#1 New Release Bestseller in Amazon’s Civil Rights Law category
Drawing on their vast experience as human rights advocates, William Schulz and Sushma Raman challenge us to think hard about how rights evolve with changing circumstances, and what rights will look like ten, twenty, or fifty years from now. Against those who hold that rights are static and immutable, Schulz and Raman argue that rights must adapt to new realities or risk being consigned to irrelevance. To preserve and promote the good society—one that protects its members’ dignity and fosters an environment in which people will want to live—we must at times rethink the meanings of familiar rights and consider the introduction of entirely new rights.
Now is one of those times. The Coming Good Society details the many frontiers of rights today and the debates surrounding them. Schulz and Raman equip us with the tools to engage the present and future of rights so that we understand their importance and know where we stand.
“This enjoyable read examines how changing norms create opportunities to expand the scope of universal protections and rights.” Science magazine
Reviews
“In this essential work, Schulz and Raman explore what is needed to defend against the ever-present dangers to human rights. Perhaps just as importantly, they raise questions about what additional rights should be protected in our rapidly changing world. The Coming Good Society is an accessible primer for anyone who wishes to understand the current limitations in our notions of rights and the future challenges for which we must prepare.”
— Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
“Schulz and Raman take readers on a thought-provoking journey into the future of human rights and explain why we should all care. They draw on their extensive experience and their research at Harvard University’s Carr Center to address questions as fundamental and wide-ranging as ‘Does living in a surveillance society require us to think of the right to privacy in new ways?’ and ‘If gender is non-binary, do we need new rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity?’ This book is essential reading for human rights experts and newcomers alike.”
— Darren Walker, President, The Ford Foundation
“When Amnesty International was founded in 1961, some human rights, such as those of women and LGBTQI persons and persons with disabilities, were in their infancies, if they were acknowledged at all. Schulz and Raman ask the fascinating question, ‘What rights are on the horizon now, perhaps just barely showing their faces, that may be widely recognized in the next generation or more?’ Their cogent answers challenge all of us to think deeply about what kind of society we and our children and our children’s children will want to live in.”