How does the globalization of law-the growth of legal norms, mechanisms, and jurisprudence across borders-affect the fulfi llment of international human rights? While the past generation has seen tremendous growth in the international human rights regime, how much have new treaties, courts, and repertoires like universal jurisdiction actually improved the enforcement of core rights of the person? This volume examines the political processes that determine the capacity of law to produce justice, within and across nations. The globalization of law is a dialectical process whose outcome for human rights can range accordingly. As skeptics complain, the globalization of law can serve as a shield for administering economic displacement or reinforcing national security regimes-but law across borders can also be used as a weapon of the weak, a sword against the state, or a safety net for people out of place. Looking across a range of critical issues and “hard cases,” we show that the key factors that make a difference include the relative autonomy of liberal legal institutions, the confi guration of sovereignty for the rights at issue, and the empowerment of civil society to claim new rights within and across borders.