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The Helsinki Effect : International Norms, Human Rights, and the Demise of Communism / Daniel C. Thomas.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2018]Copyright date: ©2001Description: 1 online resourceContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691187228
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 323/.0947/09045 23
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- INTRODUCTION.The International Politics of Human Rights -- THE EVOLUTION OF NORMS -- Chapter One. The Emergence of Human Rights Norms i n East-West Relations -- Chapter Two.Negotiating Human Rights in the Helsinki Final Act -- THE FRAMING OF NORMS -- Chapter Three.Framing "Helsinki" at Home: Social Movements against the Communist Party-State -- Chapter Four.Framing "Helsinki" Abroad: Transnational Networks and U.S. Policy -- THE EFFECTS OF NORMS -- Chapter Five.Mobilization: The Expansion of Human Rights Movements -- Chapter Six.Backlash: Communism's Response to Human Rights -- Chapter Seven.Socialization: Human Rights and the Dismantling of Communist Rule -- Conclusions -- Appendix -- Index
Summary: Human rights norms do matter. Those established by the Helsinki Final Act contributed directly to the demise of communism in the former East bloc, contends Daniel Thomas. This book counters those skeptics who doubt that such international norms substantially affect domestic political change, while explaining why, when, and how they matter most. Thomas argues that the Final Act, signed in 1975, transformed the agenda of East-West relations and provided a common platform around which opposition forces could mobilize. Without downplaying other factors, Thomas shows that the norms established at Helsinki undermined the viability of one-party Communist rule and thereby contributed significantly to the largely peaceful and democratic changes of 1989, as well as the end of the Cold War. Drawing on both governmental and nongovernmental sources, he offers a powerful Constructivist alternative to Realist theory's failure to anticipate or explain these crucial events. This study will fundamentally influence ongoing debates about the politics of international institutions, the socialization of states, the spread of democracy, and, not least, about the balance of factors that felled the Iron Curtain. It casts new light on Solidarity, Charter 77, and other democratic movements in Eastern Europe, the sources of Gorbachev's reforms, the evolution of the European Union, U.S. foreign policy, and East-West relations in the final decades of the Cold War. The Helsinki Effect will be essential reading for scholars and students of international relations, international law, European politics, human rights, and social movements.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780691187228

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- INTRODUCTION.The International Politics of Human Rights -- THE EVOLUTION OF NORMS -- Chapter One. The Emergence of Human Rights Norms i n East-West Relations -- Chapter Two.Negotiating Human Rights in the Helsinki Final Act -- THE FRAMING OF NORMS -- Chapter Three.Framing "Helsinki" at Home: Social Movements against the Communist Party-State -- Chapter Four.Framing "Helsinki" Abroad: Transnational Networks and U.S. Policy -- THE EFFECTS OF NORMS -- Chapter Five.Mobilization: The Expansion of Human Rights Movements -- Chapter Six.Backlash: Communism's Response to Human Rights -- Chapter Seven.Socialization: Human Rights and the Dismantling of Communist Rule -- Conclusions -- Appendix -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Human rights norms do matter. Those established by the Helsinki Final Act contributed directly to the demise of communism in the former East bloc, contends Daniel Thomas. This book counters those skeptics who doubt that such international norms substantially affect domestic political change, while explaining why, when, and how they matter most. Thomas argues that the Final Act, signed in 1975, transformed the agenda of East-West relations and provided a common platform around which opposition forces could mobilize. Without downplaying other factors, Thomas shows that the norms established at Helsinki undermined the viability of one-party Communist rule and thereby contributed significantly to the largely peaceful and democratic changes of 1989, as well as the end of the Cold War. Drawing on both governmental and nongovernmental sources, he offers a powerful Constructivist alternative to Realist theory's failure to anticipate or explain these crucial events. This study will fundamentally influence ongoing debates about the politics of international institutions, the socialization of states, the spread of democracy, and, not least, about the balance of factors that felled the Iron Curtain. It casts new light on Solidarity, Charter 77, and other democratic movements in Eastern Europe, the sources of Gorbachev's reforms, the evolution of the European Union, U.S. foreign policy, and East-West relations in the final decades of the Cold War. The Helsinki Effect will be essential reading for scholars and students of international relations, international law, European politics, human rights, and social movements.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)