The Idea of a Human Rights Museum

The Idea of a Human Rights Museum is the first book to examine the formation of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and to situate the museum within the context of the international proliferation of such institutions. Its sixteen essays consider the wider architectural, political, and cultural contexts within which the museum physically and conceptually evolved, and the comparisons they draw between the CMHR and institutions elsewhere in the world that emphasize human rights and social justice are particularly illuminating.

This collection brings together authors from diverse fields—law, cultural studies, museum studies, sociology, history, political science, and English—to critically assess the potentials and pitfalls of human rights education through “ideas” museums. Accessible, engaging, and informative, the collection’s essays will encourage museumgoers to think more deeply about the content of human rights exhibits and their development.

The Idea of a Human Rights Museum is the first title in the University of Manitoba Press’s Human Rights and Social Justice Series. This series publishes work that explores the quest for social justice and the basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, including civil, political, economic, social, collective, and cultural rights.

Karen Busby is Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba.
Adam Muller is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Film, and Theatre at the University of Manitoba.
Andrew Woolford is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manitoba.