January 2011 Book by NUI Galway Lecturer Named Outstanding Academic Title 2010

A book by a senior lecturer in Women s Studies at the School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway has been selected as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2010 by the American Library Association/CHOICE. Dr. Niamh Reilly s Women s Human Rights: Seeking Gender Justice in a Globalising Age (Polity Press) explores the emergence of transnational, UN-oriented, feminist advocacy for women's human rights, especially over the past three decades. It identifies the main feminist influences that have shaped the movement and exposes how the Western, legalist, state-centric, and liberal biases of mainstream human rights discourse impede the realisation of human rights in women's lives everywhere. Ultimately, the book reaffirms a commitment to critically reinterpreted universal human rights principles and demonstrates the vital role that bottom-up, transnational movements play in making them a reality in women's lives. Every year the American Library Association/CHOICE editors single out the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in CHOICE during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in CHOICE's January issue, this prestigious list of publications reflects the best in scholarly titles and attracts extraordinary attention from the academic library community. In publishing the Outstanding Academic Titles feature, CHOICE acknowledges and honours the authors, editors, and publishers of these works for their vital contribution to the scholarly endeavour. Dr. Reilly says she is delighted with the selection, "It is a wonderful endorsement, not only of the book itself but of women's human rights as an important field of research and teaching." Along with Women s Human Rights: Seeking Gender Justice in a Globalising Age, Dr. Niamh Reilly has authored, co-authored, and edited a number of other books, including Women Testify: A Planning Guide for Popular Tribunals and Hearings (2005), State Accountability for Women s Human Rights in Ireland (1997), Without Reservation: The Beijing Tribunal on Accountability for Women's Human Rights (1996), and Demanding Accountability: The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal for Women s Human Rights (1994). She has over 20 years experience of teaching, research, publishing and advocacy in the field of women s human rights at various institutions in Ireland and the United States and has worked with the United Nations and with a number of international and national women s and human rights NGOs. For further information please contact Dr Niamh Reilly at 091 495403 or niamh.reilly@nuigalway.ie. -Ends-