A political theory of rights

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Sohrab Ahmari and Nasser Weddady

"During the Arab Spring, the world saw a long-suppressed group in the Middle East--young people--assert itself and demand its rights. But youthful dissent did not appear overnight; for decades it has been simmering beneath the surface in countries from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, from Iran to Egypt. In Arab Spring Dreams, a number of young Middle Easterners describe their experiences with the region's laws and cultural mores, including the crime of holding hands before marriage, discrimination and harassment over religious beliefs, and young women fighting for the right to complete their educations. They also discuss how previous uprisings, particularly the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, might be channeled to effect change in their own countries. Beautifully written and profoundly moving, these stories present a decisive call for change at a crucial point in the evolution of the Middle East"--

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Ibrahim Seaga Shaw

Drawing on case studies of the reporting of distant humanitarian interventions, especially in Eastern Europe and Africa by the mainstream Western media, €Ibrahim Shaw illuminates how journalists can create a more informed and empowered public sphere. He argues that journalists do not only hold the power to inform the public, but have the moral responsibility as duty bearers to educate and increase awareness of their rights and monitor, investigate and report all human rights violations. It is the first book to exclusively and critically explore the role of the media in the promotion and protection of human rights. Drawing on Kant's cosmopolitan principle of global justice, Shaw puts forward the case for human rights journalism as a more proactive approach in prioritising the deconstruction of indirect structural and cultural violence, and as the best way of preventing or minimising direct political violence.

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Paul Hainsworth & Stephen McCloskey

"Originally colonized by the Portuguese, East Timor was brutally invaded and occupied by Indonesian military forces in 1975. According to the UN, this resulted in the death of about a third of the population through massacres, starvation and disease. Subsequent events in Indonesia, however, have given rise to expectations of a fundamental change in its position on East Timor. Considering the potential for change against a backdrop of growing popular and political support for the Timorese cause, this book addresses its emergence as an issue of global importance. The authors set out to show how local, grassroots, individual, organizational and campaign initiatives have contributed to this state of affairs, in the context of an increased international-relations emphasis on ethics, international morality and human rights."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Pierre Duchesne

For the authorized biography of former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau, the biographer met Jacques Parizeau for 150 hours, over seven years of work, and conducted interviews with 170 people. Le croisé(1930-1980) covers early childhood education and the first steps in politics of the former prime minister. The story ends when the Parti Quebecois painfully face the consequences of the October crisis. Le baron (1970-1985) covers friendships, loyalties, betrayals and opposition, as well as activism, suspicion about federal espionage, elections, and during the first budget as finance minister. The third and final book, Le régent (1985-1995) captures and reveals some disturbing facts, finding its conclusion following the second referendum on Quebec sovereignty. This defeat marked the end of the dream of a man who fought his whole life for a single ideal.