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Teachers and human rights educationMonisha Bajaj aa Teachers College, Columbia University , USAPublished online: 21 Feb 2012.

To cite this article: Monisha Bajaj (2012) Teachers and human rights education, Cambridge Journalof Education, 42:1, 113-114, DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2011.652403

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2011.652403

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BOOK REVIEWS

Teachers and human rights education, by Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey,Stoke-on-Trent, UK, Trentham Books, 2010, xiv + 166 pp., £20.99 (paperback),ISBN 978-1-85856-384-8

Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey make a compelling case for the relevance ofhuman rights as a framework in which to situate educational practice in Teachersand Human Rights Education. The authors open with three cases that personalizethe ways that rights are violated and upheld in three distinct national, historical, andcultural contexts. In accessible language and with a considerable range of examples,Osler and Starkey provide a clear description of the origins of human rights, thedevelopment of international conventions on women’s and children’s rights, and themodern applications of these normative standards.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its treatment of human rights as a frame-work of dynamic and constantly evolving protections, not static norms. Indeed, asthe authors note: ‘[Human rights] have gained widespread currency through a pro-cess of cultural interaction and exchange yet they are in a constant process of devel-opment as they are interpreted, negotiated and accommodated in different culturalsettings’ (p. 93).

The authors also highlight analyses and critiques of power and social inequali-ties. The response to such disparate realities across the globe and within unequalsocieties, the authors argue, is an active and engaged cosmopolitan citizenship. Theauthors lay the framework for what this vision might look like in schools and com-munities, transforming ‘human rights’ from a passive noun to an action-orientedverb. Democratizing schools and broadening citizenship education are among theactions that educators can take in their classrooms and beyond.

The authors also suggest an active role for students learning about rights. Oslerand Starkey’s call for a deep solidarity with those facing injustice near and faroffers an important direction for literature on human rights education, which, insome cases, has been content with advocating a ‘friendship and tolerance’ strategythat accommodates and desists from critiquing larger structural disparities. As theauthors note, ‘human rights education must expect to challenge injustice. It is inevi-tably transformative and as such is the site of political struggle’ (p. 139).

There were a few areas where the book’s arguments could have been strength-ened and elaborated. The authors critique global inequalities, offering stark statisticson the concentration of wealth among a small percentage of those living in the glo-bal North. However, the book could have been more critical of the United Nationssystem with its own power differentials and unequal equations in decision-making.

Also, the advocacy-oriented nature of the book sometimes distracts from itspresumed objective of exploring teachers’ immediate relationship to human rightseducation. The book seems to target teachers and university students who know lit-tle about human rights, seeking to convince readers about the applicability and

Cambridge Journal of EducationVol. 42, No. 1, March 2012, 113–117

ISSN 0305-764X print/ISSN 1469-3577 onlinehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2011.652403http://www.tandfonline.com

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importance of rights-based approaches. Concrete pedagogical strategies for teachersseeking to utilize human rights principles or international examples of human rightseducation in practice may have enhanced the book. Perhaps a better title for thebook might have been ‘A Human Rights Primer for Teachers and Others’ to theextent that the book is organized around debates in the broader field of humanrights, how international mechanisms work, and why human rights are relevantmore so than human rights education practice per se.

Nonetheless, minor caveats aside, this book is an excellent resource that pro-vides a comprehensive overview of the field of human rights, its history, and itsapplicability to current global challenges. With examples of rights issues fromacross the globe and nuanced analysis of the evolution of human rights discourse aspart of an empowerment strategy used by diverse social movements, the book issure to be a useful tool for university and postgraduate students as well as pre- andin-service teachers seeking to understand their role within human rights education.Teachers and Human Rights Education will certainly be a step forward for advanc-ing the authors’ vision for schools and societies in which the rights of all people(s)are respected.

Monisha BajajTeachers College, Columbia University, USA

bajaj@exchange.tc.columbia.edu� 2012, Monisha Bajaj

Human rights in the Arab world: independent voices, edited by Anthony Chaseand Amr Hamzawy, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008, viii +324 pp., £16.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-8122-2032-2

Human Rights in the Arab World: Independent Voices is an important book address-ing a heated topic in the Arab region. This edited book is worth reading by anyoneinterested in understanding the current debates on human rights in the Arab worldand possible role in stirring up the Arab Spring. The book addresses some of themost topical questions in the human rights debate, starting with the relationshipbetween human rights and Islam and whether the two contradict, complement oroverlap, moving to globalisation and the proliferation of the human rights agenda,not forgetting the role of international donors. The book is relevant to differentaudiences including academics, practitioners and non-governmental organisations.However, the structure of the book and the way the chapters have been groupedunder different themes is not coherent. The majority of the chapters appear to focuson Egypt. The book would also have benefited from having more authors from theArab world and contributions from Islamic thinkers, who could have providedanother angle on this important debate. Nonetheless, the overall quality of the chap-ters and the issues addressed makes it a valuable read.

The book commences with a theoretical analysis conducted by Chase on therelationship between human rights and Islam. Chase argues that the debate shouldshift from focusing on the contradictions or commonalities between Islam andhuman rights to one that examines the social, economic and political contributionwhich the latter might be able to bring into the Arab world. Hassan’s chapter shiftsthe discussion of human rights from a theoretical one to a practical one by reporting

114 Book reviews

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