By identifying and embracing the paradox that human rights are at once a transcendent value belonging to all and a reality forged by particular people rooted in specific places, The Human Rights Paradox advances a new way to understand the history, contemporary politics, advocacy, and future prospects of human rights.

Steve J. Stern is the Alberto Flores Galindo and Hilldale Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received the Bolton-Johnson Prize from the Conference in Latin American History in 2007 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. Scott Straus is a professor of political science and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of The Order of Genocide and a coeditor of Remaking Rwanda.