Read complete books and articles on: Human Rights and Asia

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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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Human Rights and Asia

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia » Read Now
by Daniel A. Bell. 369 pgs.

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Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the West typically counter by questioning the motives...
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Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the West typically counter by questioning the motives of Asian critics, arguing that Asian leaders are merely trying to rationalize human-rights violations and authoritarian rule. In this book--written as a dialogue between an American democrat named Demo and three East Asian critics--Daniel A. Bell attempts to chart a middle ground between the extremes of the international debate on human rights and democracy.Bell criticizes the use of "Asian values" to justify oppression, but also draws on East Asian cultural traditions and contributions by contemporary intellectuals in East Asia to identify some powerful challenges to Western-style liberal democracy. In the first part of the book, Bell makes use of colorful stories and examples to show that there is a need to take into account East Asian perspectives on human rights and democracy. The second part--a fictitious dialogue between Demo and Asian senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew--examines the pros and cons of implementing Western-style democracy in Singapore. The third part of the book is an argument for an as-yet-unrealized Confucian political institution that justifiably differs from Western-style liberal democracy.This is a thought-provoking defense of distinctively East Asian challenges to Western-style liberal democracy that will stimulate interest and debate among students of political theory, Asian studies, and international human rights.
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2.

Human Rights and Asian Values: Contesting National Identities and Cultural Representations in Asia » Read Now
by Michael Jacobsen, Ole Bruun. 330 pgs.

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The Asian challenge to the universality of human rights has sparked off intense debate. This volume takes a clear stand for universal rights, both theoretically and empirically, by analysing social and political processes in a number of East and Southeast Asian countries. On the national arenas...
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The Asian challenge to the universality of human rights has sparked off intense debate. This volume takes a clear stand for universal rights, both theoretically and empirically, by analysing social and political processes in a number of East and Southeast Asian countries. On the national arenas, Asian values are linked to the struggle between authoritarian and democratic forces, which both tend to convey stereotyped images of the 'west', but with reversed meanings.
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3.

Debating Human Rights: Critical Essays from the United States and Asia » Read Now
by Peter Van Ness. 292 pgs.

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Debating Human Rights brings together a broad range of contributors from Asia and the US to discuss issues that frequently cause division. It covers the main issues in dispute such as the impact of globalization, and Asian values. There are also separate sections on human rights in Greater China...
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Debating Human Rights brings together a broad range of contributors from Asia and the US to discuss issues that frequently cause division. It covers the main issues in dispute such as the impact of globalization, and Asian values. There are also separate sections on human rights in Greater China, women's rights, and human rights and international relations. Concluding with a a critique of the role of China, Japan and the US in contemporary human rights diplomacy, this book presents a pragmatic approach to reconciling diverse and controversial perspectives.
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4.

Human Rights in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan » Read Now
by Ian Neary. 304 pgs.

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Ian Neary looks in detail at the history of the introduction of human rights ideas into Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and examines how, and to what effect, state and society have incorporated the specific international standards on childrens' and patients' rights into legal systems and social...
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Ian Neary looks in detail at the history of the introduction of human rights ideas into Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and examines how, and to what effect, state and society have incorporated the specific international standards on childrens' and patients' rights into legal systems and social practice. This comprehensively researched, accessibly written book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Asian studies, human rights, sociology and politics.
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5.

From Human Rights to Human Dignity, in Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars » Read Now
by Chandra Muzaffar. 18 pgs.

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...was another colossal human rights calamity. Western colonialism in Asia, Australasia, Africa...Organizations (ACHRO), Human Rights Activism in Asia: Some...
6.

Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: A Quest for Consensus (Chap. 3 "Making a Goddess of Democracy from Loose Sand: Thoughts on Human Rights in the People's Republic of China") » Read Now
by Abdullahi An-Na'im Ahmed. 480 pgs.

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...East and to significant parts of South and Southeast Asia Fourth, it is proper to give so much space to Western theories, not only because of their formative impact on the...
7.

Development and Political Repression: China's Human Rights Policy since 1989, in Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars » Read Now
by Michael J. Sullivan. 16 pgs.

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...Execution in China", report by Human Rights Watch/Asia, Aug. 1994; "China:" Persecution...estant Sect , report by Human Rights Watch/Asia, June 1994; Detained...politics?...
8.

Human Rights and Third World Development (Chap. 6 "Chinese Economic Development and Human Rights in the Post-Mao Era") » Read Now
by George W. Shepherd Jr., Ved P. Nanda. 334 pgs.

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9.

East Meets West: Human Rights in Hong Kong, in Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars » Read Now
by Linda Butenhoff. 12 pgs.

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...in Access to Justice: Human Rights Struggles in South East Asia , ed. Harry Scoble and...Kong The Development of Human Rights Hong Kong was established...Britain with a...
10.

Of Human Rights and Wrongs: China and the United States, in Monthly Review » Read Now
by Robert Weil. 13 pgs.

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11.

International Law, Human Rights, and Japanese Law: The Impact of International Law on Japanese Law » Read Now
by Yuji Iwasawa. 355 pgs.

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The impact international law has had on Japanese law has been substantial, especially in the field of human rights. The author of this volume, one of Japan's leading international lawyers, examines extensively the relationship between his country's domestic rules and regulations, and the numerous...
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The impact international law has had on Japanese law has been substantial, especially in the field of human rights. The author of this volume, one of Japan's leading international lawyers, examines extensively the relationship between his country's domestic rules and regulations, and the numerous international treaties and conventions which it has ratified in recent years. Some changes were made to domestic laws in an attempt to make them conform with these international instruments, but individuals went to the courts to try to obtain further necessary modification. Such direct invocations of international law have met with little success, but the laws concerned are often amended at a later date, due to political pressure. The changes in domestic law thatsuch amendments have wrought, have improved the human rights situation in Japan, and have lead to a growing interest in international law within that country. The author pays particular attention in this volume to the laws governing sexual equality, the legal status of aliens, and the treatment of mental health patients, amongst others. The book details the changes that international law has brought in these areas, despite the skepticism of the Japanese courts regarding the validity of international human rights law as a source of law.
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12.

UNTAC's Mission in Cambodia: Prospects for Democracy and Human Rights, in Asian Affairs, an American Review » Read Now
by Terence Duffy. 23 pgs.

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...Democracy and Human Rights TERENCE DUFFY...South East Asia, survived the...Government, Human Rights Violations in...South East Asia (Hawthorn...Experiment in Human Rights...
13.

The Forest and the Trees: Sustainable Development and Human Rights in the Context of Cambodia, in University of Pennsylvania Law Review » Read Now
by Andy Weiner. 56 pgs.

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14.

The Vietnamese Tradition of Human Rights » Read Now
by Ta Van Tai. 298 pgs.

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...tradition of East Asia but also the human rights issues debated in...society in East Asia, also vindicate the international human rights standards as fundamental...research...
15.

Human Rights Practices and the Indonesian Middle Class, in Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars » Read Now
by Dwight Y. King. 11 pgs.

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...precipitated by the bombings of several branches of Bank Central Asia and the Tanjung Priok incident, Sabam Sirait, the secretary-general...Indonesian Democratic party...
16.

Towards a Human Rights Regime in Southeast Asia: Charting the Course of State Commitment, in Contemporary Southeast Asia » Read Now
by Maznah Mohamad. 22 pgs.

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