Human rights are increasingly viewed through the rhetoric of military intervention, democracy and political freedom, whilst the UN's pivotal role in securing social and economic rights in the developing world continues to be marginalised, argues Robin Willoughby.
Past pledges of more aid and fairer trade to fight poverty have amounted to very little for the world's poor. More of the same medicine is not the solution - a global shift in priorities is needed to redistribute essential resources to immediately secure basic human needs, argues Davinder Kaur.
The economic freedom promised through the
liberalisation of market forces has, in reality, resulted in a freedom for the
very few and a contradiction of the promise that increased
wealth will be shared - demanding a reframing of the concepts of 'democracy' and 'human rights', says Adam W. Parsons.
The following talk by STWR was given at a seminar hosted by World Goodwill on the theme
"Human Rights, Spiritual Responsibilities - A Crisis for Democracy?", held in
London on the 1st November 2008. A transcript and audio of the talk below is presented by Adam W. Parsons.
Unlike the crisis of
1970s stagflation that signalled the end for the Keynesian social-democratic
model, the food crisis of 2008 could be marked down in history for setting in
motion an opposite trend, writes Adam W. Parsons.
The
inability of world leaders to face up to the root causes or policy
contradictions of a food crisis is nothing new, but the resultant crisis of faith in neoliberal economic orthodoxy is a sign that the world direction is changing course, writes Adam W. Parsons.
The World Bank's revised international poverty line of $1.25, which on many counts
reveals a negligible difference in reducing poverty since 1981, raises legitimate questions about the assumed success of
globalisation, writes Adam W. Parsons.
The World Bank's latest poverty figures underline
the fact that globalisation has been largely ineffective at either reducing the
burgeoning ranks of the world's poor, or including this vast swathe of the
global population into the mainstream economy, writes Adam W. Parsons.
The neglected policy debate on ecological limits is unable to call out the elephant of unsustainable lifestyles without challenging the very premise of our economic system.
In light of the growing international consensus for economic reform, this article introduces economic sharing as a viable mechanism through which the international community can cooperate more effectively to end poverty and create a sustainable world.
