Liberalism and Liberation

The World Council of Churches and the Global Politics of Human Rights

AvBastiaan Bouwman

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

Del i serien Human Rights in History

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Beskrivning

Founded in 1948, the World Council of Churches (WCC) was an important voice for human rights during the establishment of the postwar liberal international order. Bastiaan Bouwman demonstrates how its Christian human rights advocacy underwent a dramatic change over the following decades, from its initial focus on religious freedom to its later emphasis on social justice. By the 1970s, the WCC had moved to the left, focusing on causes such as the struggle against white minority rule in Southern Africa, right-wing repression in Latin America and Asia, and domestic and international inequalities. Drawing on extensive archival research, Bouwman sheds much needed light on a half century of contest over the concept of human rights. He challenges the notion that the rise of human rights was either a strictly secular or liberal phenomenon and shows how the WCC's advocacy interacted with major political developments such as decolonization and the Cold War.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-11-30
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Human Rights in History
Antal sidor:334
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781009777902

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Mer om författaren

Bastiaan Bouwman is Assistant Professor in History of International Relations in the Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University. His work has been published in the Journal of Global History, the Low Countries Historical Review, and Contemporary European History.

Innehållsförteckning

Figures; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Introduction: Christianity and the global politics of human rights; Part I. Religious Freedom and the Ecumenical Turn to Human Rights: 1. Anchoring Christianity: religious freedom, decolonization, and Islam; 2. 'Error has no rights': religious freedom in national-catholic Spain; 3. Between dialogue and denunciation: religious freedom in the soviet union; Part II. Radicalizing Human Rights: 4. Rights against racism? apartheid in south Africa and the programme to combat racism; 5. Human rights as a language of liberation: the ecumenical response to military dictatorships in Latin America; 6. Human rights and 'root causes': the struggle for international redistribution; 7. Globalizing liberationist human rights: ecumenical activism in Asia, Africa, and the west; Conclusion: Christianity, liberalism, and liberation; Bibliography; Index.