Historical Dictionary of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations

Thomas E. Doyle, II is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas State University. His main research focus is on the ethics of nuclear weapons policy, including the humanitarian imperative to abolish nuclear weapons.Edwards S. Mihalkanin is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas State University. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from American University. His specialties include U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. – Latin American relations, and international relations theory.Robert F. Gorman is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including most recently his edited volume Toward the Common Good: A Catholic Critique of the Discipline of Political Science (Scarecrow, 2011) as well as the Historical Dictionary of Refugee and Disaster Relief Organizations Second Edition (Scarecrow, 2000).

Nothing so concise yet encompassing as this updated historical dictionary has appeared recently to itemize and define the significant concerns of human rights worldwide and the humanitarian responses to transgressions. Political science professors Gorman and Mihalkanin, now joined for this third edition by Doyle have revised the second edition and the first with new and current material laid out in a clear, accessible style. One finds, for example, biographies of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange, or Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Hundreds of entries appear—many of which have been revised—to detail human rights NGOs and international conflict-resolution organizations. However, no single-volume work can be exhaustive (no information can be found on the American Friends Service Committee, or Sojourner Truth, for instance), so users must supplement their reading with additional sources. The volume offers a broad bibliography, a chronology covering 19th-century events up to the Syrian refugee crisis of 2016, and appendixes with the texts of international covenants, including the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ Libraries holding previous editions may discard them in favor of the current one, as nothing has been omitted and the newer information will serve students in history, political science, and interdisciplinary programs of study addressing human rights.Summing Up: Recommended. All libraries. All levels.

• Editor’s Foreword Jon WoronoffPrefaceAcronyms and AbbreviationsChronologyIntroductionThe DictionaryAppendixesA Universal Declaration of Human RightsB International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural RightsC International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsD Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsBibliographyAbout the Authors