Review by Choice Review
The author's more than three decades of working for the UN Secretariat informs this effort to describe the state of human rights promotion and protection. The work opens with an overview of the premodern history of human rights designed to demonstrate that the idea of fundamental rights is deeply imbedded in human history and transcends diverse cultures (intellectual and religious traditions). In the next three chapters, Ramcharan (Ralph Bunche Institute, CUNY Graduate Center) argues that the international community has accepted the broad range of human rights contained in existing conventions and the obligation of national, regional, and global governance systems to protect these rights, including taking action against violations of these rights. The work proceeds to discuss the centrality of equality, democracy, and development in the advancement of human rights. Embedded within the discussion of these central themes are the topics of nondiscrimination, self-determination, and the internationalization of the responsibility for eradicating extreme poverty. The following two chapters link protection mechanisms and the need for justice, remedies, and reparations. The work ends with an optimistic assessment of the globalization of democracy and the related advance of human rights protections. It is recommended for specialized library collections on human rights. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate collections. J. M. Peek Lyon College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
