Title: Civil liberties and human rights in twentieth-century Britain /
Authors: Moores, Christopher,
Year: 2017
Subjects: Liberty (Great Britain) History.; Great Britain.; Liberty (Great Britain); Human Rights Act 1998 (Great Britain); Civil rights Great Britain History.; Human rights Great Britain History.; HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain.; Civil rights; Human rights.; Politics and government.; Great Britain Politics and government.; Great Britain
Abstract: "The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) was formed in the 1930s against a backdrop of fascism and "popular front" movements. In this volatile political atmosphere, the aim of the NCCL was to ensure that civil liberties were a central component of political discourse. Chris Moores's new study shows how the NCCL - now Liberty - had to balance the interests of extremist allies with the desire to become a respectable force campaigning for human rights and civil liberties. From new social movements of the 1960s and 70s to the formation of the Human Rights Act in 1998, this study traces the NCCL's development over the last eighty years. It enables us to observe shifts and continuities in forms of political mobilization throughout the twentieth century, changes in discourse about extensions and retreats of freedoms as well as the theoretical conceptualization and practical protection of rights and liberties"--
Contents: Introduction : an age of rights -- Decent citizens and agitators : civil liberties activism in the 1930s -- From civil liberties to human rights : british civil liberties activism and universal human rights -- The progressive professionals : civil liberties and the politics of activism in the 1960s -- From progressive to radical : the 1970s and a crisis of civil liberties -- The road to freedom? Civil liberties, Human rights and the evolution of the NGO in the age of Thatcher -- The politics of vigilance : human rights and civil liberties activism during and beyond the Age of New Labour.