62. THE POLITICAL IMPERATIVE IN HUMAN RIGHTS WORK. (Part 8 of 16)
An emotional commitment to human rights (HR) work is loose and romantic; a political commitment is more militant. People or…
61. PROJECTS DREAMED UP IN A SOCIAL VACUUM MUST PLAY THEMSELVES OUT IN THE REAL WORLD OF INJUSTICE AND CONFLICT. (Part 7 of 16)
The objective consequences of many a development project may turn out to be different from their original subjective intent. We…
60. AS HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WE ARE TOO OFTEN COMMITTED TO STABILITY AS THE PREREQUISITE FOR JUSTICE…RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND. (Part 6 of 16)
Much of what has been called liberal activism in the last half century has been merely an accommodation to historical…
59. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INJUSTICE ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT. (Part 5 of 16)
It should not come as a surprise that social and economic injustice is not an accident. It springs from the…
58. IT IS THROUGH IDEOLOGY THAT SOCIETY ULTIMATELY EXPLAINS ITSELF. (Part 4 of 16)
‘In-the-way-things-are’, society makes disprivilege look right. Human rights (HR) violations are simply ‘explained-away’. Although development scholars sometimes engage in an…
57. WE HAVE TO LEARN TO LOOK AT TOTALITIES, RATHER THAN AT FRAGMENTS OF REALITY. (Part 3 of 16)
When looking at totalities, what will count as facts will depend on the concepts we use, on the questions we…
56. OBJECTIVITY IN THE ANALYTICAL STAGES OF THE PLANNING PROCESS IS NOTHING BUT A MYTH. (Part 2 of 16)
Two questions arise in relation to the objectivity of our work: a). Would the outlook for eliminating human rights (HR)…
55. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE PART OF A SOCIAL DISEASE WITH HISTORICAL ROOTS. (Part 1 of 16)
It is the prevailing determinants of the social and economic conditions of a society that lead to the violation of…
54. SOME WELL KNOWN AND SOME LESS WELL KNOWN ASPECTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS WORK.
We know that the human rights-based approach pushes organizations to focus more on law making, influencing policy, and bringing about…
53. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE UNIVERSAL, BUT THE RISK OF HAVING ONE’S RIGHTS VIOLATED IS NOT.
Rats and roaches live by competition under the law of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under…