Having articulated numerous human rights norms and standards in international treaties, the pressing challenge today is their realisation in States' parties around the world. Domestic implementation has proven a difficult task for national authorities as well as international supervisory bodies. This book examines the traditional State-centric and legalistic approach to implementation, critiquing its limited efficacy in practice and failure to connect with local cultures. The book therefore explores the permissibility of other measures of implementation, and advocates more culturally sensitive approaches involving social institutions. Through an interdisciplinary case study of Islam in Indonesia, the book demonstrates the power of social institutions like religion to promote rights compliant positions and behaviours. Like the preamble of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the book reiterates the role not just of the State but indeed 'every organ of society' in realising rights.

‘Julie Fraser’s Social Institutions and International Human Rights Law Implementation makes the compelling case for the importance of connecting human rights to local communities in the search for more effective and enduring forms of human rights implementation. Through both a powerful case study of the symbiotic relationship between Islamic institutions and Indonesia’s family planning programmes, and insightful critical engagement with human rights history and theory, her book is a must-read for any scholar or practitioner looking for ways to expand the toolkit beyond arid legalism or rigid state-centricity.’

Mark Goodale - University of Lausanne, Series Editor of Stanford Studies in Human Rights

‘In an era of human rights contestation, it is becoming increasingly clear that a sustainable human rights project cannot rely on states alone. Indeed, 'every organ of society' has a role to play for the realisation of human rights. Julie Fraser’s book is the first to study in depth what this means, both in legal terms and concretely, on the ground.’

Eva Brems - Senior Full Professor, Head of the Human Rights Centre, Ghent University

‘In Social Institutions and International Human Rights Law Implementation, Dr Fraser brings a rare and insightful mind to the crisis, vitality and hope in the human rights project. This book pulsates with a unique kaleidoscope of high theory, praxis and discourse that lays bare both the torment and redeeming power of human rights. In it, Professor Fraser reaches into the annals of global cultures to weave a story of the liberatory potential of the norms, processes and institutions steeped in the human rights corpus. Most remarkably, she puts forth a broad school of thought that hears the critiques of the Global South and the incompleteness of the human rights text. It's a great work of reference.’

Makau Mutua - SUNY Distinguished Professor, SUNY Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York