Activating Human Rights and Peace

Human rights and peace issues and concerns have come about at a critical time. The world has recently witnessed a plethora of turning points that speak of the hopes and vulnerabilities which are inherent in being human and demonstrate that change in the service of human rights and peace is possible. At the same time, however, other events indicate that wherever there is life, there is vulnerability in a world characterized by instability and endemic human suffering. On top of all this, the collapse of the global financial system and the serious, rapid destruction of the environment have brought the world to a precarious state of vulnerability. Activating human rights and peace is, therefore, a project that is always in progress, and is never finally achieved. This enlightening collection of well thought through cases is aimed at academics and students of human rights, political science, law and justice, peace and conflict studies and sociology.

GOH Bee Chen is Professor of Law at the School of Law & Justice, Southern Cross University, Australia, Baden Offord is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at the School of Arts & Social Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia and Rob Garbutt, is a Lecturer at the School of Arts & Social Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia

Contents: Foreword; Preface; Activating human rights and peace: an overview of theory, practice and context, GOH Bee Chen, Baden Offord and Rob Garbutt; Part I Theories: Karmic wisdom and international law, incorporating the proposed international Peace Charter, GOH Bee Chen; Peacebuilding education: enabling human rights and social justice through cultural studies pedagogy, Baden Offord and John Ryan; Beyond the modern synecdoche: towards a non-fundamentalist human rights discourse, Riccardo Baldissone; New wars - old wars: thinking creatively about the prevention and transformation of violent conflict in the 21st century, Kevin P. Clements; Voices for hope: story-telling and human rights, Janie Conway-Herron. Part II Practices: Cambodia: the long hard journey to peace and human rights, Michael Kirby; International recognition of autonomy for indigenous populations: the case of Tibet, Michael C. Davis; Human rights and the Beijing Olympics, Sev Ozdowski; Everyday peace, human rights, belonging and local activism in a 'peaceful' nation, Rob Garbutt; Mediation, Human rights and peace-building in the Asia-Pacific, Dale Bagshaw. Part III Contexts: A clash of paradigms for asylum seekers: border security and human security, Linda Briskman; The war against terror: religion, clothing and the human right to peace, Adrien Katherine Wing; Women, peace and securing human rights, Elisabeth Porter; Intimate violence as human rights abuse: re-framing intra-familial violence against women and children, Jennifer Wilson; A pedagogy of peace: the tourism potential, Lynda-ann Blanchard and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles; Activating human rights and peace: observations and reflections, GOH Bee Chen, Baden Offord and Rob Garbutt; Index.