Human Rights Without Democracy?—Reconciling Freedom With Equality

In this work of political philosophy, Swiss lawyer and politician Haller argues that rather than establish human rights through the work of experts and the courts, human rights must be established democratically in a manner that reconciles liberty and equality. In making the argument, she traces the development of human rights from 1789 to the present and criticizes the West for not seeking democratic legitimacy for its human rights discourse nor seeking to incorporate the demand for equality. It was translated from the German by Cynthia Klohr. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Gret Haller is a lawyer, politician, and author. In 1987 she became a member of Swiss parliament and in 1993/94 was its Speaker, as well as a member of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and OSCE. She has served as Swiss ambassador to the Council of Europe and from 1996 to 2000 was OSCE Human Rights Ombudsperson for Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. The University of St. Gallen awarded her an honorary doctorate for her work in human rights. Her publications include Limits of Atlanticism: Perceptions of State, Nation and Religion in Europe and the United States (2007) and Menschenrechte und Volkssouveranitat in Europa. Gerichte als Vormund der Demokratie? (with Klaus Gunther adn Ulfrid Neumann, Campus Verlag 2011).