Category : Recommended Reading

Citizens of the World: Readings in Human Rights

Citizens of the World: Readings in Human Rights is a collection of historical documents and literary works that shows the evolution of an influential concept and the struggle for recognition of the dignity and worth of all people.

Books Introduction:

“In Citizens of the World: Readings in Human Rights, voices speak against injustice-a jailed dissident, a concentration camp inmate, a girl imprisoned in her home under the rule of religious extremists.  We see families torn apart, a man arrested in the middle of the night because of a poem he wrote, peaceful demonstrators flattened by the tanks of their own government’s military.

The experiences of these people raise urgent questions about human rights. Our sense of what human rights are and how they should be protected is always evolving and always subject to debate.  Rather than attempt to survey the history of human rights, the selections in Citizens of the World suggest a way of thinking about human rights, with each representing a moment in its history.  In addition to foundational documents, this anthology includes memoirs, letters, speeches, fiction, and poetry from different periods and parts of the world.  The range of readings shows how the struggle for human rights is driven by the efforts, and affects the lives, of individuals.  Some selections mark great advances in the cause of human rights; others depict horrific human rights abuse…”