In a world that is increasingly disillusioned with formal politics, people are no longer prepared to wait for governments and international institutions to act on human rights concerns. This book identifies activism as a key means of realizing human rights and as a new form of politics.

Fighting for Human Rights documents and compares successful high profile campaigns to cancel debt in the developing world, ban landmines and set up the International Criminal Court as well as emerging campaigns that focus on HIV/AIDS, environmental justice, democratization and blood diamonds.