The Rights Revolution

Front Cover
House of Anansi, 2007 - Political Science - 170 pages
Since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, rights have become the dominant language of the public good around the globe. In Canada, rights have become the trump card in every argument from family life to Parliament Hill, but the notorious fights for aboriginal rights and for the linguistic heritage of French-speaking Canadians have steered Canada into a full-blown rights revolution. This revolution is not only deeply controversial, but is being watched around the world. Are group rights to land and language jeopardizing individual rights? Has the Charter of Rights empowered ordinary Canadians or just enriched constitutional lawyers? When everyone asserts their rights, what happens to responsibilities? Michael Ignatieff confronts these questions head-on in The Rights Revolution, defending the supposed individualism of rights language against all comers.
 

Contents

Democracy and the Rights Revolution
1
Human Rights and Human Differences
27
Rights Intimacy and Family Life
85
Rights Recognition
113
Copyright

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About the author (2007)

Michael Ignatieff is a Canadian writer and historian. His books include Scar Tissue(which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize), The Russian Album, Blood and Belonging, The Warrior's Honour, The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror, and The Rights Revolution. His work has been translated into many languages and awarded numerous prizes and awards. Before being elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament in 2006, he was Professor of Human Rights and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. Until May 2011 Ignatieff was leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He lives in Toronto, where he teaches at the University of Toronto.

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