Yes, after reading this I made a note to go digging through all my old college crap. I took a truly fantastic course on international human rights, and I want to see if I can find the syllabus with all the reading again, because I think I would find it helpful after this book. I remember we read some much more empirical work in a blend of history and sociology that got at some of the questions you're asking.

...Argh, this will involve resurrecting a hard drive, won't it?