PHM-Exch> Food for a campaigner’s thought

[Claudio Schuftan]

Human Rights Reader 264



*HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS OPPOSE ANY ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM THAT FINDS ITS PLACE
WHERE TRADITIONAL DEVELOPMENT PARADIGMS HAVE ALREADY BEEN. *(part 1 of 2)



In dedicated human rights work, it is not about being a bit more leftist or
a bit more centrist than others, but it is to offer a viable and better
perspective for the future --one in which human rights activists are willing
to engage-with actively. In human rights work, there is no zone of an
‘ideological zero’ though.



*[Note:* These two Reader do not intend to be ‘self-congratulatory’ by
aggrandizing the image and the role of human rights activists. I here only
explore what human rights activists do, can-do, have-to-do and need-to-do
--adaptable to the specific settings they work in].



As human rights activists, we do engage in combating the inertia rooted in
many of our fellow development workers (including those that do not believe
in anything, or that believe that everything is useless). But at the same
time, in our work, tolerance wins over rigidity and over personal interests.
[Note here that tolerance should not mean or be understood as indifference,
but as an attitude, one not avoiding conflict].

We all do strongly feel we have to act in the name of a vision that is
motivating, that goes along with our moral duty, that is not rooted in any
dogma. We all also strongly feel that we cannot just cross our arms and do
nothing.


To read the full Reader, go to

http://wp.me/plAxa-1of

Claudio
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