Human Rights Law Commons^™

Economic Sanctions Against Human Rights Violations, Buhm Suk Baek

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

The idea of human rights protection, historically, has been considered as a domestic matter, to be realized by individual states within their domestic law and national institutions. The protection and promotion of human rights, however, have become one of the most important issues for the international community as a whole. Yet, with time, it has become increasingly difficult for the international community to address human rights problems collectively. Despite a significant development in the human rights norms, effective protection of fundamental human rights and their legal enforcement has a long way to go.

This paper will argue that economic sanctions …

Slavery: From Public Crime To Private Wrong, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight against slavery was the first international human rights movement, and the elimination of legalized bondage represented a hallmark of Western civilization. But the persistence and revival of this ancient evil shows that in an era of globalization, a prohibited public crime has morphed into a massive private wrong.

Slavery And "Abuse Regeneration", Christine Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Skinner’s depiction of modern day slavery is graphic and challenging. Anyone viewing prohibitions on slavery, or abolition, as historical anachronism, or requiring reinterpretation for modern-day practices, must think again. Skinner persuades us that slavery in its most old fashioned sense is alive and well and, worse than that–on the rise.

April Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“A World Enslaved" by E. Benjamin Skinner. Foreign Policy (March/April) 2008.

Forget Me Not: Bodies As Last Colonies Of Capitalism?, Anna M. Agathangelou

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Slavery is one technology of imperialism that serves to generate more profits worldwide. Skinner brings this issue to our attention, arguing that many people think that slavery ended in the 19th century, but the current turning of peoples into slaves proves otherwise. Skinner points out that since 1817, there have been more than a dozen international conventions signed banning the slave trade and yet, the number of people sold as slaves is in the millions. He calls modern day slavery a “monstrous crime” and proceeds to provide us with insights from his research. He begins making his point through what …

Combating The Slave Trade: Why Governments Are Not Good At Governing, Eric A. Heinze

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is difficult to read Benjamin Skinner’s revealing piece on the international slave trade and not feel revolted that we still live in a world where so many people live in bondage. What is particularly disturbing is that much of the modern-day slave trade takes place with the full knowledge, and even acquiescence of, state governments.

March Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Waving Goodbye to Hegemony” by Parag Khanna. New York Times Magazine. January 27, 2008.

What Is The Current Status Under International Law Of Israeli Tools To Maintain A Majority Jewish State?, Christian Richmond

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Is The World Social Forum The Privileged Space For Reinventing Labor As A Global Social Movement?, Waterman

Societies Without Borders

The author highlights how the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, has unexpected consequences for labor. He argues that WSF represents a global pressure-cooker of contemporary progressive and emancipatory social movements and ideas. He believes this is the case for the international trade union and labor movement. He reflects on such matters, including the reasons for distinguishing between progressive and emancipatory, unions and labor.

Social Forums - Challenges And New Perspectives, Whitaker

Societies Without Borders

The author challenges the participants of the World Social Forum (WSF), an annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, to be reflective about the tradition of the forum and its methodology. He indicates some possibilities that are emerging in relation to the activities to be organized with the 2008 Global Day of action. He argues that even with few participants at the 2008 Forum, it was a big step forward to increase the African civil society political participation and articulation at the continental level.

Matthew S. Weinert On Democracy, Minorities, And International Law By Steven Wheatley, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 201 Pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Democracy, Minorities, and International Law by Steven Wheatley, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 201 pp.

Human Rights And Contemporary Slavery, Kevin Bales

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The anti-slavery movement will welcome this important compilation of work on debt bondage slavery. In the academic and policy analysis of contemporary slavery, many of the fundamental areas of enslavement are yet to be explored and brought into systematic presentation. This work by the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver helps to build up our understanding of debt bondage, as well as adding to the emerging discipline of contemporary slavery studies. Debt bondage slavery is one of the oldest forms of slavery that continues into the present day. The date of the establishment of hereditary debt …

Forced Child Labor In El Salvador: Contemporary Economic Servitude, Michelle Doherty

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In 2005, over half of the rural population in El Salvador was living on less than U.S. $2 dollars per day (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo 2003: 42). The harsh reality of economic subsistence obligates children in El Salvador to contribute to their family’s survival. Employers providing this frail economic lifeline inevitably acquire control over the children. This economic control is a prominent aspect of contemporary slavery and is manifested through violence or exploitation. The enslavement of children in El Salvador not only steals their youth and opportunity to receive an education, but it also places innocent …

Poverty’S Captives, Tim Brauhn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Today’s manifestations of bondage are a marked departure from those of pre-modern slavery. Now the value of the human “goods” is so low that slavers do not have to worry about damaging them. Two hundred years ago, slaves had to at least be treated with a modicum of safety, if for no other reason than to ensure continued profitability. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, slavers have become less like “hunters” and more like “gatherers,” since their work no longer involves raids and chains, at least in the physical sense. No, today’s raids are the false promises of work …

Under The Iron Thumb: Forced Labor In Myanmar, Anil Raj

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The fight for human rights in Myanmar goes back to its independence in 1948. The Myanmar military (tatmadaw) has engaged in shocking violations of almost every right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The issue of forced labor, however, is of particular concern. Forced labor is employed primarily in development projects, agricultural enterprises, and the military. It is used to impose collective punishment on civilians, to build highly profitable development that strengthens military rule, and to allow the military access and logistical support in the most remote regions of insurgent-occupied territories. Forced labor is a central means …

In Defense Of World Social Forum Vii, Karides, Ponniah Thomas

Societies Without Borders

The article argues that the overall World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, process embodies an uneven, often contradictory, but evolving democratization with WSF advancing this agenda thru its presence in Nairobi, Kenya. It focuses on the WSF held in Nairobi, which is described as one of the most peripheralized countries. It begins by presenting the roots of the WSF and eventually concludes with the achievements of the addition of the WSF held in Nairobi.

Another Structure Of Knowledge Is Possible: The Social Forum Process And Academia, Sherman

Societies Without Borders

The author highlights how the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, has unexpected consequences for epistemology. He considers the possibilities opened by the emergence of the social forum process for the reconstruction of the structures of knowledge. By structures of knowledge, he means following the disciplinary organization and hegemonic approaches since the late nineteenth century in the social sciences.

Note From The Editors, Blau, Alberto Moncada

Societies Without Borders

The article introduces a series of articles including one by Patrick Bond on the preliminary planning of the World Social Forum (WSF) and another by Michael Guerrero on the 2007 U.S. Social Forum.

Reformist Reforms, Non-Reformist Reforms And Global Justice: Activist, Ngo And Intellectual Challenges In The World Social Forum, Bond

Societies Without Borders

The author reflects on his involvement with the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, held in Nairobi, Kenya because he participated in the preliminary planning. As a social scientist, he reflects on the forum's significance in global society and vis-a-vis global capitalism. He also explores the debate in South Africa over the merits of WSF.

Sociology, Human Rights, And The World Social Forum, Frezzo

Societies Without Borders

The author contends that the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, mobilizes the principles of prefigurative politics and subsidiarty to avoid the pitfalls of developmantism. He also argues that the principles of prefigurative politics and subsidiarity, in echoing the sentiments of movements led by indigenous activists, feminists and environmentalists, have facilitated the spread of the forum model across the world.

Reading Nairobi: Place, Space, And Difference At The 2007 World Social Forum, Conway

Societies Without Borders

The author seeks to elaborate an approach to more adequately analyze the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, both as somewhat coherent global political process while also recognizing the exploding plurality of the WSF as a multi-faceted phenomenon. He presents an interpretative framework that allows for different and intersecting levels of analysis. To assess the significance of the Nairobi event in Africa, he situates it in the history of the WSF process.

The World Social Forum, A Globalisation From Below?, Pleyers

Societies Without Borders

The author argues that the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, came out as an initiative from committed intellectuals and cosmopolitan activists. He outlines the emergence process of an influential and well-connected activist cosmopolitan elite within the alter-globalization movement. He then focuses on consequences of the divide between hyper mobile, globe-trotting leaders and local and regional grassroots activists.

Freeing Software And Opening Space: Social Forums And The Cultural Politics Of Technology, Juris, Giuseppe Caruso

Societies Without Borders

The authors highlight how the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, has unexpected consequences for communications. They particularly explore what they refer to as the cultural politics of technology within the social forums through a comparative analysis of the political goals and struggles associated with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) use within the global, European and the U.S. social forum processes.

Feminists And The Forum: Is It Worth The Effort?, Hewitt

Societies Without Borders

The author highlights how the World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, has unexpected consequences for feminism. She identifies the ways in which her commitment to feminist research influence her scholarly practice. She reflects on the methodological challenges of scholar-activism and highlights several tenets of feminist methodology that bear particular importance for scholar-activists participating in and researching the social forum process.

The Us Social Forum: Building From The Bottom Up, Guerrero

Societies Without Borders

The article deals with the 2007 U.S. Social Forum (USSF). It particularly looks at the historical significance of the USSF. It argues that the USSF signified a turning point in both the emerging social movements within the U.S. and perhaps the global social forum process as well. It then discusses the salient characteristics of the USSF. It also traces how the USSF was organized by a sector of grassroots organizations largely overlooked in national politics.

The Meaning Of The Us Social Forum: A Reply To Whitaker And Bello's Debate On The Open Space, Ponniah

Societies Without Borders

The article looks at the actual achievements of the U.S. Social Forum (USFF) in order to assess the differing positions of Walden Bello and Chico Whitaker, both representatives on the International Council of the World Social Forum (WFS). Bello argued that the Forum's open space methodology refuses to take a collective stand on any issues even on concerns as the war on Iraq. Meanwhile, Whitaker noted that the open space methodology left possible the opportunity for movements to independently build global coalitions that produced common manifestos.

Book Review Of The Rise Of The Global Left: The World Social Forum And Beyond, Rodríguez

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews the book "The Rise of the Global Left: The World Social Forum and Beyond," by Boaventura De Sousa Santos.

Book Review Of The World Social Forum: Strategies Of Resistance And Another World Is Possible: Popular Alternatives To Globalization At The World Social Forum, Mccarthy

Societies Without Borders

The article reviews two books including "The World Social Forum: Strategies of Resistance," by Jose Correa Leite and "Another World Is Possible: Popular Alternatives to Globalization at the World Social Forum," edited by William Z. Fischer and Thomas Ponniah.

Mexican Immigration Scenarios Based On The South African Experience Of Ending Apartheid, Murguia, Kim Díaz

Societies Without Borders

How can we ameliorate the current immigration policies toward Mexican people immigrating to the United States? This study re-examines how the development of scenarios assisted South Africa to dismantle apartheid without engaging in a bloody civil war. Following the scenario approach, we articulate positions taken by different interest groups involved in the debate concerning immigration from Mexico. Next, we formulate a set of scenarios which are evaluated as to how well each contributes to the well-being of the populace both of Mexico and of the United States. The South African scenario model has proven to be an effective tool in …

Women's Health Transnational Networks, Corradi, Giovanna Vingelli

Societies Without Borders

The emergence and diffusion of global networks working around health issues with a gender perspective (gender & health organizations) is a relatively new phenomenon characterizing the last three decades with growing interest in gender studies, sociology of health and sociology of social movements. A transnational dimension seems to be more fit to negotiate women's different conditions and interests - compared to traditional ones, whose actions remain limited to national arenas. We carried out exploratory research of about 284 international health-related organizations. Here we are going to present the results of a quantitative survey of 48 of them, dealing specifically on …