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Cambridge University Press
The following review appeared in the March 2017 issue of CHOICE. The review is for your internal use only. Please review our Permission and Reprints Guidelines or email permissions@ala-choice.org.
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Political Science - International Relations
Bradley explains how perceptions of human rights evolved over this past century and the complicated relationships that everyday Americans, US government institutions, and NGOs have had and continue to have with the concept and practice of human rights today. The author pays special attention to the role of the arts, media, state and non-state political actors, and professional and legal associations in the development of a human rights vernacular. The conclusion questions the role of human rights practice and discourse in the American experience of the 21st century. “As much of the world is turning away from the United States for its human rights inspiration, the continuing reluctance of the American state to engage in the global human rights order is also striking." "'The United States does not torture,’ President George W. Bush told the American people in 2006.… But in fact it did." The author points out that many contemporary social movements in the US use other frames aside from that of human rights. Nonetheless, at the global level, human rights discourses have contributed to significant improvements in some people’s lives and a lack of impunity for violators of human rights.
--K. Sorensen, Bentley University