On Cultural Rights: The Equality of Nations and the Minority Legal Tradition

Barth (PhD, politics, U. of Oxford, UK) aims to bridge the gap between normative political theory on multiculturalism and the empirical literature in history and international law on minority rights within states. He opens with a literature review of minority rights law and the political theory of multiculturalism, followed by an examination of the development of the international law minority regime from the formation of the League of Nations through the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of Genocide, 1948, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966. He then presents case studies on how the minority regime has influenced Canada’s recognition of Aboriginal peoples and state recognition of the Roma minority group in cases before the European Court on Human Rights. Finally, he draws out the implications of international jurisprudence for normative discussions on multiculturalism. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)