Feminism for the Americas: The Making of an International Human Rights Movement

328 Pages·2019·3.899 MB·English

by  Katherine M. Marino

TheMakingofInternationalHumanRights
The1960s,DecolonizationandtheReconstruction
ofGlobalValues
This book fundamentally reinterprets the history of international
human rights in the post-1945 era by documenting how pivotal the
Global South was for their breakthrough. In stark contrast to other
contemporaryhumanrightshistorianswhohavefocusedalmostexclu-
sivelyonthe1940sandthe1970s–heavilyprivilegingWesternagency–
Steven L. B. Jensen convincingly argues that it was in the 1960s that
universalhumanrightshadtheirbreakthrough.
This is a groundbreaking work that places race and religion at the
centerofthesedevelopmentsandfocusesonacoregroupofstatesthat
led the human rights breakthrough, namely Jamaica, Liberia, Ghana
andthePhilippines.Theytransformedthenormsuponwhichtheinter-
nationalcommunitytodayisbuilt.Theireffortsinthe1960spostcolo-
nialmomentlaidthefoundation–inprofoundandsurprisingways–
for the so-called human rights revolution in the 1970s when Western
activistsandstatesbegantoembracehumanrights.
Steven L. B. Jensen is a researcher at the Danish Institute for Human
Rights. His current research, funded by the Danish Research Council
(2015–2017),focusesonthehistoryofeconomicandsocialrightsafter
1945. He has previously published on genocide, HIV/AIDS, global
health and development, and 1960s politics and has held positions
with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations.
Heisthewinnerofthe2015EsterBoserupThesisPrizeandthe2015
ReneCassinThesisPrize(SpecialMention).

HumanRightsinHistory
Editedby
Stefan-LudwigHoffmann,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
SamuelMoyn,HarvardUniversity
This series showcases new scholarship exploring the backgrounds of human rights
today.Withanopen-endedchronologyandinternationalperspective,theseriesseeks
worksattentivetothesurprisesandcontingenciesinthehistoricaloriginsandlegacies
of human rights ideals and interventions. Books in the series will focus not only
on the intellectual antecedents and foundations of human rights, but also on the
incorporationoftheconceptbymovements,nation-states,internationalgovernance
andtransnationallaw.
Alsointheseries:
EleanorDavey,IdealismbeyondBorders
Fisch,trans.Mage,TheRightofSelf-DeterminationofPeoples:TheDomestication
ofanIllusion
Hong,ColdWarGermany,theThirdWorld,andtheGlobalHumanitarianRegime
FehrenbachandRodogno,HumanitarianPhotography:AHistory
Hoffmann,HumanRightsintheTwentiethCentury
Snyder,HumanRightsActivismandtheEndoftheColdWar:ATransnational
HistoryoftheHelsinkiNetwork
WinterandProst,Rene´ CassinandHumanRights:FromtheGreatWartothe
UniversalDeclaration

The Making of International
Human Rights
The 1960s, Decolonization and the
Reconstruction of Global Values
STEVEN L. B. JENSEN
TheDanishInstituteforHumanRights
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107112162
(cid:2)C StevenL.B.Jensen2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Jensen,StevenL.B.,1973–author.
Themakingofinternationalhumanrights:the1960s,decolonization,
andthereconstructionofglobalvalues/StevenJensen,
theDanishInstituteforHumanRights.
NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016.
Series:Humanrightsinhistory
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
lccn2015039219 isbn9781107112162(hardback)
lcsh:Humanrights–History–20thcentury. Decolonization–
History–20thcentury. UnitedNations.CommissiononHumanRights.
lccjc571.j468 2016
ddc341.4/8–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2015039219
isbn978-1-107-11216-2Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Negotiatinguniversality–anintroduction 1
1 “Powercarriesitsownconviction”:theearlyriseandfallof
humanrights,1945–1960 18
2 “Theproblemoffreedom”:theUnitedNationsand
decolonization,1960–1961 48
3 FromJamaicawithlaw:therekindlingofinternational
humanrights,1962–1967 69
4 Themakingofaprecedent:racialdiscriminationand
internationalhumanrightslaw,1962–1966 102
5 “Thehymnofhate”:thefailedconventiononeliminationof
allformsofreligiousintolerance,1962–1967 138
6 “Sobitterayearforhumanrights”:1968andtheUN
InternationalYearforHumanRights 174
7 “Tocopewiththefluxofthefuture”:humanrightsandthe
HelsinkiFinalAct,1962–1975 209
8 Thepresenceofthedisappeared,1968–1993 237
Conclusion 275
Archivesandreferences 283
Index 301
vii