This book brings together prominent scholars and political activists to assess the evolution of the international human rights agenda since the end of the Cold War. It argues for a major reorientation of the strategies and objectives of the human rights community. Although the possibilities for global democratization are greater now than they have been in over half a century, the collapse of the Cold War international order has nevertheless led to renewed and more virulent forms of political tyranny and civil conflict.

For many years, the primary objective of human rights proponents has been to advocate for the adoption, monitoring, and enforcement of international human rights agreements. But today the hardest cases of human rights abuse confronting the world — Rwanda, Bosnia, Haiti, Cambodia — involve societies undergoing dramatic political transitions. In these countries, violent conflict can be ended only by the establishment of new democratic regimes. But in the post–Cold War era it has become increasingly clear that full protection of human rights depends on the creation of such regimes even in less extreme circumstances. Organized around the themes of punishment, reconciliation, and law, the essays in this book argue that human-rights activism must accordingly expand its scope to find ways to successfully assist transitional societies in the reconstitution of civic and political order.

“This is an excellent collection which widens the debate on transitional justice to include individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds. In doing this it promotes the view that there is more to human rights struggles than law. While heresy for some, the message is an important one.”
— International Journal of Human Rights

“... valuable material ... for both the serious student of human rights issues and the committed activist.”
— Los Angeles Times Book Review