Human Rights

The International Studies Encyclopedia', published in association with the International Studies Association (ISA), is the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the fields of international studies and international relations. It brings together specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers.

Winner of the 2010 Dartmouth Medal, this major five-volume encyclopedia offers comprehensive coverage of all aspects of human rights theory, practice, law, and history. The set will provide situation profiles and full coverage of the development of the movement, historical cases of abuse, the key figures, major organizations, and a range of other issues in economics, government, religion, and journalism that touch on human rights theory and practice. In addition to providing original analytical articles covering standard subjects such as the right to health and health care, Amnesty International, the Balkan wars, and former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, it offers innovative coverage of such subjects as the Internet, intellectual property rights, the American civil rights movement, globalization, and Brazil in historical context. Focusing primarily on developments since 1945, it offers an unrivaled reference source for students and researchers; even human rights experts are likely to find much original material and keen insights in many of the entries.

If the sheer number of references to human rights in media headlines or government statements is of any guidance, human rights concerns now appear virtually at the center of the framework of the norms, principles, and obligations that shape relations within the international community both among and within states. That political journey began, perhaps arbitrarily, on 10 December, 1948, when the United Nations General Assembly (UN-GA) embraced and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a ringing endorsement and advocacy of the notion that regardless of race, religion or nationality, all men and women, everywhere in the world are entitled to the human rights and fundamental freedoms simply because they are human. The Historical Dictionary of Human Rights covers the history of the Human Rights movement through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography.

Offering a guide to the global struggle for human rights, the problems and shortcomings of the international human rights regime, and the resources essential to human rights studies, this work looks at religious tolerance, torture, environmental rights, discrimination, and genocide, as issues central to the contemporary debate on human rights.

Is there universalism of human rights? If so, what are its scope and limits? This book is a doctrinal attempt to define universalism of human rights, as well as its scope and limits. The book presents tests of universalism on international, regional and national constitutional levels. It is maintained that universalism of human rights is both a 'concept' and a 'normative reality'. The normative character of human rights is scrutinized through the study of international and regional agreements as well as national constitutions. As a consequence, limitations of normativity are identified, usually on the international level, and take the form of exceptions, reservations, and interpretations.  The book is based on the General and National Reports which were originally presented at the 18th International Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law in Washington D.C. 2010.

The constant companion for all law students, and the essential reference guide for laymen, particularly business people, and all who desire a reliable guide to the law's special terminology (from abandonee to zero tolerance), including that of European union law. The Collins Dictionary of Law has been written with special reference to the needs of legal secretaries, paralegals, legal executives, and business people.