Social Policy Commons^™

Indigenous Rights In Latin America: The Gap Between Doctrine And Reality, Dan Ruge

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Indigenous people are prevalent across Latin America, with numbers reaching upwards of 70 percent of the general population in certain countries. Given their strong ancestral ties to the land and cultural practices, these groups have remained hidden and isolated from mainstream populations and the forces of globalization. For many groups, the limited interactions between indigenous people and the outside world have sadly been harmful to the survival of these communities. The discovery and exploitation of oil and other natural resources have led to the destruction of property, culture, and lives of indigenous groups. The uprooting and extinction in some cases …

Kimberly Lanegran On Justice And Reconciliation In Post-Apartheid South Africa Edited By François Du Bois And Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, Uk: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp., Kimberly Lanegran

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa edited by François Du Bois and Antje Du Bois-Pedain. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 311pp.

Child Labor In Latin America: Poverty As Cause And Effect, Michaelle Tauson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Throughout much of the developing world, children make up an alarming portion of the workforce. These children are robbed of their childhood in order to provide economic supplementation to their families. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 5.7 million children in Latin America participate in the regional workforce (2006). It is a common misconception that children, who do not participate in the formal workforce, are not child laborers. However, the ILO defines child labor as any work that is detrimental to a child’s well-being or interferes with a child’s education. Due to the many categories and classifications of child …

Uighurs In Xinjiang: A General Assessment Of The Roots Of Unrest, Vladislav Shchukin

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Chinese governmental repression in Xinjiang against the Uighur minzu, or ethnic group, constitutes a significant infringement on human rights. The atmosphere of repression in Xinjiang is perhaps unmatched even by that of Tibet, and it is virtually the only region in China where execution of political prisoners is still common. Uighurs are subject to severe censorship, arbitrary arrest and the denial of due process, torture and inhumane treatment, and punishment disproportionate to their crimes.

Violated: Women’S Human Rights In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kathryn Birdwell Wester

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In contemporary sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), women are facing human rights abuses unparalleled elsewhere in the world. Despite the region’s diversity, its female inhabitants largely share experiences of sexual discrimination and abuse, intimate violence, political marginalization, and economic deprivation.

Confronting The Past: Democratic Rhetoric Or Socially Necessary?, Rachel Oster

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the current globalized international system, politics, economics, and societal issues are the concern of not only the state but of the world as a whole. It is increasingly apparent that participation in the global community requires states to implement, at minimum, conventional democracy within which individual rights are recognized and protected. Yet for much of the developing world, democratic regimes are partially contested given that many states were historically controlled by non-democratic, often militant regimes that offered security to citizens during times of economic crises.

Joyce Apsel On To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories By Today's Slaves. Edited By Kevin Bales And Zoe Trodd (Ithaca, Ny: Cornell University Press, 2008). 260pp., Joyce Apsel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories by Today's Slaves. Edited by Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008). 260pp.

Eric K. Leonard On The Future Of Human Rights: Us Policy For A New Era Edited By William F. Schulz. Philadelphia, Pa: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 314pp., Eric K. Leonard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Future of Human Rights: US Policy for a New Era edited by William F. Schulz. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 314pp.

The One-Child Policy, Gay Rights, And Social Reorganization In China, Kody Gerkin

Human Rights & Human Welfare

China’s youth are becoming adults in an unprecedented era. The Chinese have achieved rapid, sustained economic growth under a Communist government that has simultaneously been initiating a wide range of social planning initiatives.

Economic Incentives Preempt Independence Movements: A Case Study Of The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region In China, Iman Jafarynejad

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Self-determination and freedom from foreign territorial acquisition and annexation still are core issues in the international arena and a source of human rights struggles. Through the consolidation of economies in the twenty-first century, there has, however, been a shift in the importance of these issues and in the meaning of “occupied” territories. This paper challenges the idea that the status quo of self-determination is the most important element of the human rights agenda of the indigenous Uyghur community in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China.

The Continuation Of Slavery In The Modern World: The People’S Republic Of China And Forced Labor Practices, Jasmine Koehn

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The age-old scourge of slavery has returned to plague the modern world. Though updated to match societal advances, the basic premise remains: human beings degraded to the point of becoming a mere commodity. Today’s world calls modern day slavery human trafficking, and it can take many forms, including forced labor. In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), two distinct forms of forced labor exist. One form is the more traditional master-slave system, wherein people are bought and sold, or kidnapped, and subsequently forced to work, often in intense and dangerous manual labor. The second form exists legally under the Chinese …

Institutionalizing Torture: The Case Of Hospitals And Prisons In China, Leighann Mcchesney

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has a notorious reputation, especially within the international human rights community, concerning its state-implemented practices of torture. Although the government of China has been charged by many international organizations with having a gruesome human rights record, on anything from freedom of speech to freedom of religion, the accusations of state-sanctioned torture undoubtedly have caused some of the strongest reactions around the world. This article seeks to address the various manifestations of torture that take place inside two of the most prominent public institutions in China: the prisons and the mental hospitals. By utilizing these …

The Challenges Of Change: Causes And Consequences Of Child Labor In China, Andrea Morley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The government of China opened its doors to the global economy in the late 1970s, with gradually but steadily increasing competition, trade, and production. The ‘Asian Tiger’ was fueled by export-led development as the number of factories and production facilities spread rapidly across the country. This rapid economic growth exacerbated labor violations, primarily due to the increased incentives for profits and demands of production on Chinese factories. In order to be more competitive, China required a strong labor force; its citizens were thrust into the global economy.

A Legal System That Compromises Due Process And Promotes Organ Harvesting And Human Rights Abuse Of Prisoners: A Case Study Of China, Shivani Ramdeo

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On June 21, 1989, three men were executed in Shanghai two weeks after their arrests. The Xinhua News Agency reported that Bian Hanwu, Xu Guoming and Yan Xuerong were arrested, charged and convicted for sabotaging transportation. Upon rejection of their appeals by the Shanghai People’s High Court, they were executed. Again, Xinhua reported on January 26, 2003, the execution of Lobsang Dondrub, (who was found guilty of inciting a split in the country and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition), hours after his death sentence was approved by the Sichuan Province Higher People’s Court, despite an assurance to a US delegation …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Freedom Of Speech And Expression In The People’S Republic Of China, Liza Negriff

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The international community has been criticizing China for its human rights violations for years. However, one human rights violation has received less attention than some other rights issues both inside and outside of China: censorship and restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. This scantiness of attention is largely attributed to the fact that acquiring reliable information about censorship and freedom of expression in China is challenging.

China’S Infanticide Epidemic, Winter Wall

Human Rights & Human Welfare

China’s one-child policy, initiated to curtail China’s rapid population growth, has resulted in fundamental human rights abuses. Due to the cultural stigma of having female children, the stringent policy has led to millions of female infants being aborted, abandoned, or killed. As China struggles with population control, families are faced with the necessity of bearing male children, who are perceived as being more valuable to the family and who are often charged with the care of their elderly parents. Consequently, the elimination of female infants has created a skewed sex ratio in China’s population—the social, economic, and physical repercussions of …

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Allison Welch

Human Rights & Human Welfare

China’s human rights record has been the subject of intense scrutiny. Therefore, when China was chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, the decision was predictably controversial. There were calls for boycotts of the opening ceremony by many international actors, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and an assortment of political figures. Institutions such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom argued that boycotting the games would bring critical attention to China’s troubled human rights record, which would ultimately provoke Beijing to alter its controversial policies. Others argued that boycotting the games would only serve to intensify …

Human Rights In Sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction, Jendayi E. Frazer

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Whether one points to the legacy of colonialism, the nature of the post-colonial state, the effects of the Cold War, globalization, and enduring customary cultural practices, the facts presented in this Spring Digest on Human Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) point to a significant deficit in human rights protection for sub-Saharan Africa’s people. All of the selections recognize that the demand for greater human rights and the form in which they are expressed will largely come from within Africa to be sustainable. The Digest creates a bridge between universal rights standards and their particular application and expression in Africa.

Youth Migration And Poverty In Sub-Saharan Africa: Empowering The Rural Youth, Charlotte Min-Harris

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sangaré, a poor young farmer from a village in southern Mali, leaves his wife and three children to find stable employment in the capital city of Bamako. What he finds is an unrewarding reality that leads him from small job to small job, only earning about US 22 cents per day. These jobs range from selling sunglasses, to shining shoes, to driving a rickshaw. Unfortunately, his income has not proved enough to provide for his family, as his aunt has since adopted his daughter, and his children cannot attend school. The inability to find stable employment in Bamako has forced …

The Continuing Struggle For Agrarian Reform In Brazil, Sarah Mogab

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Brazil is infamous for its enormously skewed distribution of income, wealth, and land. In a country where 4 percent of landowners own 79 percent of the land, an ongoing movement for land reform continues to be a source of conflict and violence in the countryside (Kay 2001: 755). Extreme poverty is highly concentrated in rural areas. Although rural workers comprise only 18 percent of the total population (Filho 2007), it is estimated that as many as 6 million families are in need of land (Thomas: 9). This struggle for land, in Brazil and elsewhere, is framed by its supporters as …

The Brazilian Paradox: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Battle For Human Rights, Adrienne Rosenberg

Human Rights & Human Welfare

With a rich religious history of Catholicism juxtaposed with a sexually liberal public, Brazil interacts with its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community in a very distinct and often conflicting manner. Although homosexuality has been legal in the state since 1823, save the armed forces, and civil unions are currently permitted in some areas, Brazil has functioned within this paradox as both worst transgressor, with a high record of hate crimes and discrimination, and as world leader, with a progressive domestic and global push for LGBT rights. In order to accurately assess these two opposing statuses, one must analyze the …

The Colonial Legacy And Human Rights In Mexico: Indigenous Rights And The Zapatista Movement, Alexander Karklins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The current status of human rights in Latin America has been profoundly affected by the legacy of colonial institutions. Since the time of conquest, through colonialism, and after independence, the growth of the Latin American state has been challenged by the alternative discourse of indigenous rights. In Mexico, the dominance of mestizaje (or the quest for a single Mexican ethnic identity) in the formation of its modern state apparatus has left indigenous cultures out of the realm of political participation and exposed to human rights violations. With the Zapatista uprising of 1994-1996, the contradictions inherent in Mexico’s constitution were brought …

Violence Against Sex Workers In Latin America: Pervasiveness, Impunity, And Implications, Stephanie A. Bell

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On December 17, 2005, two transgendered sex workers in Guatemala City were shot in the head, one fatally. Witnesses—including the survivor—alleged that police forces shot the victims. Human rights advocates have argued that the attack was part of a broader social cleansing campaign that has targeted all sex workers.

Sex workers in Latin America are subjected to violence regularly. This violence varies greatly, but its pervasiveness and the impunity for perpetrators are two common themes. Violence against sex workers comes from many different sources: police, pimps, johns, serial killers, gang members and others. The violence also takes many forms, including …

Nothing "Colonial" About It: Service Delivery And Accountability, Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

At one level, there is little in “The New Colonialists” with which I disagree. The necessary state capacity in developing societies for basic service delivery is in many cases absent, significantly weak, or has been corrupted in ways that produce tremendous inequality of access and disproportionate social outcomes that are related to race, ethnicity, poverty, gender, and other categories of social identity. It is true that in the presence of weak state institutions, widespread corruption, and underdeveloped infrastructure, a large number of national and international non-governmental agencies and organizations have sought to redress such imbalances through their work in providing …

September Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

"The New Colonialists" by Michael A. Cohen, Maria Figueroa Küpçü, and Parag Khanna. Foreign Policy. July/August 2008.

Saving Lives: A First Step Toward Freedom Not Dependence, William F. Felice

Human Rights & Human Welfare

During the nineteenth century, European powers extended and deepened their brutal domination of the so-called “uncivilized” (sic) nations and peoples around the world. These efforts were named “colonialist” and were based on the uprooting of indigenous peoples, the export and pillage of natural resources, cultural displacement, direct political control, and economic exploitation and the creation of dependency by the Europeans. While the European states gained colossal economic benefits from these arrangements, the colonized peoples were left with failed states and bad governments. Advocates of these colonialist policies often justified these actions on the basis of a deep-felt ideological belief in …

Cosmopolitanism And Rationalizing Tendencies, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

When phone-in talk shows, the press, and undergraduates debate the case for cosmopolitan accounts of global distributive justice, there are a number of standard rationalizations given for why we don’t have a duty to help. These include: “we have duties only to our fellow countrymen”; “poverty is caused by corrupt leaders, so not our fault, and therefore not our responsibility“; and “humanitarian aid is counter-productive.” Unlike the other two sorts of rationalization, the latter claim does not necessarily deny the moral cosmopolitanism premise that we have extensive duties to relieve the suffering of those beyond our borders. Rather, it follows …

In With The Old, Out With The New, Brent J. Steele

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Michael Cohen, Maria Figueroa Küpçü and Parag Khanna make some compelling arguments about the inherent drawbacks regarding the role diverse networks of NGOs play in keeping at-risk populations alive throughout the world. We are informed that these groups are “the new colonialists,” agencies much like the old European empires. These new colonialists are apparently enforcing a cycle of dependency which prevents the development of state structures, structures that apparently sustain these populations more effectively. The problem with this thesis is that the authors do not seem to entertain the possibility that the nation-state is itself an (old) colonial construct, and …

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.