Cher Weixia Chen is Professor in the School of Integrative Studies and founder of the Human Rights and Global Justice Initiative, George Mason University. She is the recipient of the 2021 GMU Oscar Mentoring Excellence Award (2021), the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice (2023–24), the Human Rights in Higher Education Award by University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education (2024), and the GMU CHSS Faculty Civic Excellence Award (2025). Alison Dundes Renteln is Professor of Political Science, Anthropology, Law, and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Dr. Renteln has received several awards for teaching, research, and mentoring. Her publications include seven books and over seventy articles. She has collaborated with the United Nations and the American Bar Association on human rights, judicial integrity, and rule of law programs. In 2024–2025 she conducted research on cultural rights at the World Bank on a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellowship.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: overview of human rights; 2. Human rights machinery: enforcement mechanisms; 3. Genocide; 4. Torture; 5. The death penalty and cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment; 6. Socio-economic rights; 7. Cultural rights; 8. Environmental protection and human rights; 9. Indigenous rights; 10. The rights of persons with disabilities; 11. Labor rights as human rights; 12. Children's rights; 13. Women's rights; 14. LGBTQ+ rights; 15. Media and human rights; 16. Right to health; 17. Human rights and technology; 18. Conclusion: the future of human rights; Index.

'Comprehensive and readable, International Human Rights: A Survey is the essential contemporary human rights reader. It leaves no current issue, group, or region behind – from identity to culture, racial disparities, and gendercide.' Mark Fathi Massoud, Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz, USA

Cher Weixia Chen is Professor in the School of Integrative Studies and founder of the Human Rights and Global Justice Initiative, George Mason University. She is the recipient of the 2021 GMU Oscar Mentoring Excellence Award (2021), the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice (2023–24), the Human Rights in Higher Education Award by University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education (2024), and the GMU CHSS Faculty Civic Excellence Award (2025). Alison Dundes Renteln is Professor of Political Science, Anthropology, Law, and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Dr. Renteln has received several awards for teaching, research, and mentoring. Her publications include seven books and over seventy articles. She has collaborated with the United Nations and the American Bar Association on human rights, judicial integrity, and rule of law programs. In 2024–2025 she conducted research on cultural rights at the World Bank on a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellowship.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: overview of human rights; 2. Human rights machinery: enforcement mechanisms; 3. Genocide; 4. Torture; 5. The death penalty and cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment; 6. Socio-economic rights; 7. Cultural rights; 8. Environmental protection and human rights; 9. Indigenous rights; 10. The rights of persons with disabilities; 11. Labor rights as human rights; 12. Children's rights; 13. Women's rights; 14. LGBTQ+ rights; 15. Media and human rights; 16. Right to health; 17. Human rights and technology; 18. Conclusion: the future of human rights; Index.

'Comprehensive and readable, International Human Rights: A Survey is the essential contemporary human rights reader. It leaves no current issue, group, or region behind – from identity to culture, racial disparities, and gendercide.' Mark Fathi Massoud, Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz, USA

Cher Weixia Chen is Professor in the School of Integrative Studies and founder of the Human Rights and Global Justice Initiative, George Mason University. She is the recipient of the 2021 GMU Oscar Mentoring Excellence Award (2021), the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice (2023–24), the Human Rights in Higher Education Award by University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education (2024), and the GMU CHSS Faculty Civic Excellence Award (2025). Alison Dundes Renteln is Professor of Political Science, Anthropology, Law, and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Dr. Renteln has received several awards for teaching, research, and mentoring. Her publications include seven books and over seventy articles. She has collaborated with the United Nations and the American Bar Association on human rights, judicial integrity, and rule of law programs. In 2024–2025 she conducted research on cultural rights at the World Bank on a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellowship.

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction: overview of human rights; 2. Human rights machinery: enforcement mechanisms; 3. Genocide; 4. Torture; 5. The death penalty and cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment; 6. Socio-economic rights; 7. Cultural rights; 8. Environmental protection and human rights; 9. Indigenous rights; 10. The rights of persons with disabilities; 11. Labor rights as human rights; 12. Children's rights; 13. Women's rights; 14. LGBTQ+ rights; 15. Media and human rights; 16. Right to health; 17. Human rights and technology; 18. Conclusion: the future of human rights; Index.

'Comprehensive and readable, International Human Rights: A Survey is the essential contemporary human rights reader. It leaves no current issue, group, or region behind – from identity to culture, racial disparities, and gendercide.' Mark Fathi Massoud, Professor of Politics, UC Santa Cruz, USA