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Political Science Human Rights

On the Side of the Angels

Canada and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

by (author) Andrew Thompson

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2017
Category
Human Rights, General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774835060
    Publish Date
    Mar 2017
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774835039
    Publish Date
    Apr 2017
    List Price
    $89.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774835046
    Publish Date
    Oct 2017
    List Price
    $29.95

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Description

When it comes to upholding human rights both at home and abroad, many Canadians believe that we have always been “on the side of the angels.” This book tells the story of Canada’s contributions – both good and bad – to the development and advancement of international human rights law at the Commission on Human Rights from 1946 to 2006. In it, Canada’s reputation is examined through its involvement in a number of contentious human rights issues – political, civil, racial, women’s, and Indigenous. An in-depth historical overview of six decades of Canadian engagement within the UN human rights system, this book offers new insights into the nuances, complexities, and contradictions of Canada’s human rights policies.

About the author

Contributor Notes

Andrew S. Thompson is an adjunct assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo and a fellow at both the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. A specialist in the fields of international human rights, civil society movements, and fragile states, he is the author and co-editor of four other books, Fixing Haiti: MINUSTAH and Beyond (2011), In Defence of Principles: NGOs and Human Rights in Canada (2010), Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society (2008), and Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State (2006), along with numerous journal articles and book chapters. He has appeared as an expert witness before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights. In 2004, he was part of an Amnesty International human rights lobbying and fact-finding mission to Haiti.

Editorial Reviews

Overall, Thompson charts the ups and downs—and eventual collapse—of the UNCHR. He does so from the vantage point of a middle power, whose officials were often frustrated by the inaction of the great powers and by the seeming overactivity of the smaller states of the Global South. In sum, On the Side of the Angels is a detailed and well-researched analysis that marks an important addition to the growing history of Canadian international human rights and the human rights revolution more generally.

Cambridge Law and History Review

On the Side of the Angels makes an important contribution to the existing scholarship by situating Canada and Canadian history into the broader study of the development of global human rights, something that has been lacking.

International Journal

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