
Human Rights in China
A Social Practice in the Shadows of Authoritarianism
Eva Pils(Author)
Polity Press
Published on 27. October 2017
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-5095-0069-7 (ISBN)
Description
How can we make sense of human rights in China's authoritarian system? In this insightful book, China law expert Eva Pils offers a nuanced account of this contentious area, examining human rights as a set of social practices involving a variety of actors, including officials of the system and civil society actors. Drawing on a wide range of resources including years of interaction with Chinese human rights defenders, Pils discusses sources of human rights violations, as well as institutional avenues of protection and social practices of human rights defence.
Three central areas are given special attention: liberty and integrity of the person and the right not to be tortured; freedom of thought and expression; and inequality and socio-economic rights. Pils argues that the Party-State system is inherently opposed to human rights principles in all these areas. Yet, civil society actors have developed social practices of human rights advocacy whose political significance is not entirely dependent on the Party-State. Despite authoritarianism's lengthening shadows, China's human rights movement has so far proved resourceful and resilient, and the trajectories discussed in this book will continue to shape ongoing struggles.
Reviews / Votes
"Justice, tradition, contention: only Eva Pils could assess each of these complex constructs in the context of contemporary China, but also argue effectively that human rights have evolved as a social practice. In addition to systematically eviscerating authoritarians' shallow claims to uphold the rule of law, Pils offers a rich view of bottom-up, extraordinarily persistent activism - and the prospect of change in China." Sophie Richardson, Human Rights WatchMore details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
476 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5095-0069-7 (9781509500697)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2017
Polity Press
€16.99
Available for download

Book
10/2017
Polity Press
€23.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Eva Pils is Reader in Transnational Law at King's College London.
Content
* Map
* Chronology
* Acknowledgements
* List of Abbreviations
* Introduction
* 1. Human Rights and Competing Conceptions of Justice, Law and Power in China
* 2. Institutional Avenues of Human Rights Advocacy
* 3. Liberty and Life
* 4. Expression and Thought
* 5. Inequality and Socio-economic Rights
* 6. Rights Defenders
* Conclusion
* Notes