Human Rights: Global Policy and Practice

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been heralded as a common ethical standard of humanity and helped spawn a global human rights movement. But what impacts have international human rights law, institutions and actors had in practice? Human rights violations are not always the product of a linear relationship between oppressor and victim, but are rooted in a complex structure of power relations in the political, economic and social spheres. This is particularly the case for socio-economic rights which, compared with civil and political rights, continue to be neglected in practice. How adaptable, and how successful, has the global human rights movement been in challenging underlying structures of exclusion and oppression, changing the behaviour of influential economic institutions, and addressing existential threats like climate change? How can positive change be achieved in practice, and what expectations can reasonably be placed upon human rights law, institutions and actors in this regard?