Judith Blau – författare

The author is a sociologist who has written extensively on human rights and recently on climate change. In her new book she develops the idea that protecting everyone’s human rights and slowing planetary warming are the same goals. It is now clear that the leader of the richest, most powerful country in the world – United States President Donald J. Trump - has set the trigger of destruction by exempting the United States from the international treaty that aims to give the entire planet some reprieve from warming. That is, all countries of the world have entered into an agreement to end reliance on fossil fuels, except the United States, which withdrew at the outset of the Trump Administration. Regardless of the US position in the future, the country’s emissions are so very extremely high they will continue to wreck havoc on the entire world. While Blau maintains that President Trump has committed a crime against Humanity, even beyond his tenure the book sets the stage for a human rights approach to climate change for the future.

The author is a sociologist who has written extensively on human rights and recently on climate change. In her new book she develops the idea that protecting everyone’s human rights and slowing planetary warming are the same goals. It is now clear that the leader of the richest, most powerful country in the world – United States President Donald J. Trump - has set the trigger of destruction by exempting the United States from the international treaty that aims to give the entire planet some reprieve from warming. That is, all countries of the world have entered into an agreement to end reliance on fossil fuels, except the United States, which withdrew at the outset of the Trump Administration. Regardless of the US position in the future, the country’s emissions are so very extremely high they will continue to wreck havoc on the entire world. While Blau maintains that President Trump has committed a crime against Humanity, even beyond his tenure the book sets the stage for a human rights approach to climate change for the future.

Together, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights comprise the constitutional foundation of the United States. These—the oldest governing documents still in use in the world—urgently need an update, just as the constitutions of other countries have been updated and revised. Human Rights Of, By, and For the People brings together lawyers and sociologists to show how globalization and climate change offer an opportunity to revisit the founding documents. Each proposes specific changes that would more closely align US law with international law. The chapters also illustrate how constitutions are embedded in society and shaped by culture. The constitution itself sets up contentious relationships among the three branches of government and between the federal government and each state government, while the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments begrudgingly recognize the civil and political rights of citizens. These rights are described by legal scholars as "negative rights," specifically as freedoms from infringements rather than as positive rights that affirm personhood and human dignity. The contributors to this volume offer "positive rights" instead. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), written in the middle of the last century, inspires these updates. Nearly every other constitution in the world has adopted language from the UDHR.

The contributors use intersectionality, critical race theory, and contemporary critiques of runaway economic inequality to ground their interventions in sociological argument.

Together, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights comprise the constitutional foundation of the United States. These—the oldest governing documents still in use in the world—urgently need an update, just as the constitutions of other countries have been updated and revised. Human Rights Of, By, and For the People brings together lawyers and sociologists to show how globalization and climate change offer an opportunity to revisit the founding documents. Each proposes specific changes that would more closely align US law with international law. The chapters also illustrate how constitutions are embedded in society and shaped by culture. The constitution itself sets up contentious relationships among the three branches of government and between the federal government and each state government, while the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments begrudgingly recognize the civil and political rights of citizens. These rights are described by legal scholars as "negative rights," specifically as freedoms from infringements rather than as positive rights that affirm personhood and human dignity. The contributors to this volume offer "positive rights" instead. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), written in the middle of the last century, inspires these updates. Nearly every other constitution in the world has adopted language from the UDHR.

The contributors use intersectionality, critical race theory, and contemporary critiques of runaway economic inequality to ground their interventions in sociological argument.

Human Rights: A Primer breaks new ground in clarifying for undergraduates the international significance of human rights. This new edition highlights current and recent developments, using themes familiar to undergraduates. For example, Americans are increasingly aware of the growing disparities in economic well-being. It is indeed a crisis that is global and national. Because this book focuses on globalization and human rights as intertwined, readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of neoliberal capitalism in undermining human rights (dignity, security, and well-being). Major works by Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz are discussed, along with recent upheavals in Greece, and the rising tide of refugees in Europe and North America.

Furthermore, powerful forces that will increasingly test global solidarity and the future of the planet relate to the extent that countries and peoples cooperate in combating global warming and promoting sustainable development goals (SDGs). Key dates for both these issues occurred in the second half of 2015 – the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September and the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) in December. The significance of both conferences for human rights is discussed in this new edition.

Human Rights: A Primer breaks new ground in clarifying for undergraduates the international significance of human rights. This new edition highlights current and recent developments, using themes familiar to undergraduates. For example, Americans are increasingly aware of the growing disparities in economic well-being. It is indeed a crisis that is global and national. Because this book focuses on globalization and human rights as intertwined, readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of neoliberal capitalism in undermining human rights (dignity, security, and well-being). Major works by Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz are discussed, along with recent upheavals in Greece, and the rising tide of refugees in Europe and North America.

Furthermore, powerful forces that will increasingly test global solidarity and the future of the planet relate to the extent that countries and peoples cooperate in combating global warming and promoting sustainable development goals (SDGs). Key dates for both these issues occurred in the second half of 2015 – the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September and the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) in December. The significance of both conferences for human rights is discussed in this new edition.

A unique volume designed to provoke an ongoing dialogue about fundamental human rights in our society

Edited by renowned scholars, Judith Blau and Mark Frezzo, this groundbreaking anthology examines the implications that human rights have for the social sciences. The book provides readers with a wide-ranging collection of articles, each written by experts in their fields who argue for an expansion of fundamental human rights in the United States. To provide an international context, the volume covers the human rights treaties that have been incorporated into the constitutions of many countries throughout the world, including wealthy nations such as Spain and Sweden and impoverished countries such as Bolivia and Croatia.