Human Rights in Twentieth-Century Australia

This groundbreaking study explores the long history of human rights in Australia, from their supposed invention in the 1940s to their official incorporation into government bureaucracy in the 1980s. It surveys a wide range of individuals, institutions, and publics across the political spectrum, who translated global ideas into local settings and made meaning of a foreign discourse to suit local concerns. Governments engaged with or ignored human rights as their meanings, international currency, and domestic reception ebbed and flowed. Individuals also understood and (re)translated human rights ideas through writing, books, and poems.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 219 pages
\n Publication date: 12 August 2021
\n Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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This groundbreaking study delves into the intricate tapestry of human rights in Australia, tracing their evolution from their purported inception in the 1940s to their formal integration into the Australian government bureaucracy in the 1980s. To accomplish this, a diverse array of individuals, institutions, and publics spanning the political spectrum have been surveyed, who have skillfully translated global ideas into local contexts and interpreted foreign discourses to align with local concerns and preferences. These individuals have either established new organizations to disseminate the message of human rights or have repurposed existing institutions to accommodate their newfound concerns, adopting rights language with a blend of enthusiasm and opportunism. Conversely, governments have engaged with or disregarded human rights, depending on their evolving meanings, international recognition, and domestic reception. Furthermore, individuals have actively comprehended and (re)interpreted human rights ideas throughout this period, manifesting their understanding through various forms of expression, such as writing letters, books, and poems, as well as engaging in new, global ways of sympathizing.

\n Weight: 332g\n
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 19 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781108460279\n \n