Mark Frezzo, The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction (Polity Press, 2015), ISBN 978-0-7456-6011-0, 192 pages

Book review: The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction offers an alternative perspective to the traditional approaches and understanding from the growing complexities of human rights as a field of study. As such, this book is well situated to help transform this field. Within each chapter, Mark Frezzo provides a comprehensive discussion of the many dimensions related to human rights. In addition, Frezzo suggests that, until recently, sociology and human rights have not been investigated together. Due to the growing complexities and challenges facing the world, Frezzo insists that it is important to place the study of human rights within a sociological framework. For example, though human rights belong to every person, the equal distribution of rights is not always plausible. Frezzo claims that a sociological investigation of this type of problem will create new knowledge in regards to the utility and deployment of human rights. Additionally, Frezzo further claims that if human rights are to be maintained on a global scale, a globally binding framework for human rights can exist. That said, cultural pluralism protects the worlds many cultures, and human rights must consider the dichotomy between western and nonwestern, and secular and non-secular. Notably, this field of study, (being the sociology of human rights) as described by Frezzo, uses a pluralistic framework drawing on various theoretical and methodological underpinnings to explore human rights from diverse sociological perspectives. Frezzo postulates that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be utilized to effectively engage with this new school of thought. Therefore, the overall structure of this book review will follow the logical sequence as outlined within The Sociology of Human Rights: An Introduction.