Food/Housing
Food, Housing and shelter related items.
Prison: The New South
Slavery went from the hands of the people to the hands of the government. Milton Meltzer stated that slavery lingers. “Slavery as an institution that degraded man to a thing has never died out. In some periods of history it has flourished: many civilizations have climbed to power and glory on the backs of... »
The Value of Human Beings
To defend the rights of individuals is to guarantee that they have a decent level of treatment as human beings. To violate these rights is to consider those individuals as less than humans. Human beings who live in severe poverty have rights, and they do not deserve to suffer. At least this is what... »
The Multiple Dimensions of the Right to Life
The right to life is the assertion that people have a fundamental right to not be killed. It goes back to such documents as the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 and Article Three of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. Within the UDHR’s broad framework, the... »
The Quality of Life Around The Globe
Professor Marks raised a critical point in class by talking about the importance of urbanism and the right to adequate housing as a Human Right. But if we look at some places around the globe such as the Kibera slum located in Nairobi – (one of the most crowded places on earth,) we can... »
Who Owns the Soil? The Promise of Civic Agriculture and Human Rights Education
The ability to access healthy food in a developed country likely attracts less attention than developing nations struggling to feed their own growing populations. And yet, debates over eco farming practices, GMOs, and other issues connected to land ownership and resource availability are global in scope. Because food insecurities everywhere undermine the right to... »
Poverty as a Human Rights Violation: The Social Order of Injustice?
Poverty is a result of the lack of or violation of basic human rights, but it is not in and of itself a violation of human rights. While global poverty is a byproduct of many global societal functions today the eradication of poverty will not come about through the rhetoric of whether or not... »
Property Transfer and Commons in the Debate about the Right to Development
The world has endured a last century of strenuous armed conflicts and human suffering, one also marked by an accelerated and unequal development. The commitment to human rights in general, and development in particular, became a priority. This seems a truism, but it is a fact that the United States, among others, has refused... »
Ancient Amazon Tribe’s Handling By Oil Giants Is Litmus Test for 21st Century Respect for Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The Matses Tribe of Peru is an endangered indigenous people of the Amazon Rainforest, dwindling like the Amazonian Rainforest due to pressures not of culture on their ancient ways, but of a corporate oil company’s desire to exploit the area that they have made their home for hundreds of years. Rights to the area... »
IMF Says Extreme Poverty to Increase Due to Global Downturn
According to the IMF/World Bank, we will likely stay at over 1 billion people who are in extreme poverty, as defined by less than $1.25 of income per day – the absolute minimum required to feed one person. In addition, many tens of millions more will likely be added to this number. There is... »
Contextual vs. Absolute definition of poverty
In a Harvard lecture on 2/11, Prof. Ajay Mahal introduced the idea that poverty can be defined based on national and societal context as opposed to, or rather in addition to, strictly economic criteria. He went on to demonstrate the difference between an absolute and relative definition of poverty with the absolute being an... »