The Human Rights Reader

Reviews / Votes

Praise for The Human Rights Reader, Third Edition

Ishay's Human Rights Reader is a monumental work, chronicling the force of human rights ideas and documents in the time they emerged and beyond. For activists like myself, joined in the campaign to forge enduring peace founded on universal rights, this book offers a wealth of knowledge with unparalleled breadth. It is a truly important resource.

--Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Laureate

The Human Rights Reader offers a sweeping documentary history of the struggle for human rights. Ishay's selections and commentary go beyond illuminating the intellectual development of human rights discourse to depict emerging challenges that human rights defenders will surely face in coming decades. This volume represents the best form of human rights advocacy, combining scholarly understanding with activist passion while upholding all rights for everyone.

--Nadine Strossen, New York Law School (Emerita)

Praise for Previous Editions

In tracing the complex intellectual history of human rights, Micheline Ishay's insightful and provocative selection of texts illuminates many of today's most fundamental rights debates. Are human rights Western impositions or universal values? Does globalization advance or undermine them? Do they originate in or constrain religion? Are they the product of socialism or among its victims? Did the anti-colonial movement respond to repression or simply shift its source? None of these questions admits simple answers, but no one should address them without considering the deep and varied perspectives provided in Ishay's new Human Rights Reader.

-- Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights WatchMicheline Ishay's excellent collection provides all the material that anyone needs to participate in the critical debates about human rights. Differing views of cultural diversity, economic justice, national self-determination, and humanitarian intervention are fairly and intelligently represented.

--Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

Following her masterly History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Era of Globalization, Micheline Ishay now presents us with an extraordinarily rich, original, and illuminating compilation of sources on the history and philosophy of human rights. Insightful introductions to each part provide the appropriate historical context. A 'must' for courses on human rights.

--David Kretzmer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Transitional Justice Institute Praise for The Human Rights Reader, Third Edition

"Ishay's Human Rights Reader is a monumental work, chronicling the force of human rights ideas and documents in the time they emerged and beyond. For activists like myself, joined in the campaign to forge enduring peace founded on universal rights, this book offers a wealth of knowledge with unparalleled breadth. It is a truly important resource."

-Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Laureate

"The Human Rights Reader offers a sweeping documentary history of the struggle for human rights. Ishay's selections and commentary go beyond illuminating the intellectual development of human rights discourse to depict emerging challenges that human rights defenders will surely face in coming decades. This volume represents the best form of human rights advocacy, combining scholarly understanding with activist passion while upholding all rights for everyone."

-Nadine Strossen, New York Law School (Emerita); Past President, American Civil Liberties Union

Praise for Previous Editions

"In tracing the complex intellectual history of human rights, Micheline R. Ishay's insightful and provocative selection of texts illuminates many of today's most fundamental rights debates. Are human rights Western impositions or universal values? Does globalization advance or undermine them? Do they originate in or constrain religion? Are they the product of socialism or among its victims? Did the anti-colonial movement respond to repression or simply shift its source? None of these questions admits simple answers, but no one should address them without considering the deep and varied perspectives provided in Ishay's new Human Rights Reader."

-Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

"Micheline R. Ishay's excellent collection provides all the material that anyone needs to participate in the critical debates about human rights. Differing views of cultural diversity, economic justice, national self-determination, and humanitarian intervention are fairly and intelligently represented."

-Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

"Following her masterly History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Era of Globalization, Micheline R. Ishay now presents us with an extraordinarily rich, original, and illuminating compilation of sources on the history and philosophy of human rights. Insightful introductions to each part provide the appropriate historical context. A 'must' for courses on human rights."

-David Kretzmer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Emeritus