Evidence for hope: making human rights work in the 21st century

Abstract

Human rights work. This is the message Kathryn Sikkink delivers in her most recent book, Evidence for hope: making human rights work in the 21st century. Writing in response to the current widespread pessimism about human rights, the author's intention is not necessarily to soothe hostile audiences, as the term ‘hope’ in the title would suggest. Rather, she reclaims powerful human rights lessons and rectifies common misunderstandings to advocate for more proactive, well-informed action at a time when this is sorely needed. Unlike other, conventional academic works in the field, Evidence for hope combines scientific rigour in addressing major, contemporary criticisms of human rights with the ability to propose objective means of promoting them exactly where it seems most crucial. In order to do this, Sikkink relies on both scholarship and practices to suggest tailored policy recommendations to deal with ongoing human rights violations. Such a comprehensive book was made possible by the author's careful review of the history of international human rights laws, institutions and movements around the globe. Sikkink has a firm grasp on human rights, avoiding modish precedents which could suggest imposition from the Global North towards the South. The first chapter legitimizes human rights by reminding readers of their diverse origins: Latin American jurists, diplomats and activists early in the 1940s envisioned and advocated for international human rights law; while states in Africa, Asia and the Middle East took the lead in the 1960s and 1970s to build the first strong international human rights institutions. In other words, here one finds evidence of the global South's protagonism in the international human rights system.