Violence & democratic society Book

While violations of human rights continue all over the world, Western criticisms and campaigns have too often presented them either in a Cold War context or with what some people in the South see as an anti-Third World bias. This not only undermines their political impact, but implies that the human rights record of Western societies is almost blameless. Jamil Salmi's significant contribution in this book is to develop a new conceptualisation of human rights violations. This goes beyond the Western liberal tradition and provides a broader classification, applicable to any society - be it capitalist or socialist, industrialised or Third World. Drawing on impeccably authoritative sources, including Amnesty International, this plain-speaking and powerful argument illuminates not only cases of clear and direct violence, such as torture, but also forces our attention to situations where violence is disguised and indirect: the threat of environmental damage to human life, the repressive violence of racism and sexism, and the alienating and dehumanising effects of unemployment.