Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School

The mission of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School is to inspire critical engagement with the human rights project and to inform developments in the field through impartial, innovative, and rigorous research. Founded by Professor Henry J. Steiner in 1984, it is one of the oldest centers of human rights legal scholarship in the United States.

As a center for scholarship, HRP plans events and directs international conferences and workshops which produce original scholarship or advance particular areas of international human rights law. In hosting visiting fellows, HRP draws advocates and scholars from around the world to conduct primary research. Since its inception, the Program has been a leader in cutting edge research and the publication of human rights monographs and collaborative edited volumes, reports, law journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings, and other publications in its field.

In addition to the Human Rights Program Series, HRP also publishes the International Human Rights Program Practice Series.

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Below are the in-print works in this collection. Sort by title, author, format, publication date, or price »

Cover: Reconsidering the Insular Cases: The Past and Future of the American Empire

Reconsidering the Insular Cases: The Past and Future of the American Empire

Neuman, Gerald L.
Brown-Nagin, Tomiko

Over a century ago the United States Supreme Court decided the “Insular Cases,” which limited the applicability of constitutional rights in Puerto Rico and other overseas territories. Essays in Reconsidering the Insular Cases examine the history and legacy of these cases and explore possible solutions for the dilemmas they created.

Cover: Litigating Health Rights: Can Courts Bring More Justice to Health?

Litigating Health Rights: Can Courts Bring More Justice to Health?

Yamin, Alicia Ely
Gloppen, Siri

This book examines the potential of litigation as a strategy to advance the right to health by holding governments accountable for these obligations. It asks who benefits both directly and indirectly—and what the overall impacts on health equity are. Included are case studies from Costa Rica, South Africa, India, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

Wonder Confronts Certainty: Russian Writers on the Timeless Questions and Why Their Answers Matter, by Gary Saul Morson, from Harvard University Press

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Jacket: Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500, by Peter Wilson, from Harvard University Press

A Lesson in German Military History with Peter Wilson

In his landmark book Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500, acclaimed historian Peter H. Wilson offers a masterful reappraisal of German militarism and warfighting over the last five centuries, leading to the rise of Prussia and the world wars. Below, Wilson answers our questions about this complex history,