Americans often associate “human rights” with Western NGOs that attempt to impose legal norms abroad. But, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, intellectuals and activists in the United States have begun applying a human rights framework to domestic struggles over bread-and-butter issues. These campaigns have received little mainstream media attention, but they have won some notable victories.

Grace Davie is an associate professor of African history. She is the author of several articles and the forthcoming book, The Poverty Question and the Human Sciences in South Africa, 1855-2005: A Social History of Economic Indicators (Cambridge University Press). She has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Social Science Research Council, and the Fulbright Institute.