The Making of International Human Rights: The 1960s, Decolonization, and the Reconstruction of Global Values (Human Rights in History)

"This book chronicles the dawn of the global movement for women's rights in the first decades of the twentieth century. The founding mothers of this movement were not based primarily in the United States, however, or in Europe. Instead, Katherine M. Marino introduces readers to a cast of remarkable Latin American and Caribbean women whose deep friendships and intense rivalries forged global feminism out of an era of imperialism, racism, and fascism. Six dynamic activists form the heart of this story: from Brazil, Bertha Lutz; from Cuba, Ofelia Domíngez Navarro; from Uruguay, Paulina Luisi; from Panama, Clara González; from Chile, Marta Vergara; and from the United States, Doris Stevens. This Pan-American network drove a transnational movement that advocated women's suffrage, equal pay for equal work, maternity rights, and broader self-determination. Their painstaking efforts led to the enshrinement of women's rights in the United Nations Charter and the development of a framework for international human rights. But their work also revealed deep divides, with Latin American activists overcoming U.S. presumptions to feminist superiority. As Marino shows, these early fractures continue to influence divisions among today's activists along class, racial, and national lines. Marino's multinational and multilingual research yields a new narrative for the creation of global feminism. The leading women introduced here were forerunners in understanding the power relations at the heart of international affairs. Their drive to enshrine fundamental rights for women, children, and all people of the world stands as a testament to what can be accomplished when global thinking meets local action." -- Publisher's description This Book Fundamentally Reinterprets The History Of International Human Rights In The Post-1945 Era By Documenting How Pivotal The Global South Was For Their Breakthrough. In Stark Contrast To Other Contemporary Human Rights Historians Who Have Focused Almost Exclusively On The 1940s And The 1970s - Heavily Privileging Western Agency - Steven L. B. Jensen Convincingly Argues That It Was In The 1960s That Universal Human Rights Had Their Breakthrough. This Is A Ground-breaking Work That Places Race And Religion At The Center Of These Developments And Focuses On A Core Group Of States Who Led The Human Rights Breakthrough, Namely Jamaica, Liberia, Ghana, And The Philippines. They Transformed The Norms Upon Which The International Community Today Is Built. Their Efforts In The 1960s Post-colonial Moment Laid The Foundation - In Profound And Surprising Ways - For The So-called Human Rights Revolution In The 1970s, When Western Activists And States Began To Embrace Human Rights-- On 14 June 1993, The Secretary-general Of The United Nations Boutros Boutros-ghali Delivered The Opening Address To The World Conference On Human Rights Held In Vienna. The World Had Undergone Massive Political Transformations In The Preceding Four Years And The Vienna Conference's Purpose Was To Lay New Foundations For International Human Rights Protection In The Post-cold War Era. Since 1945, The Evolution Of International Human Rights Had Been Closely Linked To The United Nations. The Cold War And North-south Debates Had For Almost 50 Years Determined The Uneasy Existence Of Human Rights At The United Nations-- Negotiating Universality: Introduction -- Power Carries Its Own Conviction: The Early Rise And Fall Of Human Rights, 1945-1960 -- The Problem Of Freedoma': The United Nations And Decolonization, 1960-1961 -- From Jamaica With Law: The Rekindling Of International Human Rights, 1962-1967 -- The Making Of A Precedent: Racial Discrimination And International Human Rights Law, 1962-1966 -- The Hymn Of Hate: The Failed Convention On Elimination Of All Forms Of Religious Intolerance, 1962-1967 -- So Bitter A Year For Human Rights: 1968 And The Un International Year For Human Rights -- To Cope With The Flux Of The Future: Human Rights And The Helsinki Final Act, 1962-1975 -- The Presence Of The Disappeared, 1968-1993 -- Conclusion. Steven L.b. Jensen, The Danish Institute For Human Rights. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 283-300) And Index. "This book chronicles the dawn of the global movement for women's rights in the first decades of the twentieth century. The founding mothers of this movement were not based primarily in the United States, however, or in Europe. Instead, Katherine M. Marino introduces readers to a cast of remarkable Latin American and Caribbean women whose deep friendships and intense rivalries forged global feminism out of an era of imperialism, racism, and fascism. Six dynamic activists form the heart of this story: from Brazil, Bertha Lutz; from Cuba, Ofelia Domíngez Navarro; from Uruguay, Paulina Luisi; from Panama, Clara González; from Chile, Marta Vergara; and from the United States, Doris Stevens. This Pan-American network drove a transnational movement that advocated women's suffrage, equal pay for equal work, maternity rights, and broader self-determination. Their painstaking efforts led to the enshrinement of women's rights in the United Nations Charter and the development of a framework for international human rights. But their work also revealed deep divides, with Latin American activists overcoming U.S. presumptions to feminist superiority. As Marino shows, these early fractures continue to influence divisions among today's activists along class, racial, and national lines. Marino's multinational and multilingual research yields a new narrative for the creation of global feminism. The leading women introduced here were forerunners in understanding the power relations at the heart of international affairs. Their drive to enshrine fundamental rights for women, children, and all people of the world stands as a testament to what can be accomplished when global thinking meets local action." -- Publisher's description "This book chronicles the dawn of the global movement for women's rights in the first decades of the twentieth century. The founding mothers of this movement were not based primarily in the United States, however, or in Europe. Instead, Katherine M. Marino introduces readers to a cast of remarkable Latin American and Caribbean women whose deep friendships and intense rivalries forged global feminism out of an era of imperialism, racism, and fascism. Six dynamic activists form the heart of this story: from Brazil, Bertha Lutz; from Cuba, Ofelia Domíngez Navarro; from Uruguay, Paulina Luisi; from Panama, Clara González; from Chile, Marta Vergara; and from the United States, Doris Stevens. This Pan-American network drove a transnational movement that advocated women's suffrage, equal pay for equal work, maternity rights, and broader self-determination. Their painstaking efforts led to the enshrinement of women's rights in the United Nations Charter and the development of a framework for international human rights. But their work also revealed deep divides, with Latin American activists overcoming U.S. presumptions to feminist superiority. As Marino shows, these early fractures continue to influence divisions among today's activists along class, racial, and national lines. Marino's multinational and multilingual research yields a new narrative for the creation of global feminism. The leading women introduced here were forerunners in understanding the power relations at the heart of international affairs. Their drive to enshrine fundamental rights for women, children, and all people of the world stands as a testament to what can be accomplished when global thinking meets local action." -- Página 4 de cubierta This book reveals the story of six dynamic women who drove Pan-American feminism from the 1920s-1940s: Uruguayan Paulina Luisi, Brazilian Bertha Lutz, Chilean Marta Vergara, Cuban Ofelia Dominguez Navarro, Panamanian Clara Gonzalez, and U.S. citizen Doris Stevens. The deep friendships and intense rivalries among these women during an era marked by imperialism, racism, and fascism gave rise to a feminism sensitive to multiple forms of oppression. This advocacy sped changes for women throughout the Americas--suffrage, equal nationality rights, rights to hold public office, equal pay for equal work, and maternity legislation. But just as importantly, these six leaders were forerunners in understanding the complexity of power relations in international affairs, and they used their expertise to not only shape the trajectory of international women's rights but include human rights as defined and established in the United Nations Charter. -- Provided by publisher. Cover Half title Series Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Negotiating universality – an introduction 1 ``Power carries its own conviction'': the early rise and fall of human rights, 1945–1960 2 ``The problem of freedom'': the United Nations and decolonization, 1960–1961 3 From Jamaica with law: the rekindling of international human rights, 1962–1967 4 The making of a precedent: racial discrimination and international human rights law, 1962–1966 5 ``The hymn of hate'': the failed convention on elimination of all forms of religious intolerance, 1962–1967 6 ``So bitter a year for human rights'': 1968 and the UN International Year for Human Rights 7 ``To cope with the flux of the future'': human rights and the Helsinki Final Act, 1962–1975 8 The presence of the disappeared, 1968–1993 Conclusion Archives and References Index Chronicles the dawn of the global women's rights in the early twentieth century. The founding mothers of this movement were not based primarily in the US or Europe. Instead, Katherine Marino introduces readers to a cast of remarkable Latin American and Caribbean women who forged global feminism out of an era of imperialism, racism, and fascism.