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University of California Press

About the Book

In this landmark volume, Alison Brysk has assembled an impressive array of scholars to address new questions about globalization and human rights. Is globalization generating both problems and opportunities? Are new problems replacing or intensifying state repression? How effective are new forms of human rights accountability?

These essays include theoretical analyses by Richard Falk, Jack Donnelly, and James Rosenau. Chapters on sex tourism, international markets, and communications technology bring new perspectives to emerging issues. The authors investigate places such as the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and the Philippines.

The contemporary world is defined by globalization. While global human rights standards and institutions have been established, assaults on human dignity continue. These essays identify the new challenges to be faced, and suggest new ways to remedy the costs of globalization.

About the Author

Alison Brysk is Associate Professor of International Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Her previous publications include The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina: Protest, Change, and Democratization (1994) and From Tribal Village to Global Village: Indian Rights and International Relations in Latin America (2000).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Transnational Threats and Opportunities
Alison Brysk

I. Citizenship
1. Who Has a Right to Rights?
Citizenship’s Exclusions in an Age of Migration
Kristen Hill Maher
2. Tourism, Sex Work, and Women’s Rights in the Dominican Republic
Amalia Lucia Cabezas

II. Commodification
3. Interpreting the Interaction of Global Markets and Human Rights
Richard Falk
4. Economic Globalization and Rights: An Empirical Analysis
Wesley T. Milner
5. Sweatshops and International Labor Standards: Globalizing Markets, Localizing Norms
Raul Pangalangan

III. Communication
6. The Ironies of Information Technology
Shane Weyker
7. Globalization and the Social Construction of Human Rights Campaigns
Clifford Bob
8. The Drama of Human Rights in a Turbulent, Globalized World
James Rosenau

IV. Cooperation
9. Transnational Civil Society and the World Bank Inspection Panel
Jonathan Fox
10. Humanitarian Intervention: Global Enforcement of Human Rights?
Wayne Sandholtz
11. Human Rights, Globalizing Flows, and State Power
Jack Donnelly

Conclusion: From Rights to Realities
Alison Brysk
Works Cited
Contributors
Index

Reviews

"A useful examination of an important subject. This work adds important insights into human rights and globalization, a subject that is sure to remain at the center of debate for a considerable time."—David P. Forsythe, coauthor of The United Nations and Changing World Politics

"Brysk and her collaborators have produced the most systematic and comprehensive study to date of globalization and human rights. The authors move the debate forward by mapping out the impact of diverse forms of globalization on different types of rights, concluding that globalization can both exploit and empower, depending on the form of globalization and the type of state."—Kathryn Sikkink, co-author, with Margaret Keck, of Activists Beyond Borders