Human rights and human communication are deeply connected: human rights need communication to expose violations and to offer platforms for dialogue, while communication needs human rights to provide standards for free speech and confidentiality. Human rights hold the promise of a fairer and more just future, while human communication holds the promise of mutual understanding as a basis for a world in which we can flourish together. These promises confront the reality of today’s social and international order in which justice and understanding often seem unattainable.

In Communication and Human Rights Cees Hamelink guides the reader through the historical evolution of human communication and human rights and analyzes the different dimensions of this relationship. In this original framework, he discusses topics such as the right to communicate and freedom of expression as well as major challenges posed by the environmental crisis and digital technologies. With authority, he passionately argues that “communicative justice” is the ultimate goal of applying the international human rights regime to different forms of human communication. This goal can only be achieved if we manage to move from the prevailing “thin” liberal conception of human rights to a “thick” cosmopolitan conception of human rights.

Written by one of the world’s leading scholars in this area, this wide-ranging book will be of interest to students of Media and Communication, human rights scholars as well as practitioners, activists, and anyone interested in applying the notion of justice to the basis of human existence: communication.