The End of Human Rights: Critical Thought at the Turn of the Century

Description

This book explores the powerful promises and disturbing paradoxes of human rights.

Costas Douzinas is Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Birkbeck College, University of London.

... an intriguing work that offers many critical insights into the weaknesses and limits of conventional human rights thinking and which, in addition, subjects the very idea of human rights to a painstaking deconstruction which leaves the reader somewhat breathless in the realisation that what might generally be though of as a good and noble ideal is in fact possibly its opposite, at least in the wrong hands. This review simply cannot convey the richness and complexity of this book. It offers a genuine alternative to the rather self-satisfied literature on human rights -- Peter Muchlinski * Public Law * Douzinas writes with his usual astonishing range of reference, high intelligence and often startling perception. Moreover, this is the most serious work on the theory of human rights yet to appear in the English language. Douzinas' range of reading and sense of intellectual excitement are unrivalled. His post-modern playfulness has been replaced by a sincere and lucid eloquence, open to all readers....this is work of the greatest seriousness and importance. It is in no sense a textbook, but no student of human rights, scholar or activist can afford to ignore it. -- Bill Bowring * King's College Law Journal * The End of Human Rights... is a thought-provoking critique of the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the apparent commitment to the protection of human rights ...Douzinas' work offers much for thought. -- Joanna Harrington * Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence * The End of Human Rights is a challenging and thoughful text issuing a challenge to self-assured liberal rights literature. -- Tarik Kochi, Griffith University * Griffith Law Review * His method skilfully combines history, philosophy, psychoanalysis and law. The scholarship throughout is remarkable for its range and boldness...... The End of Human Rights is a rich book, full of provocative ideas, which should appeal to any reader concerned about the future of human rights law and practice. -- Thomas Poole * The Human Rights Law Review * ...a well argued and very well written analysis throughout, the book is written in a refreshing tone -- Mikael Rask Madsen * Journal of South Pacific Law *