Fer reviewed Human Rights Dictatorship by Ned Richardson-Little
Review of 'Human Rights Dictatorship' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Human rights are not a monolithic notion. Both from a historical and ideological perspective, the concept of human rights has been subject to different interpretations. This book does a fantastic job in portraying that process in a case study. By analysing the contradictions and the aims of the human rights policy of the East German government, one gets to understand that human rights go beyond the conventional wisdom of Western democracy in its quest against totalitarianism. On the contrary, human rights can have strong links to socialism and they may serve to cast light on issues where human rights become a synonym for self-determination, such as those of the anti-imperialist movement. Navigating the issues of this concept of human rights aids to a better understanding of the process that led to the end of the GDR and how this powerful concept could have become the spine of a democratic socialist …
Human rights are not a monolithic notion. Both from a historical and ideological perspective, the concept of human rights has been subject to different interpretations. This book does a fantastic job in portraying that process in a case study. By analysing the contradictions and the aims of the human rights policy of the East German government, one gets to understand that human rights go beyond the conventional wisdom of Western democracy in its quest against totalitarianism. On the contrary, human rights can have strong links to socialism and they may serve to cast light on issues where human rights become a synonym for self-determination, such as those of the anti-imperialist movement. Navigating the issues of this concept of human rights aids to a better understanding of the process that led to the end of the GDR and how this powerful concept could have become the spine of a democratic socialist ideal.