UBC Press Resisting Rights: Canada and the International Bill of Rights, 1947–76 (Law and Society)

From 1948 to 1966, the United Nations worked to create a common legal standard for human rights protection around the globe. Resisting Rights analyzes the Canadian government’s changing policy toward this endeavour from the 1940s to the 1970s, exploring how developments in international relations and evolving cultural attitudes within Canadian society created pressure on the federal government to overcome its initial reluctance to be bound by international human rights law. This timely study situates current policies within their historical context and debunks the myth that Canada has been at the forefront of international human rights policy since its inception. Review A blow-by-blow account spanning nearly thirty years, Resisting Rights provides a detailed history of the Canadian state’s transformation from an initial opponent of universal human rights in the late 1940s to one of its leading proponents by the mid-1970s, a journey made possible only by the persistence and tenacity of Canadian human rights activists. A welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship on the history of human rights in Canada. Author: Andrew S. Thompson, adjunct assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo From the Author Jennifer Tunnicliffe is an assistant professor of history with the Wilson Institute for Canadian History at McMaster University. She has published articles in Histoire Sociale/Social History and History Compass and has contributed chapters to several edited collections, including a study of Lester Pearson’s relationship with international human rights. About the Author Jennifer Tunnicliffe is an assistant professor of history with the Wilson Institute for Canadian History at McMaster University. She has published articles in Histoire Sociale/Social History and History Compass and has contributed chapters to several edited collections, including a study of Lester Pearson’s relationship with international human rights.