Contents
1. Introduction
Part1 What Are Human Rights?
2. Human Rights: Concepts and Theories
what Are Human Rights ?
protecting and Promoting Rights
One Declaration, Two Covenants
Categories of Human Rights
IR Theory and the Study to Human Rights
Controversies Raised by Human Rights
Conclusion
3. Human Rights in Context
Human Rights and Religious Traditions
Human Rights and Western Imperialism
Asia Values and International Human Rights
Is Islam Compatible with International Human Rights
Human Rights and the Arab Spring Revolutions
Moral Relativity and Moral Universality
Conclusion
Part2 Actors and Implementation
5. Human Rights and the Stats
Sovereignty and the State
The Westphalian State
Theories of the State
Human Rights and State Sovereignty
Conclusion
6. Implementation and Enforcement
National Laws and National Courts
Human Rights and Foreign Policies
Truth Commissions
Regional Mechanisms
International Mechanisms
Is There an International Human Rights Regime?
Conclusion
7. The Role of Nonstate Actors
NGOs and the Promotion of Human Rights
National Human Rights Groups and Centers
Individuals and the Development of Human Rights
Social Mechanisms and the Development of Human Rights
Transnational Advocacy Networks and the World Social Forum
Promoting Corporate Responsibility
Conclusion
Part3 Contemporary Issues
8. Genocide
What Is Genocide?
The Failure of Intervention to Prevent or Stop Genocide
The Armenian Genocide in 1915
The Holocaust
Politicide in Cambodia
Ethnic Cleansing in the Former Yugoslavia
Genocide in Rwanda
Unofficial Genocide in Darfur
Systematic Violence Against the World's Indigenous Peoples
Conclusion
9. The Laws of War
Just War Theory
The Rules of Warfare
Terrorism and the Laws of War
Changing International Norms on State Use of Force
Humanitarian Intervention
International Tribunals
Conclusion
10. Civil Liberties and Political Rights
State Repression and Human Rights
Civil Liberties and Political Rights
Freedom of Movement
The Rule of Law and Due Process
Political Prisoners and the Problem of Torture
National Security and Exceptionalism
Conclusion
11. Civil Rights and Identity Politics
Why Discriminate?
Identity and the Economy
Self-Determination
Communal Groups
Imperialism, Slavery and Postcolonial Perspectives
Nondiscrimination and International Human Rights
Emerging Rights Issues
Conclusion
12. Women's Rights
What Is Patriarchy?
Women and the Economy
Women's Legal and Political Equality
Bride Burning Dowry Burning and Honor Killing
Female Infanticide
Female Genital Mutilation
Rape
Human Trafficking
Domestic Violence
Protecting and Promoting Women's Human Rights
Conclusion
13. Economic Social and Cultural Rights
The Basic Rights and Beyond
An Adequate Food Supply
Access to Clean Water and Sanitation
The Right to Refuge
The Right to Migrate
Health Care
A Clean Environment
The UN Millennium Development Goals
The Question and Obligation of Social and Cultural Rights
Self-Determination
Language
Cultural Integrity
Conclusion
Part4. Where Do We Go from Here?
14. The Future of International Human Rights
Reforming the State
Democratizing World Order
Is an Enforceable International Human Rights Regime Possible?
The Future of International Human Rights
15. What Can I Do?

This comprehensive introduction to the study of human rights in international politics blends concrete developments with theoretical inquiry, illuminating both in the process. Franke Wilmer presents the nuts and bolts of human rights concepts, actors, and implementation before grappling with issues ranging from war and genocide to social and economic needs to racial and religious discrimination. Two themes―the tension between values and interests, and the role of the state as both a protector of human rights and a perpetrator of human rights violations―are reflected throughout the text. The result is a clear, accessible exposition of the evolution of international human rights, as well as the challenges that those rights pose, in the context of the state system.