Writing Human Rights: The Political Imaginaries of Writers of Color
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.27 (604 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 081669706X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 344 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-06-18 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Pairing the ethical deliberations in such works as Beloved and A Gesture Life with human rights texts like the United Nations Convention Against Torture, she considers why principles articulated as rights in international conventions and treaties—such as the right to self-determination or the right to family—are too often disregarded at home. In Writing Human Rights, Crystal Parikh uses the international human rights regime to read works by contemporary American writers of color—Toni Morrison, Chang-rae Lee, Ana Castillo, Aimee Phan, and others—to explore the conditions under which new norms, more capacious formulations of rights, and alternative kinds of political communities emerge.Parikh contends that unlike humanitarianism, which views its objects as victims, human rights provide avenues for the creation of political subjects. The legal texts and aspirational ideals of human rights are usually understood and applied in a global context with little bearing on the legal discourse, domestic political struggles, or social justice concerns within the United States. Human ri
Literaturesand Culture and coeditor of The Cambridge Companion to Asian American Literature.. About the AuthorCrystal Parikh is associate professor at New York University in the departments of Social and Cultural Analysis and English. She is author of An Ethics of Betrayal: The Politics of Otherness in Emergent U.S
Crystal Parikh is associate professor at New York University in the departments of Social and Cultural Analysis and English. She is author of An Ethics of Betrayal: The Politics of Otherness in Emergent U.S. Literaturesand Culture and coeditor of The Cambridge Companion to Asian American Literature.