2048: Humanity's Agreement to Live Together »

Dr. John Kirk Boyd is a lawyer, professor, and Executive Director of the 2048 Project at the U.C. Berkeley law school. In addition, the author has argued at every level of court, including the United States Supreme Court. He teaches International Human Rights, Civil Rights, International Law, Free Speech, and Constitutional Law at the University of California.

2048 tells the story of the most important social movement in the 21st century: humanity’s agreement, in writing, to create a social order that will allow people to live together in peace and prosperity based upon human rights and the rule of law. Many of the problems the world faces, such as war, poverty, and environmental ruin are the by-product of a flawed international social order. Fortunately, there is an international agreement, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which all countries signed in 1948, that promises a social order of justice, equality, and freedom. But although the UDHR was agreed to by all countries it is only a declaration and is unenforceable in courts of law. The 2048 Project, launched by the author and his colleagues at the University of California School of Law and from which the book gets it’s name, is a movement to make the fundamental rights in the Declaration enforceable in the courts of all countries by 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration. Through its programs and Web site, the 2048 Project provides education, research materials, and a place for drafters to post documents, as well as hosts international conferences on human rights. 2048 tells how the UDHR came to be written and the origins of the movement to make it enforceable; lays out the five basic freedoms the UDHR is meant to protect; and gives detailed advice on what everyone can do to make international human rights a reality.

Library Journal

Boyd (executive director, 2048 Project, Univ. of California-Berkeley Law Sch.) invites the people of the world to participate in the creation of a new international human rights declaration by using wiki technology. According to its web site, the 2048 Project aspires to draft an international framework for enforceable human rights that can be in place by the year 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this eponymous book on behalf of the project, Boyd argues for the necessity of such a document and defends his efforts from critics who might argue that the goals of the project are too lofty and idealistic. However, far more space is devoted to the 2048's potential to expand the current definition of human rights than to laying out a detailed plan for its global adoption or enforcement. VERDICT Scholars and supporters of human-rights movements will be interested in this movement and its book.—April Younglove, Rochester Regional Lib. Council, NY

Timeline for the achievement of the 2048 project ix

Introduction: Breaking Our Chains 1

Part 1 How the 2048 Movement Began

Chapter 1 Turning Point for Humanity 10

Chapter 2 Challenges and Opportunities 28

Part 2 What the 2048 Movement Is

Chapter 3 Five Freedoms for All 46

Chapter 4 Freedom of Speech 56

Chapter 5 Freedom of Religion 64

Chapter 6 Freedom from Want 70

Chapter 7 Freedom for the Environment 84

Chapter 8 Freedom from Fear 92

Part 3 Where the 2048 Movement Is Headed

Chapter 9 Regional Agreements to Live Together 102

Chapter 10 Humanity's Agreement to Live Together 108

Chapter 11 The Path Together 118

Chapter 12 Focus Together 124

Chapter 13 Think Together 138

Chapter 14 Write Together 148

Chapter 15 Decide Together 162

Conclusion: Forward Together 168

Resources

A Universal Declaration of Human Rights 171

B Draft International Convention on Human Rights, January 1, 2010 178

Notes 191

Photo Credits 201

Acknowledgments 203

Index 207

2048 Follow-up 220

About the Author 222