1st Edition
Caste-based Discrimination in International Human Rights Law
With particular focus on the Hindu caste system, this book represents a comprehensive analysis of the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination in international law. It evaluates the strategies that have informed the work of the United Nations in this area, mapping a new path that moves from standard-setting to implementation. Combining legal analysis with the meaning and origin of caste, it explores the remedies human rights law can propose towards the prohibition of caste-based discrimination, and the abolition of the caste system itself. The book provides a benchmark on the achievements of the international community in combating all forms of racial discrimination, and the policies that must inform future measures. With its clear and accessible style this volume will be of interest to scholars of law and human rights, as well as policy-makers and practitioners working in this area.
Biography
David Keane is Lecturer in Law at Brunel University, UK. He has published in the area of international human rights, with a particular focus on racial discrimination. David has also engaged in research and advocacy work for non-governmental human rights organizations.
Winner of the Hart-SLSA 2008 Early Career Prize 'Caste-based discrimination continues to deny fundamental rights to a significant part of the global population. Keane analyses this phenomenon and its underlying ideologies, in a bid to understand the role that international and domestic law can play in the quest for empowerment and equality. A scholarly contribution of the highest order that is likely to generate much interest and analysis.' Joshua Castellino, University of Ulster, UK 'A humane, trenchant and well-researched examination of the role of caste in the field of international human rights, situating caste discrimination in its conceptual setting within the struggle against racial discrimination. Inviting the reader to a debate on UN approaches to caste, this book seeks to set the record straight on how and why the caste issue was introduced into international fora...a challenging work written from a distinctive and scholarly viewpoint.' Patrick Thornberry C.M.G. Keele University, UK
