The 2025 Massey Lectures delivered by human rights activist and former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada Alex Neve.
Universality is the core promise of the human rights order born out of the devastation of World War II and the Holocaust: these rights extend to everyone, everywhere, at all times, without exception. But the cruel reality is that the word universal also screams of our profound failure to keep the promise. Too often, human rights are applied selectively, withdrawn on the whims of political leaders, or ignored altogether, and the broken promise is palpable in humanity’s darkest moments, not only in violent conflict, but also in the economic, political, and social structures of our fractured world.
This is not universality’s finest hour. At a time of immense global challenges, including the climate crisis, mass atrocities, and the rise of hate, the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is deeply contested and frayed, even as people demand and embrace their rights as never before.
Weaving together law, history, and stories from decades on the front lines of the struggle for human rights, Alex Neve investigates where we went wrong, how we have progressed, and what we can do to fulfill the promise that human rights are inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all people.
The 2025 Massey Lectures delivered by human rights activist and former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada Alex Neve.
Universality is the core promise of the human rights order born out of the devastation of World War II and the Holocaust: these rights extend to everyone, everywhere, at all times, without exception. But the cruel reality is that the word universal also screams of our profound failure to keep the promise. Too often, human rights are applied selectively, withdrawn on the whims of political leaders, or ignored altogether, and the broken promise is palpable in humanity’s darkest moments, not only in violent conflict, but also in the economic, political, and social structures of our fractured world.
This is not universality’s finest hour. At a time of immense global challenges, including the climate crisis, mass atrocities, and the rise of hate, the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is deeply contested and frayed, even as people demand and embrace their rights as never before.
Weaving together law, history, and stories from decades on the front lines of the struggle for human rights, Alex Neve investigates where we went wrong, how we have progressed, and what we can do to fulfill the promise that human rights are inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all people.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Sep 2, 2025 |
| Specifications | 336 pages | 5 in x 8 in |
| Keywords | UNHCR; Authors from Edmonton; Authors from Ottawa; CanLit; Canadian Author; Public Intellectualism; Mark Carney; Values; Pro-Palestinian Author; Pro-Palestine; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women; Pro Democracy; On Freedom; Timothy Snyder; University of Toronto; Migrants; Books About Refugees; Refugees; Stories about Refugees; Books for Father's Day; Martin Luther King Jr; Ghandi; Wade Davis; Made in Canada; What I Mean to Say; In Search of a Better World; Margaret Atwood; Payback; Freedom Flotilla Coalition; FFC; |
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Supporting Resources
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Excerpt Guide |
| Written By |
ALEX NEVE is a human rights lawyer who served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada from 2000 - 2020. He took part in over forty human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and, closer to home, First Nations communities in Canada. He is a visiting and adjunct professor in international human rights law at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, and a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Alex is an Officer of the Order of Canada. |
| Written By |
|
ALEX NEVE is a human rights lawyer who served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada from 2000 - 2020. He took part in over forty human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and, closer to home, First Nations communities in Canada. He is a visiting and adjunct professor in international human rights law at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, and a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Alex is an Officer of the Order of Canada. |
“Timely, focused, and very accessible … Neve is an elegant, inviting writer whose narrative is infused with a poetic social passion that documents dramatic journeys to destinations rarely in the headlines.” — Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW