ABSTRACT

This chapter introduces the major developments and scholarship on human rights in Asia during three historical periods since 1989. Chan uses specific examples of civil society actors in five major clusters of rights: political liberalization; accountability for past abuses; minority rights; socio-economic rights; and women’s human rights. She examines these examples in terms of four themes: grassroots mobilization of rights discourses and advocacy education; intersectionality; the post-structuralist turn and rights as competing narratives; and beyond the state and the civil society-strengthening imperative. The chapter concludes by noting several key challenges concerning human rights and civil society in Asia