Historical Dictionary of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations

Human rights, both the defence and the breaches thereof, have become a prominent element of international politics in the twentieth century. Although the idea of human rights has more ancient roots, dating back to the classical Hebrew, Greek, and Roman worlds and the earliest days of Christianity, only in the course of this century has the organized defence of political, social, cultural and economic rights and the concept of (international) humanitarian aid gained unprecedented momentum. As the authors of this dictionary observe in their introduction: “Indeed the growth of human rights and humanitarian organizations is inextricably intertwined with the story...