• The human rights movement is gaining increasing attention internationally. This book explains the scope of human rights today, and how they are used in both national and international law.
• Completely up-to-date. Human rights is a topical and controversial issue, and recent national and world events mean that they have been regularly invoked and analysed.
• Looks at the past, present, and future of human rights. Questions whether they are under threat as they come to be seen by some as obstacles to peace, development and security.
• Ties in law, philosophy, and politics, to reveal the role played by human rights in the contemporary world.
• Andrew Clapham was for six years the Representative of Amnesty International at the United Nations in New York.

Today it is usually not long before a problem gets expressed as a human rights issue. An appeal to human rights in the face of injustice can be a heartfelt and morally justified demand for some, while for others it remains merely an empty slogan.

Taking an international perspective and focusing on highly topical issues such as torture, arbitrary detention, privacy, health and discrimination, this Very Short Introduction will help readers to understand for themselves the controversies and complexities behind this vitally relevant issue. Looking at the philosophical justification for rights, the historical origins of human rights and how they are formed in law, Andrew Clapham explains what our human rights actually are, what they might be, and where the human rights movement is heading.

Readership: Students of law, moral and ethical philosophy, history and politics. Also activists in civil society movements and anyone seeking an accessible introduction to human rights and their relevance to current events.