Full Text:
Abdi, Ali A. & Shultz, Lynette. (Eds.) Educating for Human
Rights and Global Citizenship. (2008). Albany, New York: State
University of New York Press. 252 pages, ISBN 978-0-7914-7373-3
Nancy E. MacIntosh, Sessional Lecturer, Faculty of Education,
University of Prince Edward Island
Education is powerful on many levels, but especially in that it has
the potential to provide a universal understanding of the rights that
people should possess. Abdi and Shultz (2008) held a conference on the
premise that educators can make a significant impact when it comes to
getting the word out about global human rights and citizenship. They
invited scholars and those in the field to submit papers and projects
for this conference, held at the Faculty of Education at the University
of Alberta. The enthusiasm was remarkable with many delegates attending
from around the world. Abdi and Shultz found that the enthusiasm did not
wane after the conference ended, and the remaining energy resulted in
this book.
As stated by the editors, the aim of this book is not "to
itemize the articles constituted in the 1948 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and prescribe institutional or socio-legalistic
remedies," but instead for the collective group of authors to
contribute to what they feel is a deeper probe into how human rights can
be available to all (p. 5). This book gives global human rights and
citizenship a strong voice. Each chapter presents the story of a
differing perspective on global citizenship and belonging.
Throughout the sixteen chapters of this book, the struggles and
complexities that comprise the drive for global citizenship and human
rights are explicated. Each contributor brings his or her own flavour of
best practices and experiences involved in educating the multitudes
about what chaos exists in the world and what educated people can do to
help. Global citizenship is the vehicle used to get the points across
regarding people's struggle for dignity and belonging around the
world.
Hiliaria Suba Huaman, a Quechua (Peru) indigenous leader, and
Shulamith Koenig, a New Yorker and founder of the People's Decade
of Human Rights Education, open the book with personal experiences that
impact our global quest for human rights. Huaman opens with her call for
equilibrium. She explains that equilibrium involves love, respect and
self-esteem. We educate our young with stories that involve developing
equilibrium for their futures. She tells the story of a family in Peru
and the fateful situation in which they found themselves because their
human rights were denied. Both Huaman and Koenig promote the value of
projects across the world that work toward human rights and dignity.
The chapters that follow fall into place as the various authors
work through the "four generations of human rights practice"
(p.6) as outlined by Evans, and the politics involved in various human
rights' organizations. One of the main questions is posed by Nigel
Dower. In his chapter he asks "are we all global citizens or are
only some of us global citizens?" (p.6). He goes on to place this
question in the arms of educators. He posits that as educators, we are
not educating our students to become global citizens rather we are
unwrapping how our students can use their global citizenship to better
the world (p. 39).
Ratna Ghosh quotes from Article 1 in the Declaration of Human
Rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights." In quoting from this article, Ghosh purports that we
really do not have a definitive answer to what constitutes a right and
who gets to make that definitive claim. She argues that the UN answers
Kant's (1795) claims in his work titled Perpetual Peace to some
degree, but we have not really figured out a world system that meets the
needs of all its citizens.
Others, for example Carl E. James, Shibao Guo, Makere
Stewart-Harawire, Jerrold L. Kachur, Lynette Shultz and Cora
Weber-Pillwax present stories and images of such things as the
"impact of Legal Definitions on Metis Peopls(s) of Canada" (p.
193); the notion that "culture cannot be conceptualized in terms of
unified systems of meanings" alone, there are far more complex
issues involved (p. 99), and the fact that we have failed and are
failing the children of our world on many levels, especially with
regards to child slavery (p. 129). Graham Pike and Toni Samek present
two ideas that are not new, but that are vital to the education of our
children so they will be engaged in the world around them (p. 223).
Personal narratives and nationalistic viewpoints of what it means
to have human rights and to be treated humanely are the threads that tie
the contributions together. There are various organizations outlined and
criticized in terms of their political ties and their call for the
recasting of how the world collectively works toward the goal of
inclusion for all. Both historical and present-day viewpoints are
expressed.
The editors purport that this book will be useful for
"students, teachers and researchers in all areas of education and
international development" (p.4). They also claim that this book
will help "those in the social sciences, legal and public policy
researchers and practitioners, as well as to specialized interest groups
and the general public" (p.4).
There is no doubt that those reading this book will be compelled to
rekindle the conversation about human rights and global citizenship. The
book may also contribute to the "shaping of a more humane global
agenda in the coming years and decades" (p.4). But, the language of
the book is not universal to all. Scholars, researchers, even those who
are in the legal and political domains would benefit greatly from the
chapters. The general public, however, would need a schema for this
information prior to reading. The fact that many of the articles (not
all) read like a dissertation project is the book's greatest
weakness, although the editors do provide a lengthy overview of the
chapters in the Introduction, which does situate them well. Abdi and
Shultz provide a genuine platform for presenting storied research on
global issues. This book makes an important contribution to scholars and
educators involved with global citizenship and human rights education.