Books

Human Rights in a Time of Populism: Challenges and Responses (May 2020)
The electoral successes of right-wing populists since 2016 have unsettled world politics. The spread of populism poses dangers for human rights within each country, and also threatens the international system for protecting human rights. Human Rights in a Time of Populism (Gerald L. Neuman ed., Cambridge University Press, 2020) examines causes, consequences, and responses to populism in a global context from a human rights perspective. It combines legal analysis with insights from political science, international relations, and political philosophy. Authors make practical recommendations on how the human rights challenges caused by populism should be confronted. This book, with its global scope, international human rights framing, and inclusion of leading experts, will be of great interest to human rights lawyers, political scientists, international relations scholars, actors in the human rights system, and general readers concerned by recent developments.

Human Rights, Democracy, and Legitimacy in a World of Disorder (October 2018)
Human Rights, Democracy, and Legitimacy in a World of Disorder brings together respected scholars from diverse disciplines to examine a trio of key concepts that help to stabilize states and the international order. While used pervasively by philosophers, legal scholars, and politicians, the precise content of these concepts is disputed, and they face new challenges in the conditions of disorder brought by the twenty-first century. This volume will explore the interrelationships and possible tensions between human rights, democracy, and legitimacy, from the philosophical, legal, and political perspectives; as well as the role of these concepts in addressing particular problems such as economic inequality, catastrophic risks posed by new technologies, access to health care, regional governance, and responses to mass migration. Made up of essays arising from an interdisciplinary symposium convened at Harvard Law School in 2016, this volume will examine how these trusted concepts may bring order to the global community.

Reconsidering the Insular Cases: The Past and Future of the American Empire (March 2015)
Over a century has passed since the United States Supreme Court decided a series of cases, known as the “Insular Cases,” that limited the applicability of constitutional rights in Puerto Rico and other overseas territories and allowed the United States to hold them indefinitely as subordinated possessions without the promise of representation or statehood. Essays in this volume, which originated in a Harvard Law School conference, reconsider the Insular Cases. Leading legal authorities examine the history and legacy of the cases, which are tinged with outdated notions of race and empire, and explore possible solutions for the dilemmas they created.

The International Rule of Law Movement: A Crisis of Legitimacy and the Way Forward (May 2014)
Promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels is at the heart of the United Nations’ mission and is a principle embedded throughout the Charter of the United Nations and most constitutions of nation-states. The International Rule of Law Movement critically evaluates rule of law initiatives from a contemporary global perspective. It seeks to fill the gap in knowledge among actors and to explain what has and has not been effective and why. It also proposes better models for promoting justice and the rule of law in fragile states.

No Nos Toman En Cuenta (September 2013)
Nearly five years after ratifying the International Labor Organization Convention 169 (“ILO 169”), Chile continues to violate indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consultation, according to this book by human rights experts in the Consorcio Norte-Sur. The Consorcio is a partnership between Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, the Universidad Diego Portales (Chile), and the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia).

Indigenous (In)Justice: Human Rights Law and Bedouin Arabs in the Naqab/Negev (January 2013)
The indigenous Bedouin Arab population in the Naqab/Negev desert in Israel has experienced a history of displacement, intense political conflict, and cultural disruption, along with recent rapid modernization, forced urbanization, and migration. This volume of essays highlights international, national, and comparative law perspectives and explores the legal and human rights dimensions of land, planning, and housing issues, as well as the economic, social, and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. Within this context, the essays examine the various dimensions of the “negotiations” between the Bedouin Arab population and the State of Israel. Leading international scholars and professionals, including the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are among the contributors to this volume.

Litigating Health Rights: Can Courts Bring More Justice to Health? (September 2011)
The last fifteen years have seen a tremendous growth in litigation focused on right-to-health issues, such as access to health services and essential medications. What drives this phenomenon and what is its impact? Litigating Health Rights is the first comprehensive study to examine whether this trend towards judicialization is positive or negative for the advancement of the right to health and whether it can bring more justice to health care. Featuring case studies from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, and South Africa, as well as chapters that address cross-cutting themes, this book assesses the systemic impact of health rights litigation and offers as look at who its real winners and losers are.

Reproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward (June 2011)
This book critically reflects on the past fifteen years of international efforts aimed at improving health, alleviating poverty, diminishing gender inequality, and promoting human rights. The volume includes essays by leading scholars and practitioners that are centered on the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its resulting Programme of Action. ICPD, an agreement among 179 governments, UN agencies, and NGOs, was intended to shape population and development policy—reinterpreted and redefined as “reproductive health.” More than a decade after the enthusiasm that accompanied ICPD, there is growing concern about its effectiveness in the context of global health and development. Reproductive Health and Human Rights addresses that concern.

Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability and Reconciliation (March 2010)
Children are increasingly a focus of international and national courts and truth commissions. This book includes analysis of the recent involvement of children in transitional justice processes in Liberia, Peru, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. It also explores key areas of current debates among legal scholars and child rights advocates, such as international criminal responsibility, traditional and restorative justice, reparations, psychosocial support for child witnesses, and links between education and reconciliation.

No Place to Hide: Gang, State and Clandestine Violence in El Salvador (2010)
Seventeen years after the civil war in El Salvador came to an end, violence and insecurity continue to shape the daily lives of many Salvadorans. This book examines the phenomenon of youth gangs, as well as related police abuse, clandestine violence, and their collective impact on the rule of law. Beginning with an evaluation of the historical legacy of violence in El Salvador and the limitations of postwar efforts to construct functioning democratic and judicial institutions, No Place to Hide analyzes the dynamic evolution of violent street gangs and the Salvadoran state’s responses to gang-related and other forms of violence. The book’s findings are based on primary research conducted in El Salvador between 2006 and 2008.