- Discrimination against women (and minorities) is still common in countries that have undergone significant economic growth where one would have expected these groups’ rights to also have improved. [But then, ‘economics is a relatively macho culture’].
The ‘empowerment’ measure most used these days to address the violation of women’s rights is income-generation-activities and micro-credit-schemes for them (plus perhaps primary-education-for-girls). Yes, income earned by women is, to a much higher degree than men’s, used for family wellbeing expenditures. But let us be clear: These activities for women do not correct the roots of the immiserizing (poverty-creating) process of an unfair political and economic system that ultimately explains their status.
- The point here is that governments (as well as other organizations) that only passively respect or actively claim to protect poor women’s entitlements (to food, care and health among many other), but do not proactively fulfill their state obligations to change the system that is perpetuating the problems should be openly confronted. Women’s rights violations will not respond unless immediate, underlying and basic causes are tackled simultaneously, i.e., interventions at each individual level are necessary, but not sufficient.
- Therefore, sharing a common conceptual framework has proven to be crucial to understand and act upon the causes of all human rights (HR) violations and to develop at least the budding of a shared political view on these issues…and that is where our personal-interpretative-political-acumen comes in.
- Efforts to revert the violation of human rights in the world should thus start with a declaration that effective democracy, economic equality AND the empowerment of women must underpin any proactive efforts to revert such violations. Unfortunately, we always append this requirement at the very tail end of proposals and never focus on it as a real prerequisite.
- This brings us to the issue of empowerment. Empowerment is not an outcome of a single event; it is a continuous process that enables people to understand, upgrade and use their capacity to better control and gain power over their own lives. It provides people with choices and the ability to choose, as well as with the chance to gain more control over resources they need to improve their condition. It ultimately thus expands the ‘political-space’ within which Assessment-Analysis-Action processes operate in any community.
- Furthermore, what needs to be unmistakably understood is that –in a mostly zero-sum game– the empowerment of some, most of the time, entails the disempowerment of others: usually the current holders of power.
- As a corollary, social mobilisation is a needed step in the road to empowerment. Here, social mobilisation is to be understood as the community development approach that gets people actively involved in development (Assessment-Analysis-Action) processes that address the more basic causes of maldevelopment. This, in an effort to increase their power base; social mobilization engages people in actions in which they actively fight for their rights and for positions from where they can gain greater control over the resources they need. Social mobilisation aims at mobilising resources, placing concrete demands, networking, building coalitions and consolidating sustainable social movements.
- But, beware, not any social mobilization is empowering. For social mobilisation to be empowering it has to:
– Articulate people’s felt needs into concrete demands and these into claims so they can ultimately better fight for their rights (i.e., mobilization of their social power).
– Mobilize people’s own and other identified needed resources from outside including those not previously used.
– Exert an effective demand for resources other than those readily available.
– Organize people’s actions to effectively use and progressively control external resources (leading to a consolidation of a new and growing power base).
– Network with others, striving to achieve a critical mass of concerned people (locally and externally) and, in the process, building coalitions (i.e., expanding the power base through solidarity).
– Operate in complete Assessment-Analysis-Action cycles, thus collectively identifying problems, searching for solutions and implementing needed activities to, then, assess their impact…and so on.
– Give people power over key decisions thus increasing their self-esteem and self-confidence.
– Increase local democracy, with people (especially women) participating more actively in local government.
– Decentralize decision-making, including shifting control of finances to the local sphere (i.e., devolution of power).
– Include working proactively and concertedly with all strategic allies.
- Not all of us are, therefore, currently involved in work that really empowers beneficiaries. I contend that we tend to choose tracks in our careers according to our preference —plus the level of tolerance of frustration we can stand in our work. The question is: Do a political ideology and ethical commitments also play a role in our choices, when faced with only snail-pace-progress-in-what-we-do? In other words, are ultimate goals of social transformation part of the equation in our choices? If the answer is ‘no’, I see a bleak future for the role our guild can play in the battle against HR violations in the world; changes will come about without and despite us; history will bypass us.
- [I actually worry further, because I see these future challenges that will have to be faced by our young and upcoming colleagues not being clearly spelled out in their curricula during their undergraduate and graduate training].
- More activism is badly needed along with our efforts to overcome specific HR violations. We need to recommit ourselves to it. We also need to train our new generations of colleagues accordingly, not neglecting preparing them much better for their role as activists with a clearer understanding-of and capacity-to intervene in the political dimensions of HR work.
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
cschuftan@phmovement.org