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The virtual human rights library brings together resources from multiple libraries and information services, both internal and external, to create an online hub dedicated to the study of human rights. This curation is unique in its interdisciplinary concerns and focuses on writings and research from social sciences, humanities, and law.

The virtual library is continually updated with the latest academic research in issue areas, as well as with relevant films, recorded conversations, and other forms of media.

Searchable Database

Click into the dropdowns to select the disciplines, keywords, and media type for your search, and then hit "Apply."

Elizabeth Boyle, Minzee Kim, Wesley Longhofer "Abortion liberalization in world society, 1960–2009." American Journal of Sociology 121, no. 3 (2015): 882-913.

Controversy sets abortion apart from other issues studied by world society theorists, who consider the tendency for policies institutionalized at the global level to diffuse across very different countries. The authors conduct an event history analysis of the spread (however...

Nicola Beisel, Tara Hardinge "Abortion, Race, and Gender in Nineteenth-Century America." American Sociological Review 69, no. 4 (2004): 498-518.

Many sociologists have considered the intersection of race and gender in the production of social life, but while works on “intersectionality” have offered a useful paradigm for analyzing the experience of individual persons, a model for understanding how structures interact...

Kerilyn Schewel "Aspiring for Change: Ethiopian Women’s Labor Migration to the Middle East." Social Forces 100, no. 4 (2022): 1619-1641.

This paper examines why young women in rural Ethiopia decide to migrate as domestic workers to the Middle East. Based on survey data and 84 in-depth interviews, it explores the forces shaping young women’s aspirations and capabilities to migrate, challenging...

Baris Cayli Messina "Breaking the silence on femicide: How women challenge epistemic injustice and male violence." The British Journal of Sociology 73, no. 4 (2022): 859-884.

Digital space has provided an important platform for women by enabling them to defy religious and patriarchal values while rendering their demands more visible in the public sphere. By analyzing the stories of 3349 murdered women, consulting 57 activist‐published materials...

Elizabeth Bernstein "Carceral politics as gender justice? The “traffic in women” and neoliberal circuits of crime, sex, and rights." Theory and Society 41 (2012): 233-259.

This article draws upon recent works in sociology, jurisprudence, and feminist theory in order to assess the ways in which feminism, and sex and gender more generally, have become intricately interwoven with punitive agendas in contemporary US politics. Melding existing...

Erin Kelly, Frank Dobbin "Civil rights law at work: Sex discrimination and the rise of maternity leave policies." American Journal of Sociology 105, no. 2 (1999): 455-92.

By the time Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, many employers had created maternity leave programs. Analysts argue that they did so in response to the feminization of the workforce. This study charts the spread of...

Dorothea Dorothea, Bram Jansen "Constructing rights and wrongs in humanitarian action: contributions from a sociology of praxis." Sociology 46, no. 5 (2012): 891-905.

Human rights entered the language and practice of humanitarian aid in the mid-1990s, and since then they have worked in parallel, complemented or competed with traditional frameworks ordering humanitarianism, including humanitarian principles, refugee law, and inter-agency standards. This article positions...

Matthew Waites "Equality at Last? Homosexuality, Heterosexuality and the Age of Consent in the United Kingdom." Sociology 37, no. 4 (2003): 637-655.

The so-called ‘gay age of consent’ was the most high-profile issue in UK lesbian, gay and bisexual politics during the 1990s. Campaigning for an equal age of consent provoked a series of extended public and parliamentary debates, concluding with the...

Long Doan, Matthew K. Grace "Factors affecting public opinion on the denial of healthcare to transgender persons." American Sociological Review 84, no. 3 (2019): 486-516.

Between one-fifth and a third of people who are transgender have been refused treatment by a medical provider due to their gender identity. Yet, we know little about the factors that shape public opinion on this issue. We present results...

Maria Charles "Gender Attitudes in Africa: Liberal Egalitarianism Across 34 Countries." Social Forces 99, no. 1 (2020): 86-125.

This study provides a first descriptive mapping of support for women’s equal rights in 34 African countries and assesses diverse theoretical explanations for variability in this support. Contrary to stereotypes of a homogeneously tradition-bound continent, African citizens report high levels...

Please Note:

While the Virtual Library is now live for use, we are still working to update its contents and improve its functionality.  

It is usable by all visitors, but the hyperlinks to materials listed are for UChicago community members with a CNet ID and password.  

Please direct feedback and suggestions to Kathleen Cavanaugh

For technical assistance, email pozenhumanrights @ uchicago.edu.

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