Human rights in Latin America is an area showing signs of moving both forward and backward in the continuing, though still incomplete, articulation between discourses, norms, and practices of protection of these fundamental rights over people’s own physical safety and dignity. This book takes a systematic approach in exploring the legal and cultural underpinnings of these processes, as well as the discussions on theory and politics within the framework of social, political, and economic realities that have conditioned their proper implementation. An unprecedent work of scholarly synthesis, this book explores the history of a key issue in the construction of the modern political order in Latin America—an issue that undoubtedly continues to be as urgent as ever.