Human Rights, Development and the Politics of Knowledge Production

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Human rights, democracy, and development have almost become household terms in the 21st century as more people sing their praises and profess their commitment to advancing these concepts. But the questions must be posed then, with so many preoccupied with and committed to these ideals over the last 50+ years, why is it that there is more poverty and suffering in the world today and not less? Why has progress toward a more democratic, peaceful world stagnated? Even among the well-established macro-indicators of Freedom House and the United Nations Development Programme, which routinely measure human rights, democracy and social development around the globe, the progress of the 1990s and early 2000s has slowed and/or stagnated, and in some cases regressed. Joining the ranks of a growing number of scholars, practitioners, and grassroots activists across many disciplines, the works to be presented on this panel argue that it is time to vindicate the arduous work of peoples most affected by the lacunae of the promotion and implementation of these ideals. The perspectives to be presented are those of indigenous peoples in Mexico, indigenous and working class mestizas in Ecuador and Peru, alongside of a transnational regional comparison. Together the panel provides examples from Latin America and the Caribbean of those “from below” engaged in authentic, progressive and powerful work to improve the quality of life of those most oppressed and marginalized across the region.

Sub Track

• Otros saberes: Collective Methods and the Politics of Research

Chairs

• Linda S Stevenson, West Chester University

• James Beveridge

Individual Presentations

• Social Development in Latin America: Issues with Theoretical Frameworks from Above - Linda S Stevenson, West Chester University

• Human Rights and Horizontalism in Practice: Examples from the Americas - Rosemary A Barbera, La Salle University

• Otrosaberes y Otroshaceres en tiempos de Crisis y Guerras - Xochitl Leyva

• Roads to development: The Bolivian state's appropriation of indigenous knowledge as Buen Vivir - James Beveridge

• Media Reform, Communicative Sovereignty and the Geopolitics of Knowledge Production in South America - Katherine M Reilly, Simon Fraser University

Discussant

• Rosemary A Barbera, La Salle University