Science and human rights

"Science and human rights are inextricably linked in many ways. In 1913 former academy member Albert Einstein said in an address to the California Institute of Technology:

"It is not enough that you should understand about applied science
in order that your work may increase man's blessings. Concern
for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest
of all technical endeavors."



By Eliot Stellar, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). Committee on Human Rights

This post is about a scientific journal published in 1988 to specifically address the nexus between science and human rights. This is uncharted waters for many "political scientists" approach to human rights, so I thought it to be "nice" when I discovered this journal. Therefore I posted the forward and will briefly discuss where this scholarly journal's analysis looks to be heading. Much to my surprise a very prominent man is mentioned right from the get go!

"The creation of a Committee on Human Rights by the National Academy of Sciences in 1976 was but the formalization of a longstanding concern of the academy about humanitarian issues.

For many years, academy officers have taken private action through fellow scientists, sister academies, and research councils throughout the world in behalf of threatened colleagues. In the 1950s, the academy helped find positions in the United States for Hungarian scientists who had fled their country. In 1966, it provided assistance to Argentine students whose education was interrupted by the closing of the University of Buenos Aires by finding institutions in the United States where they could study.

It is noteworthy that a large number of the academy's roughly 1,500 members are foreign born; many fled their countries of birth because of abuses inflicted upon them and their families by repressive governments. Many of those scientists have gone on to make outstanding contributions to the science and welfare of their nation of adoption, the United States of America."

The authors begin by quoting Albert Einstein which I think is great. But even better is the fact that they acknowledge the human rights assistance they had lent to there scientific colleagues in contribution to there work in science in the name of human rights in my opinion is quite remarkable. Furthermore, "the creation of a Committee on Human Rights by the National Academy of Sciences in 1976, was but the formalization of a longstanding concern of the academy about humanitarian issues." This is even more remarkable evidence of a direct link or nexus between science and the humanities. It is good to see scientists with all there wonderful theories and such, reach across disciplinary studies into the arts and humanities, and into the files of social sciences, in the name of human rights and, to dedicate an entire scholarly journal to science and human rights. The link provided will take you to this journal which provides open access online via Google books. I hope you enjoy.

William

Global Human Rights! Not New News!

This post is taken from a book entitled:

Worldwide education statistics: Enhancing Unesco's Role

By James W. Guthrie, Janet S. Hansen, Michael W. Kirst,National Res

I am particularly interested in the "global" aspects of this books inherent approach to the notion of human rights. The book was published in 1995. This is the quote I would like to review:

"Fifty years ago, international relations were dominated by a legacy of fear and distrust between many nations and groups of nations. Today there is a global investment and trade economy, an understanding (at least intellectually) of worldwide ecological interdependence, an emerging international consciousness about human rights and humanitarian issues, and an intense reliance on human capital formation to sustain a nation's global competitive status and internal civic structure.

Research in macroeconomics, international relations, and comparative sociology document these developments and inform our understanding of them. They are highlighted in studies of the global economy and the role of highly skilled personnel in fostering national competitiveness (Reich, 1991), in research on the global expansion and legitimation of education and its transnational influences (Schriever, forthcoming; Ramirez, 1993), and in the literature on the rise of human rights as a global standard (Forsythe, 1991) and its implications for the comparative study of efforts to upgrade the status of women (Stromquist, 1995). The new globalism has gone hand in hand with studies that direct attention to worldwide economic trends and cycles, to international emphasis on education and science for sustainable development, and to human rights issues, especially as they affect women, children, and minorities."

This is of course a 14 year old analysis of a very modern problem that has not gone away. Perhaps it has even worsened in many respects in some regions of the world.Yet it had been very much recognized by scholars as a global problem in 1995 and I am sure as I continue with the research for this blog, I will go back into book and scholarly archives and discover even more literature that demonstrates that there had been globally significant issues which definitely implicated women children and of course minorities even way earlier than 1995. My point is that global human rights are not a new notion. They have been "around" for a very very long time!

William

U.S., Iran: So Much To Discuss!

U.S., Iran: So much to talk about -- latimes.com

Absolutely there is much to discuss with Iran! See my post dated 9/10/2009 from Cultural Relativism or Human Rights at http://culturalrealtivism.blogspot.com/
url: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=105845&sectionid=351020101.

Here you will find President Ahmadinejad's of Iran's philosophy in which he claims that "We are not in the race for development." Well, among other political agenda items such as the horrendous human rights abuse allegations following the recent elections, I am sure that nuclear talks will be in the forefront of discussions in the upcoming October 1st meeting. The LA Times does a great job explaining what has already been all over the media and the internet regarding the human rights abuse that has occurred in Iran this year especially! Lets hope that the US, the newest member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, will lead the way in the Nuclear talks as well as the human rights talks on the first of the month!

William