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| Document Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Clifford Bob |
| ISBN: | 9780691166049 0691166048 |
| OCLC Number: | 1051134792 |
| Description: | vii, 261 pages ; 25 cm |
| Contents: | Introduction: the uses of rights in political conflict -- Rights as rallying cries: mobilizing support -- Rights as shields and parries: countering threats -- Rights as camouflage: masking motives -- Rights as spears: overturning laws -- Rights as dynamite: destroying cultures -- Rights as blockades: suppressing subordinates -- Rights as wedges: breaking coalitions -- Conclusions. |
| Responsibility: | Clifford Bob. |
Abstract:
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
"Over the past two decades, Clifford Bob has established himself as the most original human rights thinker working in the English language. In Rights as Weapons, Bob breaks through paradigms, undermining feel-good claims of human rights as universal, unproblematic public goods. Instead, he argues rights claims are weapons strategically used by all sides for political advantage. Students and educators will want to incorporate this book into their thinking, syllabi, and research."-James Ron, University of Minnesota "In this highly original and timely book, Clifford Bob illuminates the heretofore dark side of political struggles for rights. While we tend to use the term in a diffuse, uncritical way, Bob reminds us that in the real world, rights are often deployed as rhetorical and legal weapons by groups in order to oppress others. Anyone interested in the strategic or moral dimensions of political contention will want to read this book."-Doug McAdam, Stanford University "With clarity and insight, Clifford Bob enlarges our perspective on rights claims, demonstrating how they are employed to strengthen the powerful, defend the indefensible, or protect the powerless. Highlighting rights strategies used by activists on the right and left, Bob helps us see that normative power in the modern global system is as much political strategy as moral claim. His book presents a less utopian and more accurate understanding of the possibilities and limitations of rights."-Stephen Hopgood, SOAS University of London "Rights as Weapons is a timely and important reminder that while human rights discourse can empower and liberate, it can also justify oppression by the powerful against the weak. Clifford Bob masterfully documents the ways in which actors in conflict use rights as weapons to amplify their own power. This book is a must-read."-Emilie M. Hafner-Burton, University of California, San Diego "In this lucid and compelling account of historical and contemporary human rights struggles, Clifford Bob offers an entirely new lens for understanding how rights have been deployed to advance political objectives. Through an array of cases and adopting a realist perspective, he conceptualizes the different ways rights are being weaponized. A fantastic book."-Neve Gordon, coauthor of The Human Right to Dominate Read more...
