Read complete books and articles on: Human Rights and Africa

Human Rights - universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, encompassing civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms, and based on the notion of personal human dignity and worth. Conceptually derived from the theory of natural law and originating in Greco-Roman doctrines, the idea of human rights appears in some early Christian writers' works and is reflected in the Magna Carta (1215). The concept winds as a philosophical thread through 17th- and 18th-century European and American thought, including the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789). The United Nation's Commission on Human Rights, with Eleanor Roosevelt as chair, created the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which reasserted the concept of human rights after the horrors of World War II. Human rights have since become a universally espoused yet widely disregarded concept.

Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch promote human rights and denounce human-rights abuses. In addition, such abuses around the world are monitored and documented by independent investigators ("special rapporteurs") appointed by the UN Human Rights Commission, which, in turn, rebukes cited nations for their human-rights failures. The charging in 1998 by a Spanish court of former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet with human-rights violations and the 1999 British ruling that he could be extradited to Spain, as well as the indictment and arrest (2000) in Senegal of former Chadian president Hissène Habré for human-rights violations during his presidency (although charges were later dropped), were regarded as steps forward in the international protection of human rights.

See M. A. Glendon, A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2001).

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: Human Rights and Africa

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives » Read Now
by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim, Francis M. Deng. 400 pgs.

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...Human Rights in Africa Human Rights in Africa Cross-Cultural...0-8157-1795-4 pbk.: alk. paper 1. Human rights-- Africa. 2. Human rights--Cross-cultural...for a separatist...
2.

Emerging Human Rights: The African Political Economy Context » Read Now
by George W. Shepherd Jr., Mark O. C. Anikpo. 248 pgs.

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This edited collection of international, interdisciplinary studies deals with important theoretical considerations about human rights in Africa. It addressses both theoretical issues and actual case studies of human rights violations in the African context. The volume is divided into two sections:...
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This edited collection of international, interdisciplinary studies deals with important theoretical considerations about human rights in Africa. It addressses both theoretical issues and actual case studies of human rights violations in the African context. The volume is divided into two sections: theory and issues and violations. Also examined are the African context of human rights development and the impact of Ghanaian black feminism. Shepherd provides a pathbreaking overview of the political economy of African human rights. The unique perspective provided by African scholars, along with European and American scholars of Ghanaian black feminism. A comprehensive bibliography completes the volume. The unique perspective provided by African scholars, along with European and American scholars of black Africa, makes this book an important addition to the literature of human rights and African studies.
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3.

Protecting Human Rights in Africa: Roles and Strategies of Non-Governmental Organizations » Read Now
by Claude E. Welch Jr. 364 pgs.

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...Civil rights -- Africa. 2. Human rights -- Africa. 3.Nongovernmental organizations...How Effective Can African Human Rights NGOs Be? 74...Assessing the Strength of African...
4.

Democratization and the Protection of Human Rights in Africa: Problems and Prospects » Read Now
by Brendalyn P. Ambrose. 220 pgs.

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Development was achieved in the West by capitalism and industrialization before liberal democracy was introduced as a viable form of government. Africa is grappling with the problems of underdevelopment. Yet, the West insists on liberal democracy for Africa, a form of government which has no...
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Development was achieved in the West by capitalism and industrialization before liberal democracy was introduced as a viable form of government. Africa is grappling with the problems of underdevelopment. Yet, the West insists on liberal democracy for Africa, a form of government which has no economic and social foundations in Africa. The West now faults the African people for not being able to establish and sustain democratic institutions. Ambrose, an African development practitioner who, recently returning from the continent after three intense years of fact-finding, research, and consultation, argues that the solution to Africa's problems does not lie in externally imposed liberal institutions shored up by top-down bureaucracy that most often is ignorant, unresponsive, or outright hostile to the needs of the impoverished majority. Her investigations lead her to believe that the solution for Africa lies in a collective approach based on empowerment of the masses and economic reforms.
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5.

State Integration and Human Rights in Africa, in International Journal of Comparative Sociology » Read Now
by Julia Maxted, Abebe Zegeye. 22 pgs.

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...State integration and human rights in Africa. by Julia Maxted...with a new source of power (Human Rights Watch/Africa, 1995, p. 16). De facto authorities...division and...
6.

The End of Apartheid in South Africa » Read Now
by Lindsay Michie Eades, Randall M. Miller. 209 pgs.

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The complex history and politics of South Africa form the backdrop of this insightful study of the factors that contributed to both the end of apartheid and the movement from government by racial division toward government through national unity. This study and resource examines the history, people...
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The complex history and politics of South Africa form the backdrop of this insightful study of the factors that contributed to both the end of apartheid and the movement from government by racial division toward government through national unity. This study and resource examines the history, people, and politics of South Africa in the age of apartheid. Topical essays examine the divisions within South African society that led to the historic apartheid legislation initiated in 1948; each group that was defined and separated by apartheid--whites, coloreds, Indians, and Africans; how this separation put increasing pressure on the system that gave rise to organized domestic resistance that eventually led to the collapse of apartheid; the economic sanctions imposed by other nations on South Africa in retaliation for apartheid; and the new government and the challenges of a new democracy.
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7.

Human Rights and Namibia, in World Affairs » Read Now
by Charles M. Lichenstein. 6 pgs.

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...prospects for human rights in South West Africa -- and, by extension...stability" in southern Africa.) Even more significantly...the concept of human rights arises from...
8.

Human Rights and Third World Development (Chap. 8 "Human Rights and the Refugee Situation in Africa") » Read Now
by George W. Shepherd Jr., Ved P. Nanda. 334 pgs.

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9.

Human Rights Orientation of Prospective Social Studies Teachers Nigeria, in Social Studies » Read Now
by Samuel Folorunso Ogundare. 4 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

...Human Rights Orientation of Prospective Social...the social studies curricula of African public schools. He found that African pupils were taught more content...on such...
10.

State Building and Democratization in Africa: Faith, Hope, and Realities » Read Now
by Kidane Mengisteab, Cyril Daddieh. 295 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

State building and democratization in Africa rarely attract the attention they deserve. Few have grappled with the relationship between state building (nation-building) and democratic experiments in Africa. This collection consciously corrects this shortcoming in African political studies. Among the...
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State building and democratization in Africa rarely attract the attention they deserve. Few have grappled with the relationship between state building (nation-building) and democratic experiments in Africa. This collection consciously corrects this shortcoming in African political studies. Among the issues raised: Does democracy facilitate state building or does it exacerbate ethnic conflicts? Are certain modalities of democratization more likely to facilitate state-building than others? Has the era of democracy created the need for new state building strategies? Does the objective of state building require signficant modifications in the essence and form of democracy?
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11.

African Reckoning: A Quest for Good Governance » Read Now
by Francis M. Deng, Terrence Lyons. 186 pgs.

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This book investigates how changing norms of sovereignty may promote better governance in Africa. It traces the evolution of the concept of sovereignty and assesses how state actors in Africa measure up to the norms inherent in the notion of sovereignty as responsibility. It also examines the...
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This book investigates how changing norms of sovereignty may promote better governance in Africa. It traces the evolution of the concept of sovereignty and assesses how state actors in Africa measure up to the norms inherent in the notion of sovereignty as responsibility. It also examines the question of accountability at regional and international levels.
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12.

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: The System in Practice, 1986-2000 » Read Now
by Malcolm D. Evans, Rachel Murray. 397 pgs.

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Collaborators to this volume include experts involved in the implementation of the African Charter--commissioners, NGOs and academics--who evaluate it as an operational system in practice. Chapters cover the Charter's reporting system, the Commission's interpretation of different rights, prospects...
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Collaborators to this volume include experts involved in the implementation of the African Charter--commissioners, NGOs and academics--who evaluate it as an operational system in practice. Chapters cover the Charter's reporting system, the Commission's interpretation of different rights, prospects for the African Court on Human and People's Rights and the role of NGOs. This authoritative, comprehensive book will interest lawyers acting for government and non-governmental organizations, as well as academics and post-graduates.
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