Introduction

This powerful volume challenges the conventional view that the concept of human rights is peculiar to the West and, therefore, inherently alien to the non-Western traditions of third world countries.

This book demonstrates that there is a contextual legitimacy for the concept of human rights.

Western Cultural Origins

Virginia A. Leary and Jack Donnelly discuss the Western cultural origins of international human rights;

Religious Perspectives

David Little, Bassam Tibi, and Ann Elizabeth Mayer explore Christian and Islamic perspectives on human rights;

Human Rights in African Context

Rhoda E. Howard, Claude E. Welch, Jr., and James C. N. Paul examine human rights in the context of the African nation-state;

African Cultural Perspectives

Kwasi Wiredu, James Silk, and Francis M. Deng offer African cultural perspectives;

Cross-Cultural Approaches

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and Richard D. Schwartz discuss prospects for a cross-cultural approach to human rights.