Amnesty International and Human Rights Activism in Postwar Britain, 1945–1977 (Human Rights in History)

"In this definitive new account of the emergence of human rights activism in post-war Britain, Tom Buchanan shows how disparate individuals, organisations and causes gradually came to acquire a common identity as "human rights activists". This was a slow process whereby a coalition of activists, working on causes ranging from anti-fascism, anti-apartheid and decolonisation to civil liberties and the peace movement, began to come together under the banner of human rights. The launch of Amnesty International in 1961, and its landmark winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 provided a model and inspiration to many new activist movements in "the field of human rights", and helped to affect major changes towards public and political attitudes towards human rights issues across the globe"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 HalfTitle 2 Series Title 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Epigraph 8 Contents 10 Preface and Acknowledgements 12 Abbreviations 17 Introduction 20 1 | Dawn: 1934–1950 47 2 | Africa, Decolonisation and Human Rightsin the 1950s 74 3 | Political Imprisonment and Human Rights, 1945–1964 100 4 | The Early Years of Amnesty International, 1961–1964 123 5 | ‘The Crisis of Growth’: Amnesty International 1964–1968 147 6 | 1968: the UN Year for Human Rights 172 7 | Torture States: 1967–1975 201 8 | ‘All Things Come to Those Who Wait’: the Later 1970s 223 Conclusion: the Winds of History 246 Notes 254 Bibliography 328 Index 347 Tom Buchanan traces the development of the human rights movement in post-war Britain, examining its origins as a coalition of activists, the birth of Amnesty International in 1961 up to Amnesty's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977, and how these activists were able to effect major changes in public and political attitudes.