The Rise and Fall of Human Rights: Cynicism and Politics in Occupied Palestine (Stanford Studies in Human Rights)

The Rise and Fall of Human Rights: Cynicism and Politics in Occupied Palestine (Stanford Studies in Human Rights)
Lori Allen (Author)

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Human Rights

The Rise and Fall of Human Rights provides a groundbreaking ethnographic investigation of the Palestinian human rights world—its NGOs, activists, and "victims," as well as their politics, training, and discourse—since 1979. Though human rights activity began as a means of struggle against the Israeli occupation, it has since been professionalized and politicized, transformed into a public relations tool for political legitimization and state-making.

In failing to end the Israeli occupation, protect basic human rights, or establish an accountable Palestinian government, the human rights industry has become the object of cynicism for many Palestinians. Lori Allen contends, however, that far from indicating apathy, such cynicism generates a productive critique of domestic politics and Western interventionism. The book's broad appeal lies in illuminating the successes and failures of Palestinians' varied engagements with human rights in their quest for independence.

• Rank: #164441 in Books
• Published on: 2013-04-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb

A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb
Amitava Kumar (Author)
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Human Rights

Part reportage and part protest, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb is an inquiry into the cultural logic and global repercussions of the war on terror. At its center are two men convicted in U.S. courts on terrorism-related charges: Hemant Lakhani, a seventy-year-old tried for attempting to sell a fake missile to an FBI informant, and Shahawar Matin Siraj, baited by the New York Police Department into a conspiracy to bomb a subway. Lakhani and Siraj were caught through questionable sting operations involving paid informants; both men received lengthy jail sentences. Their convictions were celebrated as major victories in the war on terror. In Amitava Kumar’s riveting account of their cases, Lakhani and Siraj emerge as epic bunglers, and the U.S. government as the creator of terror suspects to prosecute. Kumar analyzed the trial transcripts and media coverage, and he interviewed Lakhani, Siraj, their families, and their lawyers. Juxtaposing such stories of entrapment in the United States with narratives from India, another site of multiple terror attacks and state crackdowns, Kumar explores the harrowing experiences of ordinary people entangled in the war on terror. He also considers the fierce critiques of post-9/11 surveillance and security regimes by soldiers and torture victims, as well as artists and writers, including Coco Fusco, Paul Shambroom, and Arundhati Roy.

• Rank: #483453 in Books
• Published on: 2010-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 8.74" h x .67" w x 6.14" l, .72 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages