Description
Discover 'Rights as Weapons,' an in-depth exploration of how rights have been wielded in political conflicts throughout history. This compelling book examines the dual nature of rights—typically regarded as protective tools for the vulnerable but also employed as instruments of aggression by the powerful. Examining a range of historical and contemporary conflicts, author Clifford Bob unveils the intricate strategies used by political actors to manipulate the concept of rights. From using rights to justify actions against marginalized communities to crafting narratives that depict themselves as victims, Bob reveals the complexities of rights within a global context. Published in 2021 by Princeton University Press, this trade paperback edition (ISBN: 9780691216881) is essential for anyone interested in political theory, human rights, and social justice studies. With fresh insights into how rights are constructed, naturalized, and weaponized, 'Rights as Weapons' challenges you to rethink the conventional narratives surrounding human rights campaigns. The delivery for this item is free; please allow up to 6 weeks for it to arrive, and note that once your order is placed, it cannot be canceled. This book is a vital resource to understand the multifaceted role of rights in contemporary societal struggles.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691216881
Format: Trade paperback (US)
Year: 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
An in-depth look at the historic and strategic deployment of rights in political conflicts throughout the world.
Rights are usually viewed as defensive concepts representing mankind's highest aspirations to protect the vulnerable and uplift the downtrodden. But since the Enlightenment, political combatants have also used rights belligerently, to batter despised communities, demolish existing institutions, and smash opposing ideas. Delving into a range of historical and contemporary conflicts from all areas of the globe, Rights as Weapons focuses on the underexamined ways in which the powerful wield rights as aggressive weapons against the weak.
Clifford Bob looks at how political forces use rights as rallying cries: naturalising novel claims as rights inherent in humanity, absolutising them as trumps over rival interests or community concerns, universalising them as transcultural and transhistorical, and depoliticising them as concepts beyond debate. He shows how powerful proponents employ rights as camouflage to cover ulterior motives, as crowbars to break rival coalitions, as blockades to suppress subordinate groups, as spears to puncture discrete policies, and as dynamite to explode whole societies. And he demonstrates how the targets of rights campaigns repulse such assaults, using their own rights-like weapons: denying the abuses they are accused of, constructing rival rights to protect themselves, portraying themselves as victims rather than violators, and repudiating authoritative decisions against them. This sophisticated framework is applied to a diverse range of examples, including nineteent
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691216881
Format: Trade paperback (US)
Year: 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
An in-depth look at the historic and strategic deployment of rights in political conflicts throughout the world.
Rights are usually viewed as defensive concepts representing mankind's highest aspirations to protect the vulnerable and uplift the downtrodden. But since the Enlightenment, political combatants have also used rights belligerently, to batter despised communities, demolish existing institutions, and smash opposing ideas. Delving into a range of historical and contemporary conflicts from all areas of the globe, Rights as Weapons focuses on the underexamined ways in which the powerful wield rights as aggressive weapons against the weak.
Clifford Bob looks at how political forces use rights as rallying cries: naturalising novel claims as rights inherent in humanity, absolutising them as trumps over rival interests or community concerns, universalising them as transcultural and transhistorical, and depoliticising them as concepts beyond debate. He shows how powerful proponents employ rights as camouflage to cover ulterior motives, as crowbars to break rival coalitions, as blockades to suppress subordinate groups, as spears to puncture discrete policies, and as dynamite to explode whole societies. And he demonstrates how the targets of rights campaigns repulse such assaults, using their own rights-like weapons: denying the abuses they are accused of, constructing rival rights to protect themselves, portraying themselves as victims rather than violators, and repudiating authoritative decisions against them. This sophisticated framework is applied to a diverse range of examples, including nineteent