Jack Snyder’s (Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations) Human Rights for Pragmatists:Social Power in Modern Times explores why human rights promoters have reached an impasse, despite the fact that they are among our most pressing issues today.

Human Rights for Pragmatists explains why: activists prioritize universal legal and moral norms, backed by the public shaming of violators, but in fact rights prevail only when they serve the interests of powerful local constituencies. Jack Snyder demonstrates that where local power and politics lead, rights follow. He presents an innovative roadmap for addressing a broad agenda of human rights concerns: impunity for atrocities, dilemmas of free speech in the age of social media, entrenched abuses of women’s rights, and more.