Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry:Michael Ignatieff draws on his extensive experience as a writer and commentator on world affairs to present a penetrating account of the successes, failures, and prospects of the human rights revolution. Since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, this revolution has brought the world moral progress and broken the nation-state's monopoly on the conduct of international affairs. But it has also faced challenges. Ignatieff argues that human rights activists have rightly drawn criticism from Asia, the Islamic world, and within the West itself for being overambitious and unwilling to accept limits. It is now time, he writes, for activists to embrace a more modest agenda and to reestablish the balance between the rights of states and the rights of citizens. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - dono421846 - LibraryThingExtremely powerful book; I regret that I waited so long to get around to reading it. Ignatieff argues that the purpose of human rights, drawing from its roots in natural law, is to protect human ... Read full review