A book on women’s human rights by an NUI Galway lecturer has been awarded a prestigious honour.
The publication entitled Women’s Human Rights: Seeking Gender Justice in a Globalising Age by Dr Niamh Reilly, a senior lecturer in women’s studies at the School of Political Science and Sociology, scooped the coveted Outstanding Academic Title for 2010 from the American Library Association/CHOICE.
The book explores the emergence of transnational, UN-oriented, feminist advocacy for women’s human rights, especially over the past three decades.
“It identifies the main feminist influences which have shaped the movement and exposes how the Western, legalist, state-centric, and liberal biases of mainstream human rights discourse impede the realisation of human rights in women’s lives everywhere,” states a spokesperson for NUI Galway.
“Ultimately, the book reaffirms a commitment to critically reinterpreted universal human rights principles and demonstrates the vital role that bottom-up, transnational movements play in making them a reality in women’s lives.”
The American Library Association/CHOICE editors annually single out the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in the magazine during the previous calendar year.
Appearing annually in its January issue, this prestigious list of publications reflects the best in scholarly titles and attracts extraordinary attention from the academic library community. In publishing the Outstanding Academic Titles feature, it acknowledges and honours the authors, editors, and publishers of these works for their vital contribution to scholarly endeavour.
Dr Reilly, who holds a PhD in Politics from Rutgers University and degrees from the University of Wisconsin and UCD, says she is delighted her book clinched such an honour.
“It is a wonderful endorsement, not only of the book itself but of women’s human rights as an important field of research and teaching.”
She has authored, co-authored, and edited a number of other books, including Women Testify: A Planning Guide for Popular Tribunals and Hearings (2005 ), State Accountability for Women's Human Rights in Ireland (1997 ), Without Reservation: The Beijing Tribunal on Accountability for Women’s Human Rights (1996 ), and Demanding Accountability: The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal for Women's Human Rights (1994 ).
She has more than 20 years experience in teaching, research, publishing and advocacy in women’s human rights at various institutions in Ireland and the United States and has worked with the United Nations and with a number of international and national women’s and human rights non governmental organisations.
For further information contact Dr Niamh Reilly at (091 ) 495403 or [email protected]
