Food for thought for a new beginning (part 2)
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MORE ON THE POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Rights Reader 70
A BASIS TO DEVELOP A NEW PRAXIS FOR THE FUTURE (Part 16 of 16)
159. At the risk of sounding panfletary, I think the (mostly
normative) elements that could begin making our work yield more
potentially sustainable and equitable outcomes are the follow-
ing: (presented in no particular order).
160. We need to de-professionalize our work. This will mean
seeking, re-valuing and incorporating popular knowledge and
know-how into actions we help to plan. Beneficiaries are to de-
fine what changes we will be looking for and let these guide the
drawing of action plans. Action plans are thus to be negotiated
and finalized in the field, not in our offices. 161. In the
process, Third World colleagues and local civil society organi-
zations must take a more visible lead in human rights (HR) work
(even at the cost of making some possible mistakes).
162. All relevant knowledge has to be shared with the benefici-
aries openly and upfront for them to fully participate in the
decision-making process from the very start. We need to move
away from the project-oriented approach and move to processes of
popular enrichment and empowerment ('consciousness raising' of
Paulo Freire). Needed expertise now has to be drawn not from
academicians, not even from professional practitioners, but much
more from the 'everyday- sufferers-of-the-effects-of-the-
prevalent-inequitable-system'. Development education has to be
carried out from the beneficiaries' perspective with their
choice of contents and priorities.
163. All this means we have to shed many of our own biased val-
ues and be more open to the beneficiaries' values. Our analyses
need to incorporate more the structural causes of HR violations
so as to see them as part of the 'big picture' (including those
changes brought about by Globalization). Such analyses will
force us to tackle not only the multidisciplinary aspects, but
the complex social and political issues preventing people from
realizing their rights to the fullest (mostly related to control
processes in society). We will have to confront face-on (and ex-
pose) the forces that oppose greater equity and full respect of
HR so as to neutralize them (from the local level to the inter-
national arena). This means that we will have to adopt a dialec-
tical approach as a more effective means to lead us to the
needed structural changes at the base of the major contradic-
tions shaping and responsible of the present situation.
164. We will also have to; - intensify our efforts at using the
internet to build networks of like-minded colleagues that can
consolidate a strong worldwide, solidary HR movement. - become
more active and vocal open critics of the type of (often tinker-
ing) bilateral and multilateral aid that is perpetuating old
non-empowering/non- equitable approaches. - actively help forc-
ing institutional changes in bilateral and multilateral aid
agencies (the UN system included) to make them more democratic
and transparent, as well as once and for all, more focused on HR
issues. - embark in a significant overhaul of the curricula of
development professionals that will prepare a new generation of
more sustainable development- and HR-oriented colleagues.
165. All the above (being desperately incomplete and a bit cari-
caturesque) sounds quite grandiose (and even romantic) and is
packed with heavy-sounding, politically-charged action verbs.
But the processes that can lead to sustainability and equity can
(and should) start with small direct actions that we can help
bring about more easily. Actions at grassroots level can take
many forms, but should always reach a point in the discussion --
excuse the repetition-- where who is losing and who is winning
(and why) is thoroughly analyzed. At higher levels, most of us
have more experience on how to start discussions leading to
change. We just have to commit ourselves in a more militant way
to get and/or keep the process going and, above all, challenge
the status-quo that would give a 'proverbial Martian' landing on
planet earth the impression that nobody cares about what is not
happening and should.
We are in for an exciting new era. We need all the courage we
can muster. Wouldn't you rather become a protagonist than a by-
stander?
Claudio Schuftan
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn
--
This Reader marks the end of the series entitled "More on the
Politics of HR Work".
All the good and wise in the series came from others; that of
lesser importance was mine.