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Political Science Human Rights

Debating Rights Inflation in Canada

A Sociology of Human Rights

by (author) Dominique Clément

Publisher
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2018
Category
Human Rights, General, Conflict of Laws
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771122443
    Publish Date
    Oct 2018
    List Price
    $26.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781771122764
    Publish Date
    Oct 2018
    List Price
    $16.99

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Description

Human rights has become the dominant vernacular for framing social problems around the world. In this book, Dominique Clément presents a paradox in politics, law, and social practice: he argues that whereas framing grievances as human rights violations has become an effective strategy, the increasing appropriation of rights-talk to frame any and all grievances undermines attempts to address systemic social problems. His argument is followed by commentator response from several leading human rights scholars and practitioners in Canada and abroad who bridge the divide between academia, public policy, and practice.

About the author

Dominique Clément is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. He is the author of Human Rights in Canada: A History (WLU Press, 2016), Canada’s Rights Revolution, and Equality Deferred, as well as the co-editor of Alberta's Human Rights Story and Debating Dissent. He is the author of numerous articles on human rights, social movements, women’s history, foreign policy, and labour history.

Dominique Clément's profile page

Editorial Reviews

In Canada, as in many other advanced countries, human rights have proliferated, leading many commentators to proclaim that rights have triumphed over other modes of social organization. Perhaps so, but Dominique Clément worries that "rights inflation" beyond the protection of core interests paradoxically interferes with broader efforts to achieve social justice. In this fascinating book, Clément lays out a powerful account of the dark side of the Canadian experience of human rights. Four responses by leading experts give the reader numerous perspectives on this difficult problem.

Eric Posner, Professor, University of Chicago Law School