Universal Human Rights in a World of Difference

Download or read book Universal Human Rights in a World of Difference written by Brooke A. Ackerly and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-06-26 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the diverse work and often competing insights of women's human rights activists, Brooke Ackerly has written a feminist and a universal theory of human rights that bridges the relativists' concerns about universalizing from particulars and the activists' commitment to justice. Unlike universal theories that rely on shared commitments to divine authority or to an 'enlightened' way of reasoning, Ackerly's theory relies on rigorous methodological attention to difference and disagreement. She sets out human rights as at once a research ethic, a tool for criticism of injustice and a call to recognize our obligations to promote justice through our actions. This book will be of great interest to political theorists, feminist and gender studies scholars and researchers of social movements.