2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title In this seminal study, Bonny Ibhawoh investigates the links between European imperialism and human rights discourses in African history. Using British-colonized Nigeria as a case study, he examines how diverse interest groups within colonial society deployed the language of rights and liberties to serve varied socioeconomic and political ends. Ibhawoh challenges the linear progressivism that dominates human rights scholarship by arguing that, in the colonial African context, rights discourses were not simple monolithic or progressive narratives. They served both to insulate and legitimize power just as much as they facilitated transformative processes. Drawing extensively on archival material, this book shows how the language of rights, like that of "civilization" and "modernity," became an important part of the discourses deployed to rationalize and legitimize empire.

Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention—discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938. Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries. Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.

"Few issues have posed more of a challenge for the European Court of Human Rights in recent years than the Convention's extraterritorial application. This book explores why this is by reflecting on how the issue has been approached by the primary interpreters of the treaty: the Strasbourg Court, Contracting Parties and National Courts. This is achieved through a detailed engagement with the previous jurisprudence on the Convention's extraterritorial application, and a particular focus on the activities of British authorities and judiciary during and after the Iraq War (2003). Litigation emerging from this conflict has been pivotal in constructing the current understanding of extraterritorial obligations, as well as drawing out some of its more challenging aspects. The book contends that by focusing on the interpretive behavior of the groups with the primary responsibility for interpreting the treaty, an understanding can be gained with regards to what motivates and constrains their argumentative practices. From this, a better understanding of both how the law has developed and where a solution to the extraterritorial challenge can be obtained. If, as some have argued, it is imperialistic to apply the Convention's obligations extraterritorially, the attention of this book lies with the 'human rights imperialists' who have construed those obligations to apply in this manner, as it is with them that any lasting solution to this particular challenge will be found"--

"Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers--above all, the United States--in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive. Jean Bricmont's Humanitarian imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont's book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight"--Back cover.

Conflict has always presented an opportunity for reflection and transition in the law and none more so than the Iraq War. One of its key legacies, which continues to have an impact on international law, was the extraterritorial application of the United Kingdom's human rights obligations. While the conflict did not establish or create the notion of extraterritorial obligations, this book argues that it brought about a dramatic extension in the understanding and scope of those obligations. It analyses the profound consequences these obligations can have beyond the battlefield and considers how the extension and clarification of human rights laws have both potential and practical implications for other arms of the British State. Particular focus is given to policing, diplomatic and consular offices and to the potential for the State to regulate British businesses abroad. The aims of the book are two-fold. Firstly, to demonstrate how the Iraq War fundamentally altered the extraterritorial application of the United Kingdom's human rights obligations. Secondly, it traces the post-conflict development and projects the future impact which extending human rights obligations abroad may have, by evaluating post-Iraq case law and the judicial and political responses to such cases.

Erudite and timely, this book is a key contribution to the renewal of radical theory and politics. Addressing the paradox of a contemporary humanitarianism that has abandoned politics in favour of combating evil, Douzinas, a leading scholar and author in the field of human rights and legal theory, considers the most pressing international questions. Asking whether there ‘is an intrinsic relationship between human rights and the recent wars carried out in their name?’ and whether ‘human rights are a barrier against domination and oppression or the ideological gloss of an emerging empire?’ this book examines a range of topics, including: the normative characteristics, political philosophy and metaphysical foundations of our age the subjective and institutional aspects of human rights and their involvement in the creation of identity and definition of the meaning and powers of humanity the use of human rights as a justification for a new configuration of political, economic and military power. Exploring the legacy and the contemporary role of human rights, this topical and incisive book is a must for all those interested in human rights law, jurisprudence and philosophy of law, political philosophy and political theory.

This book analyses the accountability of European home States for their failure to secure the human rights of victims from host States against transnational enterprises. It argues for a reconfiguration of the relationship between multinational enterprises and individuals, both of which have been profoundly changed by globalisation. Enterprises are now supranational entities with numerous affiliates all over the world. Likewise, individuals are increasingly part of a global community. Despite this, the relationship between the two is deregulated. Addressing this gap, this study proposes an innovative business and human rights litigation strategy. Human rights advocates could file a test case against a European home State, at the European Court of Human Rights, for its failure to secure the rights of victims vis-à-vis European multinational enterprises. The book illustrates why such a strategy is needed, and points to the lack of effective legal remedies against European multinationals. The goal is to empower victims from developing countries against European States which are failing to hold multinational enterprises accountable for human rights abuses.