Evidence for Hope

Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century
  • Citation: Sikkink, Kathryn. Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century. Princeton University Press, 2017.
    • Topics:
    • Human Rights
    • Keywords:
    • human rights
    • legitimacy
    • effectiveness
    • origins
    • Cold War

Evidence for Hope makes the case that, yes, human rights work. Critics may counter that the movement is in serious jeopardy or even a questionable byproduct of Western imperialism. They point out that Guantánamo is still open, the Arab Spring protests have been crushed, and governments are cracking down on NGOs everywhere. But respected human rights expert Kathryn Sikkink draws on decades of research and fieldwork to provide a rigorous rebuttal to pessimistic doubts about human rights laws and institutions. She demonstrates that change comes slowly and as the result of struggle, but in the long term, human rights movements have been vastly effective.

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