The Ambivalence of Good examines the genesis and evolution of international human rights politics since the 1940s. Focusing on key developments such as the shaping of the UN human rights system, decolonization, the rise of Amnesty International, the campaigns against the Pinochet dictatorship, the moral politics of Western governments, or dissidence in Eastern Europe, the book traces how human rights profoundly, if subtly, transformed global affairs. Moving beyond monocausal explanations and narratives prioritizing one particular decade, such as the 1940s or the 1970s, The Ambivalence of Good argues that we need a complex and nuanced interpretation if we want to understand the truly global reach of human rights, and account for the hopes, conflicts, and interventions to which this idea gave rise. Thus, it portrays the story of human rights as polycentric, demonstrating how actors in various locales imbued them with widely different meanings, arguing that the political field evolved in a fitful and discontinuous process. This process was shaped by consequential shifts that emerged from the search for a new world order during the Second World War, decolonization, the desire to introduce a new political morality into world affairs during the 1970s, and the visions of a peaceful international order after the end of the Cold War. Finally, the book stresses that the projects pursued in the name of human rights nonetheless proved highly ambivalent. Self-interest was as strong a driving force as was the desire to help people in need, and while international campaigns often improved the fate of the persecuted, they were equally likely to have counterproductive effects. The Ambivalence of Good provides the first research-based synopsis of the topic and one of the first synthetic studies of a transnational political field (such as population, health, or the environment) during the twentieth century. Based on archival research in six countries, it breaks new empirical ground concerning the history of human rights in the United Nations, of human rights NGOs, of far-flung mobilizations, and of the uses of human rights in state foreign policy.
The Star Trek: Signature Edition series continues with this thrilling adventure featuring Commander Spock, Captain Kirk, and the U.S.S. Enterprise. The fiercest battles and proudest warriors throughout Klingon history are said to reflect the honor and glory of the race's first emperor, Kahless the Unforgettable. But history is not always truthful. And for both the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets, the real truth may be too difficult to accept. In the pages of a novel disclaimed by Starfleet, an enemy offers his perspective on events that transpired during the formative years of Klingon-Federation relations in the early twenty-third century. Chronicling the life story of Krenn, a Klingon war strategist who learns of peace while on a mission to Earth, the novel is a testimony to his efforts to preserve the honor of his people...by preventing total war against the then-struggling Federation. Nearly a century later, a clone of the revered Kahless oversees the Klingon Empire. But when the myths and legends associated with the original emperor are disputed following the discovery of an ancient scroll, the new Kahless faces treason from within his own council, and impending civil war that could tear the empire apart. His sole chance for restoring his people's shattered faith must come from the outside—specifically, from Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Lieutenant Worf of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
This second volume of Gyllenbok's encyclopaedia of historical metrology comprises the first part of the compendium of measurement systems and currencies of all sovereign states of the modern World (A-I). Units of measurement are of vital importance in every civilization through history. Since the early ages, man has through necessity devised various measures to assist him in everyday life. They have enabled and continue to enable us to trade in commonly and equitably understood amounts, and to investigate, understand, and control the chemical, physical, and biological processes of the natural world. The encyclopeadia will be of use not only to historians of science and technology, but also to economic and social historians and should be in every major academic and national library as standard reference work on the topic.
In All the King’s Women Jan Rüdiger investigates medieval elite polygyny and its ‘uses’ in Northern Europe with a comparative perspective on England and France as well as Iberia.
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