Masking Barbarism: Human Rights in the Contemporary Global Order

Description

It is increasingly accepted that the promise of a globalised human rights systems, sits uneasily with the lived reality of a significant majority of the world's population. Human rights scholars, recognising this disjuncture, have suggested alternative models for rights protection including, among others, corporate social responsibility and cosmopolitan ethics. This innovative new study challenges this 'third way' school of thought. It argues that this approach is fundamentally flawed as it does not interrogate sufficiently the current dominant model of globalisation. This book offers a new articulation of contemporary globalisation and offers an assessment of the implications of this new model for human rights. The work's clear three part structure frames the question; problematizes or sets the difficulties with 'third way' approaches and finally, explores the implications of and offers potential alternatives to it. Challenging and critical, this important new book should be read by all human rights scholars.

Paul O'Connell is a Reader in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies.