The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights

The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights is the perfect starting point for anyone wanting to get into human rights, with plenty to interest the seasoned activist. Written by experienced practitioners and human rights educators, this is a power-packed pocket handbook of history, philosophy, politics, law and more – all the essentials to understanding and using human rights, from the basics of what our rights are, to how to beat world leaders at their own game.

It examines important critiques of human rights, from feminists and Marxists to cultural relativists and tackles contemporary controversies making headlines. Should rights be sacrificed in the fight against terrorism? Can torturers perform a public service? Should human rights take precedence over the environment? What good are rights for famine victims, or tsunami survivors? What do rights have to say about the misery and injustice caused by corporations? What about rights violated in the home?

This guide for the 21st century examines the emerging terrain of global civil society, covering cutting-edge approaches to activism as well as the tried and true techniques – and their pitfalls.

The text is enlivened with real-life stories from around the world: the voices of people living the daily reality of human rights violation and those who take on the abusers. Far from academic legalese, it is an accessible, practical handbook intended to equip and inspire without sacrificing intellectual rigour or shying away from the thorny issues.

An activist’s and owner’s manual of compelling importance to today’s world.

1. A powerful idea
2. Different rights make a whole
3. Rights in war and armed conflict
4. Law and what it's good for
5. Other ways of securing human rights

About the Author: Olivia Ball has worked as a psychologist, researcher, lecturer and campaigner in Britain and Australia. Paul Gready lectures at the University of York and has worked for Amnesty International and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg.

Read Olivia Ball’s rightsbase blog and have a look at her New Internationalist blog post concerning The No-Nonsense Guide to Human Rights.