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1 results

  • 6 - 1968: the UN Year for Human Rights

  • Tom Buchanan, University of Oxford
  • Book:
    Amnesty International and Human Rights Activism in Postwar Britain, 1945–1977
    Published online:
    10 April 2020
    Print publication:
    30 April 2020, pp 153-181

  • Summary

    The UN designated 1968 as the International Year for Human Rights, and this chapter is devoted to a detailed examination of the year-long voluntary campaign in Britain. The chapter begins with a discussion of the international situation in 1968, dominated above all by the war in Vietnam. The main part of the chapter looks at how the Year was organised in Britain, beginning with the National Committee, followed by the activities undertaken by NGOs and local committees. The chapter makes the argument that, while not a resounding success, the Year encouraged many organisations to think about their work in the context of human rights, thereby developing the idea of a ‘field of human rights‘. The chapter concludes with a section on Northern Ireland, where 1968 was associated with a far more radical campaign for civil rights, and an assessment of the Year’s legacy.