Human rights horizons : the pursuit of justice in a globalizing world /

Falk (Princeton) presents another significant contribution with this overview of roughly a half century of human rights politics related to international organizations, law, and diplomacy. He begins with the premise that the state-oriented system is gradually being modified and challenges ethnocentric patterns of US political thought and behavior. Falk questions whether secularism is a necessary precondition for a tolerant society. In considering the exclusion of Islamic diplomats from prominent positions of power in the international system, he proposes institutional adjustments and implicitly suggests a permanent Islamic presence on the UN Security Council. Falk also questions the tendency of Western-based NGO's and governments to overemphasize individual rights while neglecting social and economic rights. He explicates the confusing and still-evolving fight of self-determination of minority groups and their relation to the state-oriented international system. He documents the modestly improving record of the UN in legitimizing the international claims of minorities and suggests the organization may gradually promote their rights. Falk explains the inevitable future challenges posed by genocidal politics and demonstrates the relevance of past grievances redressed in societies that were ravaged by crimes such as mass murder. He combines a thoughtful, historical critique of the human rights movement with a farsighted, imaginative view of the future. Tough sledding for undergraduates but students at the graduate level, teachers, and scholars will find it delightful. P. G. Conway; SUNY College at Oneonta