This unique and challenging volume is the result of a major international rights conference entitled Human Rights in the Twenty-First Century: A Global Challenge convened in Banff, Alberta, Canada in November 1990. The conference was supported and organized under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, The European Court of Human Rights, the European Human Rights Commission, the Strasbourg Institute of Comparative Human Rights Law, the Alberta Law Foundation and the International Centre at the University of Calgary. Its main objectives were legal education and legal research, which were met by a total of 92 speakers representing 24 different nationalities presenting their views on 24 human rights topics. Women and participants from developing countries in particular, brought a new vision of human rights to topics as varied as reproductive technology, state violence, and biotechnology. The theme of this book is thus the interdependence of legal, social, economic and environmental problems which transcend national and international boundaries and the spirit of solidarity which is required to resolve them. Written by a team of international and renowned human experts, it will provide a substantial contribution to the legal literature on international human rights.