Human Rights and the Borders of Suffering

Human Rights and the Borders of Suffering, now newly available in paperback, argues for greater openness in the ways we approach human rights and international rights promotion. In doing so, it brings new understanding to longstanding debates.

Starting with the realities of abuse rather than the liberal architecture of rights, the book casts human rights as a language for probing the political dimensions of suffering. Seen in this context, the predominant Western models of rights generate a substantial but also problematic and not always emancipatory array of practices. These models fall short in addressing the questions about the nature of political community raised by systemic infliction of suffering.

Rather than a simple message from 'us' to 'them', rights promotion is depicted as a long and difficult conversation about the relationship between political organisations and suffering.

The book explores three case studies: the Tiananmen Square massacre, East Timor's violent modern history, and the circumstances of indigenous Australians. The purpose of these discussions is not to elaborate a new theory of rights, but to work towards rights practices that are more responsive to the spectrum of injury that we inflict and endure.

Human Rights and the Borders of Suffering is a valuable and innovative contribution to rights debates. It serves as an important resource for students of international politics, political theory, and conflict resolution, as well as for those engaged in the pursuit of human rights.