240 THE DOZEN HATS WORN BY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
Activists do not need to be original thinkers as much as they need to be original listeners. They are not only witnesses, but doers, particularly social mobilizers. 1. As a…
239 HAVE YOU ASKED YOURSELF: WHERE IS THE POLITICS IN POLITICAL WILL?
-Politics often is the art of knowing how to choose between two equally bad, unpopular measures. (R. Aron) -In politics, the power of the purse is the most undemocratic power…
238 IRON LAWS ABOUT PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN RIGHTS WORK
– If the people will lead, the leaders will follow. (Mahatma Gandhi) – Changes in human rights are hardly ever achieved in a simple straightforward way –they bring about interior…
237 SOME REACTIONS TO WHAT WE HEAR (AND DO NOT HEAR) IN MANY A PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE THESE DAYS.
1. Am I tired of going to such conferences? Sort of. 2. It is just that, in them, we hear about so many things that need doing and have so…
236 THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM OF GLOBALIZATION ARE IRRECONCILABLE.
Let’s call a spade a spade: Globalization is a project of the North to globalize its corporate power. The market fundamentalism at its base is not only a system of…
235 HUMAN RIGHTS LEARNING HAS TO BE MADE INTO A YEAR-ROUND COMMUNITY RESOURCE
We cannot continue with a popular education that is mostly reactive. 1. Popular education is a central part of the agenda of the human rights (HR) movement and must be…
234 BEWARE: HUMAN RIGHTS ARE BEING INTERPRETED TO SUIT THE FREE MARKET.
1. These days, the market is presented to us as capable of resolving all problems –even of protecting human rights; but the latter, basically through the façade of corporate social…
233 LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE: CONNECTING THE IVORY TOWER TO MAINSTREET. (C. L. Schur)
We may be intelligent, but do we have the experience? If we do, it depends whether we learn-from and apply our experience! (F. Stern) Those who cannot remember the past…
232 ACTIONS AND ACTIVISM IN FOSTERING GENUINE GRASSROOTS PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH AND NUTRITION.
Effective action requires not just an enthusiasm, but calls for a close rapport with the disgruntled so as to get them organized. (A. Robbins) 1. You may often have asked…
231 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RICH COUNTRIES FOR THE PERSISTENCE OF IMPOVERISHMENT* AND ILL-BEING** IN POOR COUNTRIES: A HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED INDICTMENT OF THE MDGs.
Some have calculated that, with current development trends remaining the norm, poverty will be eradicated in something like 70 or more years. ________ * : I agree with those who…