Description
Book SynopsisAre human rights universal or the product of specific cultures? Is democracy a necessary condition for the achievement of human rights in practice? And when, if ever, is it legitimate for external actors to impose their understandings of human rights upon particular countries? In the contemporary context of globalization, these questions have a salient religious dimension. Religion intersects with global human rights agendas in multiple ways, including: whether ''''universal'''' human rights are in fact an imposition of Christian understandings; whether democracy, the ''''rule of the people,'''' is compatible with God''s law; and whether international efforts to enforce human rights including religious freedom amount to an illicit imperialism. This book brings together leading specialists across disciplines for the first major survey of the religious politics of human rights across the world''s major regions, political systems, and faith traditions. The authors take a bottom-up approac
Trade ReviewFor three decades, scholars have shown that religion and human rights need each other. The volume opens an important new chapter of scholarship by illustrating precisely how religion and human rights interact today. Judiciously edited and strikingly original, the volume combines case studies of local communities with broad surveys of major religions and regions of the world that illustrate the complex and diverse controversies that remain, especially over women's rights, religious freedom, and the rights to life and bodily integrity. * John Witte, Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Emory University *
Table of ContentsTHOMAS BANCHOFF AND ROBERT WUTHNOW; THOMAS BANCHOFF; PART I: ISLAM AND THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS; ROBERT W. HEFNER; YVONNE YAZBECK HADDAD; PART II: THREE REGIONS: LATIN AMERICA, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA; PAUL FRESTON; ROGAIA MUSTAFA ABUSHARAF; CHARLES KEYES; PART III: FOUR KEY COUNTRIES: INDIA, CHINA, RUSSIA AND THE US; PRATAP BHANU MEHTA; DAVID OWNBY; MARJORIE MANDELSTAM BALZER; THOMAS BANCHOFF
