Human Rights and Social Movement Fall 2012

Monday, September 10, 2012

segment 4 CED

Our group related the two articles from segment 4 to our corporate destruction on the environment and indigenous societies topic in two ways:

- In the Finnemore article, she talked about how Dunant used the "top down" strategy to gain participants in the Red Cross rather than start from ordinary citizens and work up. In the case of environmental and societal destruction, corporations first approach the governments of the indigenous societies and, due to their wealth, feel they have authority over these smaller governments and societies.

- We also related the Koffman article to our topic in that the wealthy have their own set of "morals" which are different than those in indigenous societies, especially in the way they respect aspects of the environment. When the anti-slavery movement occurred in the UK, it was detrimental to the British economy event though it helped the people of smaller African countries that were being exploited for their labor. In this situation, the indigenous peoples were put before a wealthy economy which, to us is the epitome of altruism in human rights.

Segment 4 GB

Should we care about them if they have possibly harmed our country or our allies and should we make sure they are safe from harm and torture?-Red Cross Reading

Is it a moral obligation to protect peoples' human rights based on their country of origin or based on our human rights?-Red Cross Reading

Progress Report # 1

Progress Report # 1-Darfur

Plan:

We plan to meet as a group at least once a week in order to update and clarify what we will be presenting to the class on October 31^st. We will also be exploring and confirming different resources on this topic through the group’s personal Google Document. We will be working with Prezi in order to bring a more dynamic action campaign to the classroom. We will also be planning incorporation of the class in order to boost their awareness and ultimately motivate them to action.

The resources we will explore include; United Nations, articles containing eye witness accounts by Miller and Reeves, Helen Fein’s articles, and the savedarfur.org website. We will also be looking into websites such as africaaction.com and humanrightswatch.com and books such as “Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur”. We will be attempting to include eyewitnesses or recordings of people in foundations, organizations, or friends who have been affected or have been involved in Darfur. We have heard that there are movies on Darfur and will be looking into them.

We have tentatively decided that Sinikka and Austin will be in charge of the multimedia presentation. Alex will be creating ideas to sell the action campaign to the class. Bret will be in charge of updating the class on our progress via the online blog and progress reports. Mitchell will be the presenter of the action campaign and Larry will be chief researcher on this project.

Questions we will try to answer:

1.) Who are the key players in the Darfur genocide?

2.) How many lives has the genocide claimed?

3.) How has the genocide affected women and children, the economy, and the continent of Africa?

4.) Which human rights is the genocide violating?

5.) What kind of aid has been sent to Darfur and how has it been helping?

6.) How can Indiana University students get involved?

7.) How did the genocide begin, and what are the reasons for it?

8.) What do we, as an action campaign group, want the resulting actions of this presentation to be?

9.) What are the hidden political motivations behind the genocide?

10.) After the genocide resolves, what actions will be taken to prevent this from happening again?

We will build an effective campaign through educating the class on the impact of Darfur on their lives as well as others. We will get them involved through activities, quizzes, and creative ideas. We will also build their motivation to help victims of Darfur by introducing them to different ways they can get involved and change the impact of the genocide. Finally, we will incorporate videos and small articles from websites such as the Onion in order to keep the class interested.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Recent article on GB

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/questions-and-answers-on-the-sept-11-war-crimes-trial-at-guantanamo-bay-cuba/2012/09/08/60143e58-f9d1-11e1-a0a1-b07778c66e04_story.html

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Connections to Segment #3 Articles

We discussed the Kirkpatrick article and how it relates to refugees. Kirkpatrick writes about authoritarian regimes and whether or not western, liberal countries should intervene. We noted that many refugees flee from authoritarian countries because western countries either decide not to intervene, or they never decide whether or not to intervene.

In Frank's article, he discusses cultural relativism and how eastern countries neglect to acknowledge the United Nation's International Declaration of Human Rights. We noted that in many countries where the declaration is not acknowledged, people are mistreated; and thus, they flee.

Darfur

In reflection of this week's readings, the most prevalent question in relationship to Darfur seems to be "Why Not?" When considering an international moral code and discussing why and when foreign countries come to the aid of their neighbors or allies, it begs the question, "where was the help for Darfur?" The lack of international response to an ongoing event ,that has gone down as one of the worst humanitarian violations in history, reflects international relations theories covered by Kaufman and Pape. It's difficult to apply these because few countries have become involved in this civil conflict. This goes for the Finnamore chapter as well, because each article identifies the motives and results of countries in major conflicts while Darfur and it's genocide has been largely ignored by the global community.