Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power.

• Date: 01 August 2019
• Author: Knox, Allison G. S.

Bob, Clifford, Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2019. 220 pages. $29.95

Clifford Bob, professor and chair of political science at Duquesne University, takes readers on a fascinating journey to understand rights as political rhetoric in his book, Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power. Rights, as defined by Bob, are a "demand for such a right made by a proponent against an opponent through a rhetorical, legal, political or military campaign" (p.8-9). Bob continues to explain that "rights claims are expansive" and includes notions such as rights being moral and universal--but, more importantly, are societal constructs that are often used for persuading the masses (p.9). Bob breaks down the notion of rights into philosophical...