Description

A powerful and urgent explanation and vindication of our human rights and freedoms

After the devastation of World War Two, the international community came together to enshrine fundamental rights to refuge, health, education and living standards, for privacy, fair trials and free speech, and outlawing torture, slavery and discrimination. Their goal was greater global justice, equality, and peace. That settlement is now in danger, attacked by opponents from across the political spectrum and populist and authoritarian movements worldwide. We are threatened by wars, inequality, new technologies and climate catastrophe, and we need our human rights now more than ever. In this powerful, accessible book, Shami Chakrabarti, lawyer, parliamentarian and leading British human rights defender, shows us why human rights are essential for our future.

Outlining the historic national and international struggles for human rights, from the fall of Babylon, to the present day, Chakrabarti is an indispensable guide to the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms. Her intervention will engage both sceptics and supporters, equipping believers in the battle of ideas and persuading doubters to think again. For human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone.

Publisher Review

A fierce and thoughtful answer to those who thoughtlessly criticise the whole idea of human rights and its core values of dignity and equality – but also a blueprint for how human rights thinking might help us solve the great problems of the day – cyberspace and AI, armed conflict and climate change – and give democracy a future — Brenda Hale An impassioned, thoughtful reminder of why the principle of human rights is a universal force for good, at a moment when some in power would have us believe otherwise. Read and feel inspired — Angela Saini, author of THE PATRIARCHS Full of passion and idealism but also fine scholarship, this book sets out a plan for how Humanity can avoid a cruel, Hobbesian future. It will be required reading for anyone who believes that Human Rights offer a better path forward for global society than the Manichean one it is presently treading — Andrew Roberts A book that is as passionate, as precise, as needed, as human rights themselves. After 30 years as a lawyer and campaigner at the rock face of human rights work, Shami Chakrabarti argues the case for defending and promoting these rights with reason, lyricism and subtlety, offering us comfort and a compass for the future — Ahdaf Soueif I would follow this woman to the end of the earth. If you are a human you need to read Shami Chakrabati’s Human Rights. If you are not then don’t. We need this book now more than ever — Lemn Sissay (via X) The threat to human rights is ever increasing and the practical way this book informs us is commendable. The book gives us a road map of what we are facing that is easy to understand. People across the world face more conflict than ever. Wars that have nothing to do with ordinary people going about their daily lives come from the governments that are supposed to protect them. The book is worth reading — Doreen Lawrence Human rights need informed and passionate supporters, perhaps now more than ever. Shami Chakrabarti is both, her eloquence and persuasiveness evident in every page of this lively and accessible book — Conor Gearty Even within the most open of societies, the case for human rights has to be refashioned in each generation. Shami Chakrabarti’s pages glow with the persuasive gifts and 30 years’ of practical experience she brings to her task — Peter Hennessy At once primer and urgent clarion call, Shami Chakrabarti’s brilliant history and defence of human rights could not have come at a better time. Lucid, exacting and passionate, this book is required reading for critics and advocates alike. Chakrabarti reminds us that rights are not there to make us comfortable, and nor should they be traded for political points. Rights exist to keep us – and our democracies – free — Lyndsey Stonebridge Chakrabarti’s bracing defence of human rights against their sceptics is as accessible as it is necessary. Connecting historical struggles for justice under law with today’s challenges on a burning and wartorn planet, she has made another indispensable contribution to our public life — Samuel Moyn In a world which increasingly threatens the rights and values many of us have come to take for granted, Chakrabarti’s book is a timely reminder of both the history of these hard won freedoms and how they have come to shape what a just and fair society looks like. Her powerful, important book reminds us why we must continue to hold human rights up to the light, ensuring they protect not only the human dignity of the most vulnerable but the health and strength of a democratic society — Sarah Langford