Leading scholars evaluate the philosophical basis of human rights, and the development of a global human rights culture.

Introduction: human rights and the fifty years' crisis Tim Dunne and Nicholas J. Wheeler; Part I. Theories of Human Rights: 1. Three tyrannies of human rights Ken Booth; 2. The social construction of international human rights Jack Donnelly; 3. Universal human rights: a critique Chris Brown; 4. Non-ethnocentric universalism Bhikhu Parekh; 5. Towards an ethic of global responsibility Mary Midgley; Part II. The Practices of Human Wrongs: 6. The challenge of genocide and genocidal politics in an era of globalisation Richard Falk; 7. Transnational civil society Mary Kaldor; 8. Global voices: civil society and the media in global crises Martin Shaw; 9. Refugees: a global human rights and security crisis Gil Loescher; 10. The silencing of women Georgina Ashworth; 11. Power, principles and prudence: protecting human right in a divided world Andrew Hurrell; 12. Conclusion: learning beyond frontiers Ken Booth and Tim Dunne.