In social justice advocacy in the United States today, activists often use international human rights rhetoric, methods, standards, and institutions. What are the scope, purposes, and effects of this strategy? Is this something new? If so, how and when did this trend begin? This paper discusses...

In recent years, aggrieved groups around the world have portrayed their problems as human rights issues. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is expansive, for most of its history civil and political rights have garnered the bulk of resources. Yet today groups such as the...

This article analyzes recent efforts by India's Dalits (Untouchables) to transform centuries-old caste-based discrimination into an international human rights issue. Comparing early failures and later successes in international activism, the article demonstrates that the Dalits have achieved...