Human Rights in World History

by Peter N. Stearns

Defended by a host of passionate advocates and organizations, certain standard human rights have come to represent a quintessential component of global citizenship. There are, however, a number of societies who dissent from this orthodoxy, either in general or on particular issues, on the basis of political necessity, cultural tradition, or group interest.Human Rights in World History takes a global historical perspective to examine the emergence of this dilemma and its constituent concepts. Beginning with premodern features compatible with a human rights approach, including religious doctrines and natural rights ideas, it goes on to describe the rise of the first modern-style human rights statements, associated with the Enlightenment and contemporary antislavery and revolutionary fervor. Along the way, it explores ongoing contrasts in the liberal approach, between sincere commitments to human rights and a recurrent sense that certain types of people had to be denied common rights because of their perceived backwardness and need to be civilized. These contrasts find clear echo in later years with the contradictions between the pursuit of human rights goals and the spread of Western imperialism.By the second half of the 20th century, human rights frameworks had become absorbed into key global institutions and conventions, and their arguments had expanded to embrace multiple new causes. In today's postcolonial world, and with the rise of more powerful regional governments, the tension between universal human rights arguments and local opposition or backlash is more clearly delineated than ever but no closer to satisfactory resolution.

Genres: Nonfiction

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Peter Nathaniel Stearns is a professor at George Mason University, where he was provost from January 1, 2000 to July 2014.
Stearns was chair of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University and also served as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now named Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, he founded and edited the Journal of Social History. While at Carnegie Mellon, he developed a pioneering approach to teaching World History, and has contributed to the field as well through editing, and contributing to, the Routledge series, Themes in World History. He is also known for various work on the nature and impact of the industrial revolution and for exploration of new topics, particularly in the history of emotions.
He is active in historical groups such as the American Historical Association, the Society for French Historical Studies, the Social Science History Association and the International Society for Research on Emotion.

Reviews

[Sonny Russano · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, Stearns sets out to map the history of human rights across millennia, and trace themes in that history that can help contextualize modern debates. While Stearns does achieve this with a wide (though Western-skewed) choice of historiography to build his narratives, there are several issues that prevent me from recommending it to others.

Firstly, the book is mired with confusing — and at times — outright incorrect writing and grammar that obfuscates the point and detracts attention away from the substance of the writing. Consistent throughout the book, the style does not lend itself to a concise history.

Before I make my second point, I will repeat that I understand the vast scope of Stearns’s work: a multi-millennia track record of human rights; every single relevant event or trend cannot be covered in two hundred pages. That being said, there are several topics — the Armenian Genocide in the interwar chapter and Israel in the post-WWII chapter — that are conspicuous in their absence, especially considering the topics he covers in those chapters.

All in all, Stearns outlines several compelling themes that have genuine value when discussing human rights throughout history. Any third edition, however, needs close copyediting and a reevaluation of the events and topics Stearns uses to move his narrative along.

[Heather Schafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5