8 Further reading

For a wide-ranging, accessible and powerful defence of the idea of universal human rights and their role in the international system, see Chapters 1, 5, 6 and 7 of Beetham, D. (1999) Democracy and Human Rights, Cambridge, Polity Press.

For a brilliant feminist discussion of the claims of culture and the claims of universal rights, set in a context of a range of concrete, contemporary examples, see Benhabib, S. (2002) The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era, Oxford and New Jersey, NJ, Princeton University Press.

A highly informative and detailed discussion of conceptions of human rights in political theory, the role of human rights in a global context and different regional perspectives on human rights can be found in Beetham, D. (ed.) (1995) Politics and Human Rights, Oxford, Blackwell.