After World War II dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emerged on the global scene, committed to improving the lives of the world's most vulnerable people. Some focused on protecting human rights; some were dedicated to development, aimed at satisfying basic economic needs. Both approaches had distinctive methods, missions, and emphases. In the 1980s and 90s, however, the dividing line began to blur. In the first book to track the growing intersection and even overlap of human rights and development NGOs, Paul Nelson and Ellen Dorsey introduce a concept they call 'new rights advocacy'. New rights advocacy has at its core three main trends: the embrace of human rights-based approaches by influential development NGOs, the adoption of active economic and social rights agendas by major international human rights NGOs, and the surge of work on economic and social policy through a human rights lens by specialized human rights NGOs and social movement campaigns.Nelson and Dorsey draw on rich case studies of internationally well-known individual NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, CARE, ActionAid, and Save the Children, and employ perspectives from fields of human rights, international relations, the sociology of social movements and of complex organizations, and development theory, in order to better understand the changes occurring within NGOs. In questioning current trends using new theoretical frameworks, this book breaks new ground in the evolution of human rights-development interaction. The way in which NGOs are reinventing themselves has great potential for success - or possibly failure - and profound implications for a world in which the enormous gap between the wealthiest and poorest poses a persistent challenge to both development and human rights.

Paul Nelson and Ellen Dorsey tackle one of the central issues of the day for international human rights advocates. Poverty and social exclusion are not only the root causes of many civil and political human rights violations-they are human rights violations in and of themselves. Economic and social rights advocacy is accelerating by social movements in the global South and international NGOs confronting the consequences of economic globalization. New Rights Advocacy documents the current trends, models and initiatives among human rights and development agencies, while identifying their potential and limitations. It will be read widely by human rights and development scholars and activists alike and I welcome the contribution it will make. It could not be more timely. -- Larry Cox, executive director, Amnesty International USA This is an important work about a new international approach to human rights and development. It fulfills an unmet need: I have never seen another volume that explains so carefully, with both theoretical rigor and concrete examples, the new intersection between human rights and development NGOs. -- Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Canada Research Chair in International Human Rights, Wilfrid Laurier University

About the Author
Paul J. Nelson is associate professor and director of the division of international development in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Ellen Dorsey is executive director of the Wallace Global Fund and has served as the chair of the Board of Amnesty International USA.

Reviews
An important contribution to an ongoing debate among adherents of human rights organizations. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights



Book Information
ISBN 9781589012042
Author Paul J. Nelson
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Georgetown University Press
Publisher Georgetown University Press
Weight(grams) 249g