Human Rights in a Changing World

Human Rights in a Changing World

The Post-graduate Department of English, St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth is happy to announce a National  Conference on “Human Rights  in a Changing World,” to be held in the Sahitya Academy Hall, Thrissur on 26 & 27  November, 2010. Prof. Nivedita Menon, Professor of Political Science, JNU will deliver the keynote address and Ms. Rekha Raj, Mr. Nitin Manayath and Adv. Bobby George  will be among those who will lead the subsequent sessions on a variety of topics including Gender and Sexuality Rights, Dalit and Communal Rights etc.  There will also be paper presentations by  scholars and activists.

The focus of the conference will be on South Asia and its goal is to reopen the concept of ‘Human Rights’ for critical evaluation in the context of the economic and social transformations as well as shifts in life styles, values and possibilities in the south-asian region, initiated by the many processes that we now identify by a generic term “globalization.”

If globalization is conceived as turning the whole world into one global village in which all peoples are increasingly interconnected, then the world would be witnessing unprecedented enjoyment of human rights everywhere because globalization is bringing prosperity to all the corners of the globe together with the spread of the highly cherished values of ‘democracy,’ ‘freedom’ and ‘justice.’ On the other hand if globalization is conceived as turning the world into a global market for goods and services dominated and steered by the powerful gigantic transnational corporations and governed by the rule of profit then all the human rights of the people in the world, particularly in South Asia would be seriously threatened. One of the questions worth exploring is whether there could be other, perhaps more useful, ways of understanding/evaluating the processes of globalization. 

The situation is further complicated  in the context of South Asia by the continuing caste, communal, ethnic and gender hierarchies and accompanying discriminations that more than half a century of ‘democracy’ could not even curb, let alone resolve. Instead, in the transforming context, these hierarchies engage and negotiate with the emerging power structures in dubious ways, thereby perpetuating new legions of wretched of the earth for whom the promises of globalization forever remain unattainable.

On the other hand, the various critiques of globalization raised by indigenous initiatives sometimes tend to revert to claims and celebrations of ‘traditions’ that invariably assume antagonistic stances against the nascent politicizations of some hitherto marginalized  individuals and communities who make use of the spaces and avenues laid open by ‘globalization’  to define themselves, assert their presence and claim rights. One should not forget that the so called third world had not exactly been basking in uniform ‘utopian’ well being till the cloud of globalization extended it shadows across these regions.

Do all these call for a re-evaluation of what we have been calling ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights?’  How could we remold (if at all) our understanding of these concepts to ensure a better deal for the marginalized and persecuted?  The purpose of this seminar is to raise some of these questions and, perhaps, upset the complacence that continues to spread among the privileged classes and communities in South Asia thanks to escalations in consumer comforts and technological surprises.

Dr. Muraleedharan Tharayil

National Conference on “Human Rights in a Changing World”

 Contact: English.Aloysius@gmail.com

Cell: 9447350091

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