill to the Congress. Still unsure about this move, he asked his brother Robert, "Do you think we did the right thing?" Within days of assuming the presidency, Lyndon Johnson publicly committed himself to civil rights as a "memorial" to his predecessor. Privately he told Georgia's Senator Richard Russell, the leader of the South in Congress, "Dick, you've got to get out of my way. I'm going to run you over." President Johnson would not compromise or equivocate on civil rights. John Kennedy of Massachusetts yielded to the pressure of events and became an ally of the movement, despite his fear that supporting civil rights could cost him votes in Congress and the nation. Lyndon Johnson of Texas, whom liberals loathed because he often gutted their prize legislation, became the committed champion of civil rights. Together their administrations became synonymous with the Second Reconstruction, though neither president had a prior record of strong civil rights commitment. Mark Stern explains how each man pursued power and votes, and ultimately redirected his own course of action and altered the nation's future. Mark Stern is a professor of political science and director of the University Honors Program at the University of Central Florida. ... Read more

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The civil rights movement was first and foremost a struggle for racial equality, but questions of gender lay deeply embedded within this struggle. Steve Estes explores key groups, leaders, and events in the movement to understand how activists used race and manhood to articulate their visions of what American society should be.

Estes demonstrates that, at crucial turning points in the movement, both segregationists and civil rights activists harnessed masculinist rhetoric, tapping into implicit assumptions about race, gender, and sexuality. Estes begins with an analysis of the role of black men in World War II and then examines the segregationists, who demonized black male sexuality and galvanized white men behind the ideal of southern honor. Later, he explores the militant new models of manhood espoused by civil rights activists and groups such as Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Black Panther Party.

Reliance on masculinist organizing strategies had both positive and negative consequences, Estes concludes. Tracing these strategies from the integration of the U.S. military in the 1940s through the Million Man March in the 1990s, he shows that masculinism rallied men to action but left unchallenged many of the patriarchal assumptions that underlay American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Black masculinity is a political force
Borrowing from a research model pioneered by feminist scholars,
Steve Estes examines the history of African American men in a racialized-gendered context to argue that black men's masculinity was at stake throughout these struggles.

The assistant professor of history at Sonoma State College produces an interesting and readable account of state politics. Examining the politics of representing black men's bodies, he argues that appearance can and does effectively influence civil rights.

From the days of slavery to the civil rights movement, black men being too assertive in the public sphere was a breach of the 'social order' established by racist white society.

Even people who were allegedly on their side (white abolitionists) depicted black men as 'begging' for their freedom, inferring dependence and weakness--decidedly 'unmasculine' traits.

Alternately, black men's sexuality was portrayed as a threat to the established order. A black man who had any degree of contact with a white woman in any context risked being perceived as the 'rapist' an ultra-masculine stereotype. Ironically, the white individuals and their organized hate groups claimed to only be protecting white women with the subsequent lynching being through `white masculinity's' obligation to `protect' the women of `our community'.

Because it was safer for black men during those times, they consequently adopted a position of subservience to the 'larger world'. Black women took an active lead in the earliest civil rights movements out of practicality.

Whether they had all of the theories our society now has access to, the Black Panthers also articulated a critique of black masculinity and political legitimacy. Sharply contrasting against the buffoonish 'Jim Crow' their ideal black man was an articulate, proactive, solider fighting on behalf of himself, his community, and his people.

Estes is passionate about his work and makes a generally convincing case for his thesis. I am curious that his manuscript did not include a more extensive examination of the Black Pather's articulated desire to build (then-unprecedented) alliances with homosexuals and women. There's some information about each group in this book, but nothing about this earliest coalition building attempt and nothing how that action had challenged heterosexism within the Black Panthers, or the after effects for black masculinity as a political force.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Multiracial politics - the best history
Williams is one of the VERY few authors who actually tries to present a reasonally accurate history of the Multiracial Movement and the controversy of the "multiracial census category."The movement is far more than that. It is also a critique of every "racial" aspect of society.I would recommend works by former "Interracial Voice" authors:Beyond Race: The Bhagavad-gita in Black and WhiteThe Bhagavad-Gita in Black and White: From Mulatto Pride to Krishna ConsciousnessA Brief History of Social Identity: From Kinship to Multirace"Passing" for Who You Really Are: Essays in Support of Multiracial WhitenessLegal History of the Color Line: The Rise And Triumph of the One-drop Rule

... Read more

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Public policy on immigration will be central to determining the form and character of U.S. society in the twenty-first century. The political Right has so far seized the initiative in defining the parameters of the discussion, in effect limiting national debate to choosing between degrees of restrictionism.

Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas fills a gap in existing literature on immigration by providing a variety of perspectives among those who agree that immigrants have rights, but may differ about how to assert those rights. First published in the quarterly journal Social Justice in 1996, these essays are written by some of the most notable scholars in the area of immigration. This volume will be valuable for classroom use and beyond because of the readable and accessible style of the articles.

The 13 contributions to this new book are refreshingly progressive interventions into the national debate on immigration. They agree that divergent approaches exist among progressives and that such differences must be examined.

Calling upon that which is best in the democratic heritage of the U.S., this collection challenges the historic and ongoing civil rights struggle to adopt a global perspective that includes the civil rights of all immigrants, whether documented or undocumented. In addition, the book takes on issues that are relevant to everyday realities in most communi-ties throughout the U.S.

Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas is ideal for courses on 20th-century American history, immigration, sociology, political science, and other social sciences. ... Read more

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"Nixon's Civil Rights is, far and away, the best book written on the topic. Anyone interested in the Civil Rights movement, the 1970s, and the Nixon era will find it indispensable. A truly landmark study."--Douglas Brinkley, University of New OrleansRichard Nixon believed that history would show his administration in the forefront of civil rights progress. What does the record really say about civil rights under Nixon? In a groundbreaking new book, Dean Kotlowski offers a surprising study of an administration that redirected the course of civil rights in America.Nixon's policymaking recast the civil rights debate from an argument over racial integration to an effort to improve the economic station of disadvantaged groups. Kotlowski examines such issues as school desegregation, fair housing, voting rights, affirmative action, and minority businesses as well as Native American and women's rights. He details Nixon's role, revealing a president who favored deeds over rhetoric and who constantly weighed political expediency and principles in crafting civil rights policy.In moving the debate from the street to the system, Nixon set civil rights on a path whose merits and results are still debated. Nixon's Civil Rights is a revealing portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures of modern American politics and a major contribution to the study of civil rights in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A surprising side of Nixon you do not know!
Read this for graduate American history course.
In Nixon's Civil Right's, the author enumerates the many positive results of the President Richard Nixon's civil rights policy agenda. Although not well publicized in the media or histories of the Nixon era, his accomplishments were numerous and remain a part of United States government institutions and the civil rights lexicon of our contemporary times. When discussing prior histories on Nixon's civil right policy, the author points out the domination of Nixon's "southern strategy" to attract white southerners, his anti-busing stance in most Nixon histories and the paucity of discussion of his creation of an institutionalized bureaucracy to advance the cause of civil rights. Nixon appreciated how his own access to opportunity to become a "self-made man" helped him transcend his own socio-economic background. Consequently, he advocated equal opportunity for Blacks in spite of his own misgivings about their true equality to whites.

Since the author is arguing a positive viewpoint that Nixon had numerous accomplishments in advancing civil rights, a reasonable suspicion could develop that he was a defender or supporter of Nixon. Even so, the volume of objective evidence delineated by the author of Nixon's good deeds on civil rights makes this suspicion appear as an oversimplification of a complex American public figure.

The author espoused the following significant theme. The president's complex handling of civil rights stemmed from his attempt to accommodate various social forces, his own conscience, life experience and the exigencies of populist politics. The opposing social forces included the battle over school segregation in the South and frustration in the urban areas of the North over economic inequality.

Another significant theme in the book was his policy's consistency with the "moderate Republicanism" ideology of selective use of government power to facilitate equal-opportunity for social mobility. Significantly, the author argued that this "moderation" was recognized by Nixon as needed in order to unify the GOP's liberal and Conservative wings.

Political expediency was considered by the author to be Nixon's primary consideration and he pursued multiple goals in order to gain the most votes for the least amount of commitments. His language emphasized the working poor and taxpayers and minorities were tepidly sought after for votes. Nixon believed that he would never win over a majority of Blacks and his efforts to win their votes reflected this belief. Nixon thought his efforts were better spent towards Catholic Italians and Hispanics with conservative proclivities. The Democrats controlled the Congress. Therefore, Nixon chose a blend of liberalism and conservatism that he thought would have broad appeal with the electorate. "By basing his appeals on token gestures and public relations, the president was free to pursue conservative and moderate voters." (p. 16)

In his 1968 presidential campaign, Nixon reaffirmed his belief in the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown versus Board decision. He thought desegregation was the right course of action but he recognized this position did not help him politically. Consequently, as policies began to be debated about how to proceed towards school desegregation, he postulated that busing should not be used to force integration of public schools. He also believed Blacks should be allowed to purchase homes wherever they chose but he avoided policies that would force the races together. Nevertheless, the book recalled Nixon's dissonance with segregation in the South while he was at Duke University. As a proponent of equal opportunity, he sought for affirmative action with hiring goals for minorities as a way to enhance Black economic mobility.

An impressive articulation of the complexity of the Nixon philosophy follows: "While cultivating white conservative white southerners and blue collar ethnic voters, Nixonians paradoxically tackled welfare reform, desegregated schools, and developed affirmative action programs for the building trades."(p.21)

President Nixon's civil rights policies did not end with Blacks. It was also extended towards Native Americans and women. Nixon's methodology for civil rights reform was to seek bureaucratized and job-oriented remedies that achieved more access to the opportunity for upward mobility.

It was also interesting to see how activist many of the civil rights and other programs Nixon supported were. As vice president, he chaired a committee to prohibit discrimination by companies receiving government contracts. This action drew praise from Martin Luther King and the two leaders had a cordial relationship for a limited time. "From 1957 to 1968 he supported every major civil rights law passed by Congress".(p.24) In 1966, he backed cost of living increases for Social Security recipients.

Affirmative action was a significant legacy of the Nixon presidency and is still in effect in our universities and workplaces. Nixon used affirmative action address the grievances that resulted in the urban rioting of the late 1960' s. Racial discrimination in the construction trades was a glaring problem in the 1960's. Blacks picketed
Philadelphia's white dominated building trade unions. The unions wanted to limit membership in order to keep the labor supply tight and sustain good wage rates. The Nixon Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Agency investigated the rapid increase in the cost of housing in 1969. The HUD report concluded that racial discrimination was contributing to labor shortages and increasing the cost of housing. This factor and the urban unrest led Nixon to pursue affirmative action by asking for hiring goals for Blacks of 5 to 9 percent. A protest by conservatives in both political parties ensued. These conservatives said that such a scheme amounted to a quota system which violated the Civil Acts Right of 1964. Labor Secretary George P. Schultz justified the scheme saying that the quota was zero prior to the administration's initiative. In late 1969, a modified version of the Philadelphia Plan was approved by Congress that set hiring goals, not quotas, for companies that accepted federal contracts.

The politics of labor unions in this instance provides an example for the author of how "Nixon's choice of civil rights remedies shifted with the prevailing winds." (p.1 09) Critics charged that he was trying to divide the Democratic constituency by facing off the unions against proponents of civil rights for Blacks. Nixon was politically uncomfortable with the Philadelphia Plan and as he looked towards re-election, his enthusiasm for it waned. He recognized he was going to need labor unions in order to win re-election. Therefore, his federal department appointees engaged in a measured approach on enforcement.

Nixon was a political creature who sought after civil rights because he thought it was the right thing to do but also recognized it would score voting gains among civil rights proponents. He also openly stated to his advisors that he recognized that, as an overall policy, pursuing civil rights would hurt him politically. Consequently, he found hot button issues like busing that would gamer votes from those opposed to integration. His sincerity on civil rights can be questioned since he may have done just enough to maximize his votes at the littlest cost, as the author has postulated. The author certainly discusses lots of evidence that, as the cost for a given civil rights position became higher, more lucid and imminent as election day approached, Nixon pedaled the breaks on the civil rights bus. This was true for the 1972 election when he voiced his opposition to school busing. Numerous people believe that good leadership entails a willingness to risk full rebuke and "lose it all" for the sake of a just cause. The problem with this notion is, you can't lead if you are run out of office. The slow process of a just conclusion for our nation's civil rights issue is a glaring example of the exigencies of our nation's political system. A fair generalization is; politicians are dragged kicking and screaming to do the just thing and only when they see the political tide turning, that the benefits of support exceed the costs, do they give way.

Other Employment programs developed by Nixon included the Equal Employment Act (EEA) of 1972. This act allowed individuals to sue universities and employers suspected of bias. The EEA embodied Nixon's desire to see equal opportunity enforced though the courts and not the "cease and desist" measures endorsed by his own head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), William H. Brown III and liberals in Congress. The author cited evidence that the EEA and enforcement through litigation approach of the EEOC led to opening private industry to minorities and women. The additional opening of universities for these same groups led to more minorities and women being qualified for management and technical positions in the government and private industry.

The author provides an interesting analysis of the genesis of the growth of opposition to affirmative action. In the latter part of the 1970's, economic recessions had undermined white male job security and they sought assurances that gains for women and minorities would not come at their expense. The author stated that presidents Nixon and Carter failed to provide this assurance and this explains the sense of relief experienced by those that supported the 1978 Supreme Court's decision in Regents of California versus Bakke which said the quota system DCAL-Davis used was unconstitutional.

Nixon's efforts to promote civil rights centered upon opening up new opportunities for economic advancement through the educational system and organizations that employed a high quantity of individuals such as the federal government. He wanted Blacks to become better educated and thus better qualified for white collar jobs. Therefore, he opened up public colleges for blacks and he helped all-Black schools by advocating financial aid for these schools. He wanted capital formation to be facilitated by government programs so Blacks could form new businesses and instituted or enhanced federal business loan programs. He wanted college students to trade in violent protest for the right to vote, so he signed the Voting Rights Act of 1970 giving eighteen year olds the
right to vote. He also fought to strengthen self government for Native Americans and ameliorate living conditions on the reservations. For women, Nixon sidestepped the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) but advocated affirmative action and the elimination of gender bias in the workplace.

President Nixon's philosophy of opening up opportunity as the conduit through which civil rights for minorities and women would be enhanced resonated with the middle-class constituency that reelected him in 1972. The author concludes that, with a Democratic Congress relentlessly reminding him of the people's desire for civil rights reforms within American society, he surprised both critics and supporters with his bold initiatives. Bold initiatives such as self-determination for Native Americans and aid to Black colleges and businesses. Although Nixon was very pessimistic about his policies ever really manifesting in racial equality, the author stated, "His policies influenced public policy, society and politics even after he left office" (p.26l) and are still with us today.

The author provides an interesting, thought provoking account of how Nixon left a positive mark on America in spite of his disgraceful resignation due to the cover-up of the Watergate scandal. It was a welcome addition to the histories written about the Nixon presidency that add to our understanding of an intelligent, complex and yet, profoundly flawed man. The author concludes, however, that Nixon's record on civil rights will not enhance his place in history, even though, on civil rights, he principally accomplished more than any of his successors. The very complexity of his motives that helped his policy progress; social justice, opportunism and political expediency, would prevent him from being welcomed as the "unanticipated hero" of civil rights. The Vietnam controversy, his paranoia and fundamental dishonesty remain the primary focus of Nixon's historic legacy.

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I recommended this book for anyone interested in American history, and Watergate history.

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This widely acclaimed and highly regarded book, embraced by students, scholars, policymakers, and activists, now appears in a new edition. Using the theme of visions seen by those who dreamed of what might be, Lauren explores the dramatic transformation of a world patterned by centuries of traditional structures of authority, gender abuse, racial prejudice, class divisions and slavery, colonial empires, and claims of national sovereignty into a global community that now boldly proclaims that the way governments treat their own people is a matter of international concern—and sets the goal of human rights "for all peoples and all nations."

Lauren makes clear the truly universal nature of this movement by drawing into his discussion people and cultures in every part of the globe. In this regard, the book offers particularly remarkable revelations and insights when analyzing the impact of wars and revolutions, non-Western nations, struggles against sexism and racism, liberation movements and decolonization, nongovernmental organizations, and the courage and determination of countless numbers of common men and women who have contributed to the evolution of international human rights.

This new edition incorporates the most recent developments of the International Criminal Court, the arrest of Augusto Pinochet and the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, technology and the Internet, the impact of NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, globalization, terrorism, and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Customer Reviews (10)

Quality Book
I was very satisfied with the text book. It is in almost perfect condition and was delievered in a timely fashion. Impressive! Plus I saved a lot of needed money.

A Truly International History of Human rRights
One of the major things that striked me about this book is Lauren's acknowledgement that the concept of human rights is not a completely Western creation.Traditions around the world, political, cultural, and religious, have stressed justice and equality.
Lauren's treatment of Human Rights is quite thorough.I have to commend him for the fact that he does not value judgements on any of the events he described.He acknowledges the mistakes made but does not dwell on them.
I also learned a lot of things about history that wasn't touched about in my history classes.I can say that I actually felt smarter reading this book.:)

The Best book ever written on Human Rights Theory
The author Paul Gordon Lauren deserves kudos!! A very well written book on Human Rights Theory. A must for all those who seriously want to go into depth on this subject. The concept of Human Rights is not limited to the western world nor it is proper to say that it has arisen mainly from Europe, an idea which has been very well captured in this book.

a wonderful book
"For scholars of international human rights, it is difficult to imagine a finer gift on the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights than this study of the Declaration's complexand far-reaching impact.Paul Gordon Lauren has skillfully combined adetailed history of the legal documents with the political, philosophical,and social contexts in which they developed.He has further enriched hisstudy with the personal visions of leading individuals so that the storycomes alive, unfolding with a human drama supported by meticulous scholarlyresearch." -- American Historical Review

outstanding
Awarded an Outstanding Academic Book for 1999 Award from Choice Magazine ... Read more

Product Description

In the decades following the triumphant proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the UN General Assembly was transformed by the arrival of newly independent states from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This diverse constellation of states introduced new ideas, methods, and priorities to the human rights program. Their influence was magnified by the highly effective nature of Asian, Arab, and African diplomacy in the UN human rights bodies and the sheer numerical superiority of the so-called Afro-Asian bloc. Owing to the nature of General Assembly procedure, the Third World states dominated the human rights agenda, and enthusiastic support for universal human rights was replaced by decades of authoritarianism and an increasingly strident rejection of the ideas laid out in the Universal Declaration.

In Decolonization and the Evolution of International Human Rights, Roland Burke explores the changing impact of decolonization on the UN human rights program. By recovering the contributions of those Asian, African, and Arab voices that joined the global rights debate, Burke demonstrates the central importance of Third World influence across the most pivotal battles in the UN, from those that secured the principle of universality, to the passage of the first binding human rights treaties, to the flawed but radical step of studying individual pleas for help. The very presence of so many independent voices from outside the West, and the often defensive nature of Western interventions, complicates the common presumption that the postwar human rights project was driven by Europe and the United States. Drawing on UN transcripts, archives, and the personal papers of key historical actors, this book challenges the notion that the international rights order was imposed on an unwilling and marginalized Third World. Far from being excluded, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern diplomats were powerful agents in both advancing and later obstructing the promotion of human rights.

Customer Reviews (1)

Universal human rights were an integral part of decolonization--not oppression
"Decolonization and the Evolution of International Human Rights" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Burke's book interview ran here as the cover feature on July 26, 2010. ... Read more