--- product_id: 4778957 title: "Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice" price: "€ 61.21" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/4778957-universal-human-rights-in-theory-and-practice store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice **Price:** € 61.21 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice - **How much does it cost?** € 61.21 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/4778957-universal-human-rights-in-theory-and-practice) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description In the third edition of his classic work, revised extensively and updated to include recent developments on the international scene, Jack Donnelly explains and defends a richly interdisciplinary account of human rights as universal rights. He shows that any conception of human rights—and the idea of human rights itself—is historically specific and contingent. Since publication of the first edition in 1989, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice has justified Donnelly’s claim that "conceptual clarity, the fruit of sound theory, can facilitate action. At the very least it can help to unmask the arguments of dictators and their allies." Review: Recommended by several professors - Several of my human rights courses used this as a textbook. I sold my copy when I completed my coursework, only to purchase it again six month later for a reference guide. Well-organized text! Review: Five Stars - pretty good book and Kindle for desertcart works good in my laptop and android cellphone. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,207,697 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #623 in Human Rights Law (Books) #654 in Government Social Policy #895 in Human Rights (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 138 Reviews | ## Images ![Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61s8Gzg-prL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended by several professors *by S***3 on January 4, 2022* Several of my human rights courses used this as a textbook. I sold my copy when I completed my coursework, only to purchase it again six month later for a reference guide. Well-organized text! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five Stars *by S***T on March 4, 2017* pretty good book and Kindle for amazon works good in my laptop and android cellphone. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A clear and definitive view of human rights *by E***E on September 24, 2014* The four stars in this review are more for the organization and clarity of Donnelly's ideas and to a lesser extent for the ideas themselves. It works well as an introduction to the validity of human rights, the vocabulary of practitioners and some of the founding documents, particularly, in this case, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The Holocaust, plus the forced relocation of millions and the destruction of the most basic necessities to maintain life during World War II was the impetus for the Declaration (grammatically the upper case D is correct but if Donnelly were reading it aloud you could hear it) and the subsequent treaties that amended and extended it. An important aspect of the UDHR is that all the rights it enumerates and defines are individual and not group rights. The rights of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities are dealt with as the rights of individuals belonging to the group, not the group itself as a collective entity, since human rights are literally the rights that one has simply because on is a human being. Human rights are equal rights; all people have the same human rights as everyone else. They are inalienable; one cannot stop being human no matter how badly one behaves or how monstrously one is treated. And they are universal in that we consider all members of the species Homo Sapiens as human beings and thus, automatically, holders of human rights. Human rights can be violated, ignored or abrogated and often are with impunity for the violators. Attempting to claim a right--the right of free assembly and association, for example, can lead, in many countries to extra-judicial execution--one can simply disappear or, now that it has become a transitive verb, can be disappeared--El Salvador, Chile under Pinochet, Iraq, the Philippines, the USSR, many others. Regimes that feature summary executions of suspected enemies of the state will almost always fail in most other categories of maintaining or expanding human rights. However, no matter how the concept of individual rights is trampled under the jackboots of fascism those rights still exist and individuals in these unfortunate countries are still fully entitled to them. The right to the presumption of innocence in a free and fair hearing before an independent and impartial judiciary doesn't evaporate in, for example, the People's Republic of China even though those rights may seem to be in permanent abeyance. An important distinction for Donnelly is that human rights are not moral rights--human rights have played what he calls a "vanishingly small part of Western moral theory." He follows John Rawls in identifying them as political rights and is much more specific regarding them than Jurgen Habermas whose political philosophy often complements Rawls but who is in conflict with him as well. Donnelly knows his stuff. He is cited everywhere by everyone, has been consulted by the United Nations and governments throughout the world. “Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice" is a valuable and timely book. ## Frequently Bought Together - Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice - We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/4778957-universal-human-rights-in-theory-and-practice](https://www.desertcart.be/products/4778957-universal-human-rights-in-theory-and-practice) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-06-04*