Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28

Joseph Zajda
Yvonne Vissing Editors

Discourses
of Globalisation,
Ideology, and
Human Rights
Globalisation, Comparative Education and
Policy Research

Volume 28

Series Editor
Joseph Zajda, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University
East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Editorial Board Members

Robert Arnove, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
Birgit Brock-Utne, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Martin Carnoy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Lyn Davies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Karen Evans, University of London, London, UK
Kassie Freeman, Alcorn State University, Lorman, USA
MacLeans Geo-JaJa, Brigham Young University, Provo, USA
Andreas Kazamias, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
Leslie Limage, UNESCO, Paris, France
Susan Majhanovich, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Marcella Mollis, University of Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Nikolai Nikandrov, Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, Russia
Val Rust, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Advisory Editors
Abdeljalil Akkari, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Beatrice Avalos, National Ministry of Education, Santiago, Chile
Karen Biraimah, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
David Chapman, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Sheng Yao Cheng, Chung Chen University, Chia-yi, Taiwan
David Gamage, University of Newcastle Australia, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Mark Ginsburg, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
Yaacov Iram, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Henry Levin, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Noel McGinn, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
David Phillips, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Gerald Postglione, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Heidi Ross, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
M’hammed Sabour, University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland
Jurgen Schriewer, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Sandra Stacki, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA
Nelly Stromquist, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Carlos Torres, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
David Willis, Soai University, Osaka, Japan
The Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research book series aims
to meet the research needs of all those interested in in-depth developments in
comparative education research. The series provides a global overview of
developments and changes in policy and comparative education research during the
last decade. Presenting up-to-date scholarly research on global trends, it is an easily
accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information for researchers, policy
makers and practitioners. It seeks to address the nexus between comparative
education, policy, and forces of globalisation, and provides perspectives from all the
major disciplines and all the world regions. The series offers possible strategies for
the effective and pragmatic policy planning and implementation at local, regional
and national levels.
The book series complements the International Handbook of Globalisation
and Education Policy Research. The volumes focus on comparative education
themes and case studies in much greater scope and depth than is possible in the
Handbook.
The series includes volumes on both empirical and qualitative studies of policy
initiatives and developments in comparative education research in elementary,
secondary and post-compulsory sectors. Case studies may include changes and
education reforms around the world, curriculum reforms, trends in evaluation and
assessment, decentralisation and privatisation in education, technical and vocational
education, early childhood education, excellence and quality in education. Above
all, the series offers the latest findings on critical issues in comparative education
and policy directions, such as:
• developing new internal strategies (more comprehensive, flexible and innovative
modes of learning) that take into account the changing and expanding
learner needs;
• overcoming ‘unacceptable’ socio-economic educational disparities and
inequalities;
• improving educational quality;
• harmonizing education and culture;
• international co-operation in education and policy directions in each country.

More information about this series at https://link.springer.com/bookseries/6932

Joseph Zajda • Yvonne Vissing
Editors

Discourses of Globalisation,
Ideology, and Human Rights
Editors
Joseph Zajda Yvonne Vissing
Faculty of Education & Arts, School Salem State University
of Education Chester, NH, USA
Australian Catholic University
East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

ISSN 2543-0564     ISSN 2543-0572 (electronic)

Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research
ISBN 978-3-030-90589-7    ISBN 978-3-030-90590-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3

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TO REA, NIKOLAI, SOPHIE, IMOGEN
BELINDA, PAULINA, DOROTHY AND JIM
Foreword

A major aim of Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights, which is

the 28th volume in the 36-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative
Education and Policy Research, edited by Joseph Zajda and Yvonne Vissing, is to
present a global overview of selected scholarly research on global and comparative
trends in dominant discourses of globalisation, ideology, education and policy
reforms in comparative education research. It provides an easily accessible, practi-
cal yet scholarly source of information about the international concern in the field
of globalisation, ideology, human rights education and policy reforms. Above all,
the book offers the latest findings on discourses surrounding on-going human rights
education and policy reforms.
The book explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches
applicable in the research covering globalisation, ideology, human rights education
and policy reforms. Using a number of diverse paradigms, ranging from critical
theory to globalisation, the authors, by focusing on globalisation, ideology, human
rights education and social justice, attempt to examine critically recent trends in
education policies and their impact on schooling.
More than ever before, there is a need to understand and analyse both the intended
and the unintended effects of globalisation and forces of globalisation on nations,
organisations, communities, educational institutions and individuals around the
world. This is particularly relevant to the evolving and constantly changing notions
of nation states, national identity and citizenship education globally. Current global
and comparative research demonstrates a rapidly changing world where citizens are
experiencing a growing sense of alienation, uncertainty and loss of moral purpose.
The book contributes, in a very scholarly way, to a more holistic understanding
of globalisation, ideology, human rights education and policy reforms. The book is
both rigorous and scholarly and is likely to have profound and wide‑ranging impli-
cations for the future of education policy and reforms globally.

Faculty of Education & Arts, School of Education Joseph Zajda

Australian Catholic University,
East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

vii
Series Editor

Joseph Zajda, BA (Hons), MA, MEd, PhD, FACE, co-ordinates and lectures in
graduate courses – MTeach courses: EDFX522, EDSS503 and EDFD546 – in the
Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne
Campus). He specialises in globalisation and education policy reforms, social jus-
tice, history education, human rights education and values education. He has written
and edited 48 books and over 150 book chapters and articles in the areas of globali-
sation and education policy, higher education, history textbooks, and curriculum
reforms. Recent publications include: Zajda, J. (Ed). (2021) 3rd International hand-
book of globalisation, education and policy research. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda,
J. (Ed). (2020). Globalisation, Ideology and Education Reforms: Emerging
Paradigms. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (Ed). (2020). Human Rights Education
Globally. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J (Ed.). (2020). Globalisation, Ideology and
Neo-Liberal Higher Education Reform. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. & Rust,
V. (2021). Globalisation and comparative education. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda,
J. & Majhanovich, S. (Eds.) (2021). Globalisation, cultural identity and nation-­
building: The changing paradigms. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (2019) (Ed.).
Globalisation, ideology and politics of education reforms. Dordrecht: Springer;
Zajda, J. (2018). Globalisation and education reforms: Paradigms and ideologies.
Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. (2017). Globalisation and National Identity in
History Textbooks: The Russian Federation. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, Tsyrlina-­
Spady & Lovorn (2017) (Eds.). Globalisation and Historiography of National
Leaders: Symbolic Representations in School Textbooks. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda
& Ozdowski (2017). (Eds.), Globalisation and Human Rights Education Dordrecht:
Springer; Zajda & Rust (Eds.) (2016). Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms.
Dordrecht: Springer; editor and author of the Second International Handbook on
Globalisation, Education and Policy Research. Springer, 2015. http://www.springer.
com/education+%26+language/book/978-­94-­017-­9492-­3; Zajda, J. (2014). The
Russian Revolution. In G. Ritzer & J. M. Ryan (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell
Encyclopedia of Globalization Online; Zajda, J. (2014); Zajda, J. (2014). Ideology.
In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand
Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J. (2014). Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia

ix
x Series Editor

of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J. (2014);

Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and
Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J (2008). Schooling the New Russians.
Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers.
He is the editor of the 36-volume book series Globalisation and Comparative
Education (Springer, 2013 & 2024).
He edits the following journals:
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/ct/ Editor, Curriculum and
Teaching, volume 36, 2022
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/es/ Editor, Education and
Society, volume 39, 2022
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/wse/ Editor, World Studies in
Education, volume 22, 2022
His works are found in 445 publications in 4 languages and some 11,210 univer-
sity library holdings globally.
He is the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Research Award, the Faculty of
Education, the Australian Catholic University. The award recognises the high qual-
ity of research activities, and particularly celebrates sustained research that has had
a substantive impact nationally and internationally. He was also a recipient of the
Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2011 (Citation for Outstanding
Contributions to Student Learning, for an innovative, influential and sustained
contribution to teacher education through scholarship and publication). He
received the Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award, at the Australian
Catholic University (Melbourne Campus). He was awarded an ARC Discovery
Grant (with Monash University) for 2011–2015 for a comparative analysis of his-
tory national curriculum implementation in Russia and Australia ($315,000).
Elected as Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (June 2013).
Completed (with Professor Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki) the UNESCO
report: Governance in education: Diversity and effectiveness. BRICS countries.
Paris: UNESCO (2021).

Faculty of Education and Arts Joseph Zajda

Australian Catholic University
Melbourne, Australia
Preface

Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights, which is volume 28 in

the 36-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy
Research, edited by Joseph Zajda and Yvonne Vissing, presents a global overview
of the nexus between globalisation, ideologies and human rights education and
resultant implication for equity, democracy and social justice. Globalisation and
competitive market forces have generated a massive growth in the knowledge indus-
tries that are having profound effects on society and higher educational institutions.
One of the effects of globalisation is that the education sector is compelled to
embrace the corporate ethos of efficiency, performance and profit-driven manageri-
alism. As such, new entrepreneurial educational institutions in the global culture
succumb to the economic gains offered by the neoliberal ideology and governance
defined fundamentally by economic factors. Both governments and educational
institutions, in their quest for global competitiveness, excellence, quality and
accountability in education, increasingly turn to international and comparative edu-
cation data analysis. All of them agree that the major goal of education is to enhance
the individual’s social and economic prospects, which can only be achieved by pro-
viding quality education for all. Clearly, these new phenomena of globalisation
have in different ways affected the current developments in education and policy
around the world. First, globalisation of policy, trade and finance has some pro-
found implications for education and reform implementation. On the one hand, the
periodic economic crises (e.g. the 1980s, the financial crisis of 2007–2008, also
known as the Global Financial Crisis or GEC in 2008), coupled with the prioritised
policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (e.g. SAPs),
have seriously affected some developing nations and transitional economies in
delivering quality education for all.
Second, the policies of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the UNESCO, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) operate as powerful forces,
which, as supranational organisations, shape and influence education and policy By
examining some of the major education reforms and policy developments and merg-
ing paradigms in a global culture, particularly in the light of recent shifts in

xi
xii Preface

education reforms and policy research, this volume provides a comprehensive pic-
ture of the intersecting and diverse discourses of globalisation, education and global
competition-driven reforms. The impact of globalisation on human rights educa-
tion, education policy and reforms is a strategically significant issue for us all. This
volume, as a sourcebook of ideas for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in
globalisation, human rights education and education policy reforms, provides a
timely overview of the current changes in education reforms both locally and
globally.

East Melbourne, VIC, Australia Joseph Zajda

Editorial by Series Editors

Volume 28 is a further publication in the Springer Series of books on Globalisation,

Comparative Education and Policy Research, edited by Joseph Zajda
Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights, which is volume 28
in the 36-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy
Research, edited by Joseph Zajda and Yvonne Vissing, presents a global overview
of the nexus between globalisation, ideologies and human rights education reforms
and implication for equity, democracy and social justice. Globalisation and the
competitive market forces have generated a massive growth in the knowledge indus-
tries that are having profound effects on society and higher educational institutions.
One of the effects of globalisation is that the education sector is compelled to
embrace the corporate ethos of the efficiency, performance and profit-driven mana-
gerialism. As such, new entrepreneurial educational institutions in the global culture
succumb to the economic gains offered by the neoliberal ideology and governance
defined fundamentally by economic factors.
The book explores the ambivalent and problematic relationship between the
state, globalisation and human rights education reforms discourses. Using a number
of diverse paradigms, ranging from critical theory to globalisation, the authors, by
focusing on globalisation, ideology and human rights education reforms, attempt to
examine critically recent trends in the political, social, economic and educational
constructs affecting the nature of human rights education reforms.
When discussing the politics of human rights education reforms, and role of the
state, and dominant ideologies defining policy priorities, we need to go beyond the
technicist and business-oriented model of education, which focuses on accountabil-
ity, efficiency and performance indicators. Why? Because, apart from the dominant
human capital and rate of return, driving efficiency, profit and performance indica-
tors, there are other forces at work as well. From the macro-social perspective, the
world of business, while real and dominant, is only one dimension of the complex
social, cultural and economic world system. At the macro-societal level, we need to
consider the teleological goal of education reforms. Are we reforming education
systems to improve the quality of learning and teaching, academic achievement, and
excellence, and do we hope to change our societies, creating the ‘good society’?

xiii
xiv Editorial by Series Editors

At the level of critical discourse analysis, we need to consider dominant ideolo-

gies defining the nature and the extent of political and economic power, domination,
control, the existing social stratification, and the unequal distribution of socially and
economically valued commodities, both locally and globally. They all have pro-
found influences on the directions of education and policy reforms. Many scholars
have argued that education systems and education reforms are creating, reproduc-
ing, and consolidating social and economic inequality (Carnoy & Rothstein, 2003;
McLaren & Farahmandpur, 2005; Zajda, 2015a; Milanovic, 2016; Zajda, 2021).
The book offers a synthesis of current research findings on globalisation and
education reforms, with reference to major paradigms and ideology. The book anal-
yses the shifts in methodological approaches to globalisation, education reforms,
paradigms, and their impact on education policy and pedagogy. The book critiques
globalisation, policy and education reforms and suggests the emergence of new
economic and political dimensions of cultural imperialism. Such hegemonic shifts
in ideology and policy are likely to have significant economic and cultural implica-
tions for national education systems, reforms and policy implementations. The book
also evaluates discourses of globalisation, cultural imperialism, global citizenship,
human rights education and neo-liberal ideology. It is suggested there is a need to
continue to analyse critically the new challenges confronting the global village in
the provision of authentic democracy, equality, social justice and cross‑cultural val-
ues that genuinely promote a transformative pedagogy. There is also a need to focus
on the crucial issues at the centre of current and on-going education reforms, namely
global citizenship, human rights education, social justice and access to quality edu-
cation for all, if genuine culture of learning, and transformation, characterised by
wisdom, compassion and intercultural understanding, is to become a reality, rather
than policy rhetoric.
In addressing the topic globalisation, ideology and politics of human rights edu-
cation reforms, some authors, like Zajda and Vissing, analyse the on-going trends in
human rights education reforms for equity and social justice. They critique and
evaluate a neo-liberal and neoconservative education policy, meta-ideological hege-
mony and paradigm shifts in human rights education, and resultant globalisation
processes impacting on human rights education and policy reforms, through a
human rights framework and social justice.
The authors focus on major and dominant discourses defining huma rights
education reforms: globalisation, social change, democracy and ideology. These
are among the most critical and significant dimensions defining and contextualis-
ing the processes surrounding the politics of human rights education reforms
globally. Furthermore, the perception of globalisation as dynamic and multi‑fac-
eted processes clearly necessitates a multiple‑perspectives approach in the study
of human rights education reforms. In this book, the authors, who come from
diverse backgrounds and regions, attempt insightfully to provide a worldview of
current developments in research concerning human rights education reforms
Editorial by Series Editors xv

both locally and globally. The book contributes, in a very scholarly way, to a
more holistic understanding of the nexus between globalisation, ideology and
human rights education reforms.
We thank the anonymous international reviewers, who have reviewed and
assessed the proposal for the continuation of the series (volumes 25–36), and other
anonymous reviewers, who reviewed the chapters in the final manuscript.
Contents

1 Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights������������������������������������������    1

Joseph Zajda and Yvonne Vissing
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South��������������������������   11
Greg Carroll
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus
of Globalisation, Human Rights, and Education����������������������������������   29
Andrew Swindell and Joseph Wright
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children:
A New Perspective������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   53
José Noronha Rodrigues
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built,
Nurtured, and Transforms Societies������������������������������������������������������   83
Yvonne Vissing
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education
in Colombia���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 113
Tracy Holland
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s
Rights in Children’s Literature to Advance Understanding
of Children’s Rights �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 131
Melissa M. Juchniewicz
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International
Global Policy Outlook of the Optional Protocol on the Sale
of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography��������������������� 149
Tanya Herring

xvii
xviii Contents

9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development

of Mental Health: A Human Right Perspective������������������������������������ 169
Christopher G. Hudson
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention:
Clinical Sociology ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 189
Jan Marie Fritz
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights:
Major Trends�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 203
Joseph Zajda

Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 217
Contributors

Greg Carroll is Tenured Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies in the

Interdisciplinary Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences, Salem State
University, and Fulbright Specialist with extensive experience working and living in
Liberia, Timor-Leste, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Jan Marie Fritz, PhD, CCS, is a professor at the University of Cincinnati (USA), a
distinguished visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
and a visiting professor at Taylor’s University (Malaysia). She also is a Fulbright-­
National Science Foundation Arctic Scholar in Iceland. She is a member of the
Executive Committee of the International Sociological Association (ISA), an ISA
representative to the United Nations and past president of the ISA’s division on
Clinical Sociology. She is a member of the Mayor’s Gender Equality Task Force in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and editor of Springer’s Clinical Sociology book series. She has
been a docent at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio; a distin-
guished visiting professor at the Honors College at the University of South, Florida;
and, for many years, a special education mediator for the state of Kentucky. She has
been a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a
Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Washington DC, and a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar
in Human Rights and International Studies at the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
Her work has won several awards including the Ohio Mediation Association’s
Better World Award and the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished
Career Award for the Practice of Sociology.

Tanya Herring, PhD, DMGT, Doctor of Laws candidate, LLM, MBA, MSA, cur-
rently a postdoctoral researcher with the Wales Observatory on Human Rights of
Children and Young People, Bangor University/Swansea University, research fel-
low with the International Communities Organization (ICO) of London, and
Llewelyn Williams Foundation Postgraduate Studentship, Wales, UK. Tanya’s aca-
demic pursuits are motivated by her desire to be a ‘voice-for-the-voiceless’ unac-
companied refugee and asylum-seeking child. Her work includes research in the
prevention and protection measures and mechanisms against the multiple forms of

xix
xx Contributors

trafficking and exploitation of children, legal empowerment, and self-determination

focused on the stateless child, refugee and non-refugee. Her socio-legal approach
in supporting children’s rights and the law has globally engaged international gov-
ernment officials, legal and academic practitioners, and a host of child advocates in
North America, Southeast Asia, the Oceania Region, Russia, and Europe. Her
research and body of work include ‘Prevention and Protection Interventions for
Stateless, Refugee, Non-Refugee, and Force Displaced Children’ (New England
Journal of Public Policy), ICO Handbook on Self-Determination (ICO-research
centre) and the Palermo Protocols as a Conduit to Legal Empowerment and Peaceful
Self-Determination (Ateliers Doctoraus).

Tracy Holland is a faculty member in the Latin American and Latinx Studies at
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie NY. She also teaches in the human rights studies
programme at Columbia University. Tracey’s research focuses on human rights edu-
cation, peace building, migration and children’s rights.

Christopher Hudson, PhD, is professor emeritus in the School of Social Work at

Salem State University, Salem, MA. Dr Hudson is best known for his research in
mental health policy and services, as well as psychiatric epidemiology. His publica-
tions include Dimensions of State Mental Health Policy (Praeger, 1991), An
Interdependency Model of Homelessness (Edwin Mellen, 1999) and Complex
Systems and Human Behavior (Lyceum Books, 2010), as well as extensive studies
in leading social service and mental health journals. Dr Hudson’s awards include
two senior faculty William J. Fulbright Awards for research in Hong Kong
(2002–2003) and Prague, Czech Republic (2019).

Melissa M. Juchniewicz is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

She has more than 20 years’ experience in higher education with an expertise in
children’s literature. A consultant in the development of education programmes and
a professional development leader, she continues to teach composition and chil-
dren’s literature at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Nationally recognised
for teaching excellence, her publications include chapters in the International
Handbooks of Educational Leadership as well as academic articles and essays for
anthologies. Dr Juchniewicz has also been recognised with awards for fiction, flash
and poetry.

José Noronha Rodrigues, Doctor of Law (PhD) cum laude, from the University of
Santiago de Compostela (Spain), recognised as the equivalence of Doctor of Law by
the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, DEA in European Union Law
(2008), Master of International Relations (2004), postgraduate in regional law
(1998), postgraduate in labour law (2003) and degree in law (1996). He is currently
vice president and Professor of Law in the Faculty of Economics and Management
at the University of the Azores, responsible for all law subjects, delegate for the
Contributors xxi

Azores at the Instituto de Derecho Ibereamericano, member of several editorial

boards of international journals and international research centres, and also holds
the Chair of the Policy Center at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child.

Andrew Swindell is a doctoral candidate in social sciences and comparative edu-

cation in the School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA. He currently
works as an instructor for the international institute at UCLA and an editorial assis-
tant for the Global Commons Review, and serves as the co-chair for the Education,
Conflict, and Emergencies special interest group of the Comparative and
International Education Society (CIES). His research interests include how
community-­based schooling promotes universal access to quality and inclusive edu-
cation for people in emergency settings, critical digital literacy and global citizen-
ship education. Andrew holds an MEd from the University of Missouri and BA from
Bucknell University. Prior to his doctoral studies, Andrew worked as a teacher in
Myanmar and Thailand.

Yvonne Vissing is professor and policy chair for the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, founding director of the Center for Childhood & Youth
Studies and chair of the Sociology Department at Salem State University in Salem,
Massachusetts USA. Dr Vissing has also created a non-profit organisation to assist
communities to advocate for improved community, child and family services.
Author of five books with several others near completion, Dr Vissing has presented
her work at international and national meetings and is engaged in work that has both
an international and a domestic focus. A true child advocate, she has trained thou-
sands of professionals and students in a framework that is based upon the United
Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child to work with, and for, children’s
rights. As the research director of the Department of Sociology, she conducts both
quantitative and qualitative research, and coordinates her region’s annual research
conference. Her main areas of concentration have focused upon economic well-­
being of children and families, education, health, legal rights, and community obli-
gation and comprehensive services. Dr Vissing worked to create a national peace
conference for youth and has been a major contributor to Oxford University’s
Encyclopedia of Peace.

Joseph Wright is a doctoral candidate in social sciences and comparative and

international education and Master of Public Health in Community Health Sciences
student at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research and expertise are
on the impact of domestic and international policy related to whole child equity and
children’s rights, including education, health, nutrition, responsive care giving and
safety. He received his BS from Brigham Young University, MSc from Oxford
University and has worked with USAID, UNESCO, UNICEF, and several school
districts and health departments across the USA.
xxii Contributors

Joseph Zajda (Australian Catholic University, Melbourne) is a professor in the

Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne
Campus). He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. He received Vice-
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Peter Sheehan Excellence in
Research Award (Faculty of Education) for his high quality of research activities,
which celebrates sustained research that has had a substantive impact nationally and
internationally. He is also a recipient of the Australian Awards for University
Teaching for his innovative, influential and sustained contribution to teacher educa-
tion through scholarship and publication. He has written and edited 51 books and
over 150 book chapters. He specialises in globalisation and education policy
reforms, social justice, history education, and values education. Recent publications
include: Zajda, J. (Ed). (2021). 3rd International handbook of globalisation, educa-
tion and policy research. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J. & Rust, V. (2020).
Globalisation and comparative education. Dordrecht: Springer; Zajda, J (Ed).
(2020a). Globalisation, ideology and neo-liberal higher education reform. Springer,
Zajda, J. (Ed). (2020b). Human rights education globally. Springer; Zajda,
J. (Ed). (2020c). Globalisation, ideology and education reforms: Emerging para-
digms. Springer; Zajda, J. & Majhanovich, S. (Eds.). (2020). Globalisation, cultural
identity and nation-building: The changing paradigms. Springer. He is also the edi-
tor of the twenty-four volume book series Globalisation and Comparative Education
(Springer, 2009 & 2021). He edits World Studies in Education, Curriculum and
Teaching, and Education and Society for James Nicholas Publishers. His works are
found in 570 publications in 4 languages and some 11,221 university library hold-
ings globally. He was awarded an ARC Discovery Grant (with Monash University)
for 2011–2015 for a comparative analysis of history national curriculum implemen-
tation in Russia and Australia ($315,000). Orcid ID https://orcid.
org/0000-­0003-­4422-­9782 (Email: [email protected]).
Chapter 1
Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights

Joseph Zajda and Yvonne Vissing

Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Introduction

Globalisation and Education Reforms

Globalisation has become a significant construct in education and policy discourses.

A number of social theorists (Appadurai, 1990; Giddens, 1990; Rust, 1991;
Robertson, 1992; Paulston, 1997; Zajda & Rust, 2021) argued that globalisation
was one of the outcomes of modernity, which was characterised by the nexus of new
structural political, economic, cultural, and technological developments (Appadurai,
1996; Robertson & Khondker, 1998; Wallerstein, 1998; Giddens, 2000; Zajda,
2021). Globalisation, according to Ampuja (2021), is now the ‘most important key-
word’ of the global triumph of neoliberal capitalism. He argues that these concepts
have become ‘dominant in the social sciences, to the point of establishing a new
theoretical orthodoxy that we can define as globalisation theory’ (Ampuja, 2021).
Consequently, globalisation has also acquired a new meta-ideology that carries
strong elements of Western ideologies (Daun, 2021).
The term ‘globalisation’ is a complex, and constantly evolving construct, as well
as a euphemism, concealing numerous contested meanings, ranging from
Wallerstein’s (1979, 1980, 1989) ambitious ‘world-systems’ model, to Giddens’
(1990) notion of ‘time-space distantiation’ highlighting the ‘disembeddedness’ of
social relations – their effective removal from the immediacies of local contexts,

J. Zajda (*)
Faculty of Education & Arts, School of Education, Australian Catholic University,
East Melbourne, VIC, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
Y. Vissing
Salem State University, Chester, NH, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 1

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_1
2 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing

and Castells’ (1989, 2000) perception of globalisation as way of networking, pro-

posing that the power of flows of capital, technology, and information, constitutes
the fundamental morphology of an emerging ‘network society’ (Castells, 2000).
Furthermore, globalisation, by means of ICT, became a powerful new mode in the
transfer of capital, labour production, consumption, and consumerist culture, result-
ing in significant quantitative and qualitative change, affecting major organizations,
governance, and individuals.
Globalisation has become a significant construct in education and policy dis-
courses. A number of social theorists (Appadurai, 1990; Giddens, 1990; Robertson,
1992; Paulston, 1997) argued that globalisation was one of the outcomes of moder-
nity, which was characterised by the nexus of new structural political, economic,
cultural, and technological developments (Appadurai, 1996; Robertson & Khondker,
1998; Zajda, 2021). Globalisation, according to Ampuja (2021), is now the ‘most
important keyword’ of the global triumph of neoliberal capitalism. He argues that
these concepts have become ‘dominant in the social sciences, to the point of estab-
lishing a new theoretical orthodoxy that we can define as globalisation theory’
(Ampuja, 2021). Consequently, globalisation has also acquired a new meta-­ideology
that carries strong elements of Western ideologies (Daun, 2021).
Since the 1980s, globalisation, marketisation and academic standards driven
reforms around the world have resulted in structural, ideological and qualitative
changes in education and policy (OECD, 2020; Zajda, 2020a). They included an
increasing focus on the UNESCO’s concepts of knowledge society, the lifelong
learning for all (a ‘cradle-to-grave’ vision of learning) representing the lifelong
learning paradigm and the “knowledge economy” and the global culture. In their
quest for excellence, quality and accountability in education, governments increas-
ingly turn to international and comparative education data analysis. All agree that
the major goal of education is to enhance the individual’s social and economic pros-
pects. This can only be achieved by providing quality education for all. Students’
academic achievement is now regularly monitored and measured within the ‘inter-
nationally agreed framework’ of the OECD’s Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA). This was done in response to the growing demand for interna-
tional comparisons of educational outcomes (Zajda, 2020c). To measure levels of
academic performance in the global culture, the OECD, in co-operation with
UNESCO, is using World Education Indicators (WEI) programme, covering a
broad range of comparative indicators, which report on the resource invested in
education and their returns to individuals.
On the surface, we see the influence of globalisation in the foods we eat, music
we listen to, news we view, and places we travel. The ramifications of globalisation
are huge and may be conceptualized with different foci. For instance, the World
Health Organization’s (2021) definition of globalisation emphasizes interconnect-
edness and interdependence of peoples and countries as well as the opening of inter-
national borders to increasingly fast flows of goods, services, finance, people and
ideas, and changes in institutions and policies at national and international levels
that facilitate or promote such flows. In geography, globalisation is defined as the
progressive processes of economic, social, cultural, technological, and institutional
1 Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights 3

relationship exchanges between societies and individuals around the world

(Youmatter, 2021). The term globalisation used by economists describe growing
interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about
by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment,
people, and information (PIIE, 2021). Financial globalisation refers to the rise of
international financial exchanges and monetary exchanges, like the stock market.
Political globalisation focuses on governmental and nongovernment organizations
working together on an international level. Cultural globalisation concerns interpen-
etration of beliefs, principles and customs as a supra-cultural emerges. Technological
globalisation occurs through electronic communication dissemination, while eco-
logical globalisation focuses on people’s understanding of the Earth as a single
global entity where air, water, and climate link all peoples of the planet into a singu-
larity (Youmatter, 2021). Authors in the book have selected different dimensions of
globalism to explore in their chapters.
Sometimes globalisation is regarded as beneficial to the peoples of the world;
sometimes it is associated with a series of negative outcomes. For instance, an
economic-­market definition of globalism advocates for a consumerist, neoliberal,
free-market world. While this ideology is embraced by many powerful individuals
who claim it transmits democracy and benefits everyone, it may also reinforce
inequality and be politically motivated (Steger, 2013). While globalisation appears
inevitable, its implications on humanity may vary depending upon how one views
different aspects of it. This variation adds to the richness of the debate on it, espe-
cially as it impacts human rights. Therefore, how it is viewed and what aspect of
globalisation authors emphasize will combine to help us to have a more comprehen-
sive vision of its relationship to human rights.

Ideology as a Construct

The term ideology refers to a system of ideas and beliefs that is dominant within a
group or society, and which affects most if not every sphere of social interaction and
organisation within it: political, economic, scientific, educational, and cultural
(Zajda, 2014). The origins of the concept ideology can be traced to eighteenth-­
century French philosophical thought. The term idéologie (ideology) was coined by
the French philosopher Destutt de Tracy (1795), to define ideas that were to be used
in clarifying and improving public debate – in particular, he wanted to provide the
necessary rational foundation for the critique of the dominant intellectual and politi-
cal traditions that defined his era. He created the term by combining Greek ‘idea’
(form) and ‘logos’ (knowledge). the concept of ideology is closely connected with
power, with domination, control and justification of a political system. It should be
apparent that educational institutions play a significant role in promulgating a soci-
ety’s dominant ideology (see the work of Michael Apple) – and under some circum-
stances in fostering awareness and generating resistance, the work of Paulo Freire is
a good example here.
4 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing

The core sense of the term is quite apparent in Marxist and neo-Marxist writings
where, from a class-conflict and structural-functionalist perspective, ‘ideology’
refers to a core set of ideas and values which consolidates and legitimates the exist-
ing political and economic system and relations between social classes. The main
function of the ideas constituting the ideology is to maintain the status quo of the
economically, socially and politically stratified society (Zajda, 2014).
Overall, an ideology is a system of dominant ideas and ideals that may form
political, economic, or social theory and policy. It is a set of values, ideas or beliefs
of a group or individual that characterize a particular viewpoint. Mannheim (1936)
viewed ideologies as thought systems that serve to defend a particular social order,
and often express the interests of its dominant or ruling group. Conflict and Marxist
theorists expanded the definition to include oppression and exploitation (Cole,
2019). Ideology is part of our social construction of reality. As Kumar (2006) notes,
the study of ideology focuses on the distinction between appearance and reality,
between error and truth, between a necessarily distorted subjective consciousness
and an objective world. Ideology as a concept can be seen as a lens through which
a person views the world. Sociologically speaking, it refers to the sum total of a
person’s values, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations that exist in society, within
groups and between people, which shapes our thoughts, actions, and interactions. It
ultimately impacts the types of social structures that we create and influences what
trajectories society at large pursues (Cole, 2019).

Major Human Rights Discourses

Human rights are defined by the United Nations (2021) to be rights inherent to all
human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or
any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from
slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and educa-
tion, and others. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination (Vissing,
2021). Human rights are embodied in treaties, conventions, protocols and statutes
outlining how states should undertake commitments to each other and their citizens
(Vissing, 2019). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), signed in
1948 after World War II has become the basis of human rights policies treaties such
as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) are fundamental
(Frezzo, 2015).
Human rights can be considered to be an ideology because they offer an account
of the existing order, a world-view, meaning they propose moral boundaries of the
world as some think it should be. Human rights advance a model of a desired future,
a vision of what a good society should look like and explain how to bring about that
desired social change. Understanding human rights as an ideology helps researchers
overcome blind spots that arise from narrowly defining human rights as a struggle
1 Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights 5

over rights. Human rights offer a set of ideas that provide the basis for organized
political action, which may be intended to preserve, modify or overthrow the exist-
ing system of power, just as do other ideologies (David, 2018; Heywood, 2003;
Murphy, 1972; Mutua, 1996; Vissing, 2020). As David (2018) observes, under-
standing human rights as an ideology offers us the analytical tools to systematically
evaluate the evolution of the Western-led global institutionalization of values and
norms. By understanding human rights through the prisms of the institutionalization
of organizational and doctrine power, we may advance our understanding of how
human rights are internalized across different socio-­political strata.
Neier (2012) argues that human rights have become the major ideology of our
time. From the days of the Magna Carta and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, society has developed a large array of human rights treaties. International
law emerged to help enforce the protection of human rights (Vissing & Williams,
2018; Vissing, 2021). But some scholars of international believe that human rights
law is not really law because there is no global sovereign to enforce its compliance.
Moreover, Neier finds that international law purports to regulate the behavior of citi-
zens, which can only be done by an individual state. As example, the United States
has not ratified most human rights treaties because it recognizes no authority higher
than the Constitution. But scholars like Teitel (2011) assert that international human
rights law is “humanity’s law.” Henkin (1968) finds that the beneficiaries of human
rights law are different from those of international trade law or international arms
control law: they are not the other states which are parties to the treaty, but indi-
vidual lives that are at stake. This creates a paradoxical relationship between inter-
national human rights and sovereignty (Neier, 2012).
In many ways, the argument for human rights may be similar to that of global
social justice, a hot issue in International Political Theory (IPT). Steger et al. (2013)
examine ideological claims and policy proposals of the transnational justice move-
ment and single out the core ideology of the global justice movement (GJM) as
fundamental in understanding human rights advocacy. Justice globalism envisages
a global civil society with fair relationships and environmental safeguards. They
identify seven key values: transformative change, participatory democracy, equality
of access to resources and opportunities, social justice, universal rights, global soli-
darity and sustainability they feel are fundamental to the ideology of justice
globalism.

Evaluation

Human rights education is essential to maintaining democracy, equality, freedom,

and the full realization of human rights. It contributes significantly to promoting
equality, respect for human dignity, preventing discrimination and enhancing par-
ticipation in democratic processes. It reflects societal standards that need to be
learned by each generation and transferred to the next. The United Nations pro-
duced two important policy documents on human rights in 1966: The International
6 J. Zajda and Y. Vissing

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966), and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (drafted in 1954 and signed in
1966). The later declared that all humans have the rights to health, food and employ-
ment. In addition, the United Nations’ (2015) Millennium Development Goals
Report focused on poverty eradication as the greatest global challenge facing the
world, and economic rights, such as food, health, and education (United Nations,
2015). Its first goal was to ‘Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger’ (p. 14). However,
what is also missing in the discourse of human rights education is the politics of
human rights. It has to be accepted that human rights policy documents are not neu-
tral, but are inherently political in their origin, development and application
(Zajda, 2020a).
Despite the seemingly egalitarian spirit of the reforms for human rights educa-
tion, equality and social justice in education and, in view of the market forces dictat-
ing privatisation, decentralisation and marketisation in educational institutions,
ambivalent legacies of the past, and unresolved critical education and policy issues,
pertaining to social justice, continue, by and large, to remain the same, and are still
on the policy agenda (Zajda, 2015). There is a need to consider issues in human
rights and social justice with reference to all citizens globally, including indigenous
people. According to the UNICEF data, there are an estimated 300 million indige-
nous people worldwide, roughly 5% of the world’s population. Despite this signifi-
cant presence, national schooling systems have ‘ignored, minimized, or ridiculed
their histories pre- and post-Western contact, as well as their cultural contributions
toward social and environmental sustainability’ (Arenas et al., 2009).
Some researchers have argued that human rights and social justice are difficult to
achieve in a society where social inequality debate is dormant. The difficulty of
attaining social justice in the global economy was explained by Rikowski (2000),
who argued that sustainable social justice is impossible on the basis of social strati-
fication globally. The challenge we face today is one of addressing equity and fair-
ness in the global community. The full promotion of economic, social and cultural
rights will demand a deep political, social and cultural change in many nations
globally (Zajda, 2021).
The future will depend as well on our ability to make human rights education
relevant beyond the spheres of law, political institutions, or international relations.
Human rights education must be explored and understood by all active citizens,
irrespective of ideology, race, ethnicity, gender, or religion (Vissing, 2021). The
effects of globalisation compel us to address issues of democracy, economic and
social equity, the rule of law, and meaningful participation in real and authentic
decision-making process (Zajda, 2020a). In the re-envisioning of the human rights
education, as a social action platform for social justice, peace and tolerance, we
need to re-examine:
• current evidence concerning the nexus between social justice, cultural transfer-
ability and human rights
• competing and contested democracy models
• language issues in cross-cultural research, intercultural dialogue and education
1 Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights 7

• issues of race and ethnicity in the discourses surrounding regional and global
cultures
• the unresolved tensions between religion, politics, and values education
• gender research in the global culture
• citizenship education and life-long learning
• globalisation, economic and social change and the implications for equity, access
and democracy (Zajda, 2020b).

Conclusion

Effective human rights education has the potential to create a more equitable, just,
tolerant, peaceful society for all in the global culture. But it will remain a mere hol-
low policy rhetoric, or ‘magic words’, unless we debate more vigorously social,
cultural, political and economic inequality in the global culture, within the legal
framework of human rights education discourses, grounded in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and the Millennium Development Goals Report. We
need to critique the existing status quo of stratified societies and nations, neoliberal
politico-economic imperatives, repressive political systems, and forces of globalisa-
tion, which have affected all levels of society and culture, reinforcing cultural, polit-
ical, and economic social stratification. This has serious implications for a genuine
and empowering human rights education and social justice in schools in the future.
Human rights education will need to become an integral part of progressive and
critical pedagogies for social justice, equality and pluralist democracy.

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Chapter 2
Viewpoints on Human Rights
from the Global South

Greg Carroll

The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not for every man’s greed
(Schumacher, 1973, p. 29).
How we think about something makes a difference, not only at the level of theory, but in
terms of practice as well (Apple, 1992, p. 779).

 iewpoints on Human Rights from the Global

V
South: Introduction

Human Rights much like the terms Peace or Education, is something that is both
readily accessible and on examination deeply impenetrable. Other than a surface
familiarity, like the afore mentioned terms, as soon as we scratch the surface who
are we affording care to? As stated by a former British Defense Minister that though
he was a vegetarian and concerned about the ways that animals were killed, was
“curiously not concerned at all” about foreigners being killed by the weapons sup-
plied by his government in East Timor (Pilger & Munro, 1994, sec. 52:40–53:32).
It would seem we have a distance dimension to our Human Rights concerns, or to
put it another way we have a theory praxis gap with regards to Human Rights, with
the two major driving factors for the consideration of human rights (or lack thereof)
being distance and desire. The further removed from site of action the less likely for
real concern with ‘what is happening over there’, so while I can be appalled and
moved to tears by the goings on in my own community, I can blithely scroll through
my news feed at the ongoing repression being enacted by this or that junta half the
world away. Or by the destruction of a rain forest, that I have never heard of as long

G. Carroll (*)
Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 11

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_2
12 G. Carroll

as the palm oil that goes into a multitude of products I use can be obtained cheaply.
With respect to desire, it is inversely proportional to the level of concern shown at a
materials extraction/production. If I am desirous of a certain object, do I really con-
cern myself with the providence of the minerals that are needed to satisfy my desire?
The blood diamonds that make up our jewelry, or conflict minerals that provide vital
components for smartphones, I can pretend that I don’t know or don’t really care;
I have my shiny object of desire.
While the term Resource Curse provides a shorthand way of describing the mate-
rial riches of a country, it does carry with it a sense of blame the victim. The impli-
cation being it is ‘that’ countries issue, and by extension, it is ‘that’ country’s fault.
Use of the term ‘curse’ serves to deflect responsibility. The term curse hides the fact
that is the Global North that bears the responsibility for the issues of countries such
as that of Liberia and Timor-Leste. Their riches at different phases and at different
times, being Natural Rubber, Diamonds, and Oil and Gas respectively. The reality
of a bounty of natural riches, far from being a curse is more of a ‘target’.
What are the drivers of a human rights concern (or lack thereof): Globalization,
Imperialism, Colonialism? Should they be construed as different names for the
same broad phenomenon; broadly that of the exploitation of the periphery for the
benefit of those in positions of mercantile, political, theocratic or autocratic privi-
lege. Examining the human rights data with regards to Liberia and Timor-Leste
differing waves of colonialism and imperialism and their negative impacts can be
seen. Each country, rather than benefiting from the movement of international capi-
tal have in important aspects been robbed and left impoverished for the benefit of
the few, typically those in the North.
When we consider that we have had Human Rights as outlined by the United
Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) for over 70 years, one
could be forgiven for thinking that it is clearly established and known globally. That,
however, would be a mistake; while we could be said to have a long history of
“human rights” knowledge, the praxis of human rights holds a much spottier and
shorter record.
In Timor-Leste it was Indonesia who used the pretext of ‘helping out a brother’
to launch an invasion. This was no helping out a brother, the best equivalent that can
be made would be the settler colonialism of German Lebensraum. The Indonesian
invasion started on December 7th 1975, a date important to note as the then President
of Indonesia, Suharto had just finished an official two day visit from the then
President of the United States, Gerald Ford and his Secretary of State, Henry
Kissinger in which they gave Suharto the green light to invade, despite knowing that
what was being done was illegal, and that the use of American provided arms was
in contravention to the US Constitution. Essentially they asked Suharto to postpone
the invasion until Ford and Kissinger were back on American soil so that, as stated
by Kissinger, there would be “less chance of people talking in an unauthorized
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 13

way”1 The resultant human rights abuses that continued for the next 25 years
resulted in the deaths during the 1975–1999 period of between 90,800 and 202,600;
this out of a 1999 population of 823,386 (CAVR, 2005; de Acolhimento, 2008). Or
to put it another way, approximately one quarter of the population.
In Liberia it was American slave owners through the actions of the Society for
the Colonization of Free People of Color in America, who impacted the trajectory
of history in West Africa. Through the repatriation of some 15,000 freed and free-­
born African Americans and 3198 Afro-Caribbeans to the coast of West Africa
(Shick et al., 1980). It is worth being reminding that:
the West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but
rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact;
non-Westerners never do (Huntington, 2011, p. 51).

Though this is written from the perspective of the Global South the reality is that
a fundamental understanding of Human Rights does not really – functionally – exist
in either the Global South or North. The globalization of ideas has been commodi-
fied to the globalization of products their creation and flows. Where you can have
companies that start in one area of the Global North and spread pandemic wise
throughout geographically disperse countries and regions, seeking the lowest cost
of production. With respect to both Liberia and Timor-Leste, the expansion of
export cash crops, such as rubber, coffee and palm oil, being a good case in point as
none of these crops are indigenous to where they are currently being grown.
While in many respects the histories of Liberia and Timor-Leste are quite dis-
tinct; it is perhaps as a consequence of their differences that we are able to discern
common themes. The Portuguese reached the coast of what is now known as the
enclave of Oecussi sometime around the year 1515 (GOL, 2008), and around 1556
a group of Dominican Friars established a missionary in the area and started con-
verting the Timorese to Catholicism. Colonialization more formally began in 1642
with a Portuguese military expedition aimed at weakening the power of the local
Liurai (kings). It was not, however, until 1702 that the country officially became a
Portuguese colony. That said, colonial control was largely limited to the areas
around the capital Dili and as soon as you moved into the mountainous regions
above Dili the local Liurai maintained a level of control (Jannisa, 2019; Schwarz,
1994). For the Portuguese in Timor it was the sandalwood trade that provided a
source of wealth for the colonial powers, while in Liberia it was natural rubber. As
these resources dwindled, either as a commodity or as a need; Timor’s appeal
became that of land to expand into (Indonesia expansion), and its exploitation in
terms of oil and gas (Timor Gap), (Chaudhry, 2006; Sforza, 1998; Stepan, 1990;
Suter, 1993) and to a much lesser extent coffee and palm oil. For Liberia while there
continues to be a market (abet smaller) for natural rubber, the illegal diamond trade
(blood diamonds) made infamous through the trial and conviction of Liberian

1
Excerpt from declassified conversation between Suharto, Ford and Kissinger on the tarmac at
Yogyakarta: source National Security Archives: George Washington University. http://www.gwu.
edu/~nsarchiv/
14 G. Carroll

President Charles Taylor for his role in the conflict in Sierra Leone, and a growing
palm oil industry. Potentially adding to Liberia’s woes, the recent discovery of oil
and gas reserves as potential drivers for human rights abuses.
In the case of Liberia, its creation began not as an act of benevolence but rather
as a means of removing an unwanted sector of society, a sector of society that had
been given its “freedom” but whom it was feared would “stir up troubles”. Hence
The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color in America (later the
American Colonization Society (ACS)) was founded in 1816 with the express pur-
pose of encouraging and supporting the migration of Free African Americans ‘back’
to the continent of Africa. While the ACS initially received support from some abo-
litionists it was primarily slave owners who were concerned that the growing num-
ber of free African Americans would help their slaves to escape, or worse rebel
(Power-Greene, 2014; Tschan, 1923).
In both instances and though for different reasons it was indigenous forces: the
Topasses in Portuguese Timor (Jannisa, 2019, pp. 45–62) and the Liberian Frontier
Forces (Akingbade, 1994; Nevin, 2011; Rainey, 1996, 2002) responding to global-
ized pressures, in an example of Freireian logic, learned that to be powerful is to
oppress and consequently sought to oppress the mountainous regions (Timor) and
hinterland (Liberia). Liberia declared its independence in 1847, and six months later
Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a wealthy free-born Virginian African American was
elected the country’s first President and began a tradition where Americo-Liberians
constituted the ruling class and ran the country up until April 1980 when a Master
Sargent in the Armed Forces of Liberia staged a violent coup and installed himself
as the first native Liberian to assume the presidency (Samuel Doe was a member of
the ethnic Krahn group). Following the same oppressor logic, Doe’s favoritism
towards Krahn’s led to civil war and in December 1989 rebels entered from the
Ivory Coast and in less than a year Doe was captured and murdered and another
Americo-Liberian (Charles Taylor), one of the warlords who fought Doe, became
President. In deed in the history of Liberia only two presidents have not claimed or
have Americo-Liberian ancestry. Samuel Doe, an ethnic Krahn and the current pres-
ident and world famous footballer George Weah who is a member of the Kru eth-
nic group.
The history of the island of Timor is one of colonial push and pull. The whole
island of Timor was once ‘controlled by the Portuguese. Originally, they landed in
and operated out of what is now known as Oecussi at around 1515, however, com-
mercial exploitation of resources did not happen until much later, when the
Portuguese moved the main administrative center to Dili, which occurred in 1711.
The Dutch and Portuguese fought for control of the island, which was resolved in
1859 with the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon after which the island was divided into
Portuguese Timor (East Timor, Timor-Leste, in Portuguese, as it is now known, or
Timor Lorosae, in the main indigenous language Tetum) and Dutch Timor until
1949 and then after as Indonesian Timor or West Timor, (Timor Barat in Indonesian).
The Portuguese essentially walked away from their colonial outpost in 1975 as a
result of their own Carnation Revolution on April 25 1974. The Timorese declared
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 15

independence from Portugal on November 28th 1975 and as stated earlier was
invaded 9 days later by Indonesia.
Both counties have had periods of conflict and attendant human rights abuses and
in an effort to confront their past and move to a just and equitable post-conflict
future they have enacted Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs). TRC’s
have a relatively long and (in a number of celebrated cases successful) history.2
Timor-Leste’s, Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR,
2005) report titled Chega! Meaning stop or enough in Portuguese covered the years
from 1974 to 1999 and delivered its report in 2005. The Liberian Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (http://www.trcofliberia.org/reports/final-­report.html)
or TRC covered the years 1979–2003, with the final report released in July of 2009.
In both cases the recommendations of the respective commissions have not been
meaningfully enacted upon. In deed most of the main actors in both countries con-
tinue to enjoy impunity and in numerous cases subsequently or continue to hold
positions of power within the governments of Timor-Leste, Indonesia and Liberia
(Drexler, 2010; Weah, 2012). It should be remembered that in Liberia, President
Charles Taylor was prosecuted and found guilty not for anything he did in Liberia.
This despite the TRC report finding that he and his warlords and subsequent govern-
ment were responsible for approximately 40% of all deaths during Liberia’s civil
wars. Taylor was prosecuted, found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison for
prolonging and profiting from the conflict in Sierra Leone, though his participation
in the Blood Diamond Trade (Keith, 2012; Marchuk, 2009) The same, however,
could not be said for his son Charles “Chuckie” Taylor Jnr. Chuckie has the distinc-
tion of being the only American citizen (he was born in Worcester, MA) to have
been tried and convicted of war crimes. He is currently serving a 99 year sentence
at a SuperMax prison in Pensacola Florida for his part in leading his fathers ‘Anti-­
Terror Unit’ – also known as the Small Boys Unit, for its use of child soldiers
(Brownlee, 2010; Keppler et al., 2008).
The summary of findings from the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation commis-
sion report state:
The conflict in Liberia has its origin in the history and founding of the modern Liberian
State. 2. The major root causes of the conflict are attributable to poverty, greed, corruption,
limited access to education, economic, social, civil and political inequalities; identity con-
flict, land tenure and distribution, etc. 3. All factions to the Liberian conflict committed, and
are responsible for the commission of egregious domestic law violations, and violations of
international criminal law, international human rights law and international humanitarian
law, including war crimes violations. 4. All factions engaged in armed conflict, violated,
degraded, abused and denigrated, committed sexual and gender based violence against
women including rape, sexual slavery, forced marriages, and other dehumanizing forms of
violations (TRC Liberia 2008).

2
The United States Institute of Peace maintains a comprehensive list of Truth Commissions and
Commissions of Inquiry: see https://www.usip.org/publications/2011/03/truth-commission-digital-
collection
16 G. Carroll

So other than the Taylors, where are the prosecutions? Even though there were
clearly documented cases of Human Rights abuses virtually all main offenders were
not tried. In the case Joshua Milton Blahyi, who during the first Liberian Civil war
went by the nom de guerre, General Butt Naked, was not recommended for prosecu-
tion despite confessing under oath to the TRC that he was responsible for the death
of not less than 20,000 persons (Weah, 2012).
With respect to Timor-Leste, Human Rights abuses were a factor from the earli-
est days of Portuguese engagement with Timor:
Portugal forcibly introduced cash crops such as coffee to Timor and sought to consolidate
its colonial administration through the imposition of taxes and forced labour, resulting in a
series of revolts by Timorese. The colonial tactic of divide and rule was used to divide and
weaken traditional leadership of the Timorese (CAVR, 2005, sec. 3.2.8).

The Commission [CAVR] identified three important impacts of the Portuguese

colonisation of Timor-Leste. First, the colonisers’ tactics of playing social groups
against each other kept indigenous political alliances weak. This restricted develop-
ment of the unity that is required for nation building. Second, no self-governing
tradition was developed. Most East Timorese existed in subjugation to a feudal sys-
tem. Third, the Portuguese colonial regime did not develop or institutionalise demo-
cratic and human rights values, though traditional cultural values already existed
and the Church inculcated religious values. Thus the political activity that emerged
in 1974–75 was subject to extensive distortion and manipulation …These factors all
contributed to Indonesia being able to invade Timor-Leste in 1975 with minimal
international protest. (CAVR, 2005, sec. 3.2.11).
In treatment of those in the global south the Portuguese viewed the Timorese as
objects and in deed access to education during the Portuguese period was limited
with only some of the children of the Liurai (local kings) gaining limited access to
elementary education. The aim of which was to impress on the Timorese that they
were lucky to have their colonial masters; “the influences which educate some into
masters, educate others into slaves” (Dewey, 1916, p. 84). Further during Indonesian
occupation where the Portuguese language was banned as the language of the resis-
tance group Fretilin and Bahasa – the Indonesian language was taught and expected
despite there being no heritage of the language previously in East Timor. We had
“the explicit use of education as a propaganda tool, rather than to meet basic learn-
ing needs, [which] restricted children’s development and future opportunities”
(CAVR, 2004, 07.9–3). Education, rather than being used as a means to develop
potential was instead used for other less noble ends.
The Commission’s [CARV’s] own research and secondary sources show that for years at a
time, children in the camps received either no education at all or a thoroughly inadequate
one. In internment camps in Lautem and Liquiça Districts, there were no schools at all from
the time of the invasion until 1982–83. In another camp, at Uma Metan (Alas, Manufahi),
the military set up a “school”, that was ostensibly for the teaching of Indonesian but in fact
became a notorious rape centre (CAVR, 2004, 07.9–22).

So with respect to development while next to nothing was done during the hun-
dreds of years of Portuguese colonial rule, what Nobel Peace Prize winner, and
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 17

former President and Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos Horta described
as ‘benign neglect’. The situation was arguably different during Indonesian occupa-
tion, rather than development it was more akin to Hitler’s use of the Autobahn, in
that it provided the ability to swiftly move troops to carry out Anschluss or union
with Austria at the beginning of World War II. While there were very few paved
roads during the Portuguese era (largely confined to the main roads in the capital
Dili) the Indonesians did build paved roads, though it was only the infrastructure of
occupation. The road between the main centers of Dili and Baucau was only slightly
wider than the width of one troop carrier, (troops only need to travel quickly in one
direction).
there is merit to the claim that Indonesia implemented programmes that led to development
in the territory in this period. However, a close assessment of these programmes indicates
that there was an emphasis on the infrastructure of occupation, particularly road construc-
tion and administration buildings (CAVR, 2004, 03-108-9).

As a result, when Indonesia were forced to leave Timor-Leste after losing their
attempts to intimidate the Timorese into voting for special autonomy in the UN
sponsored independence vote (August 30, 1999), the Indonesian Military (Tentara
Nasional Indonesia, or TNI) enacted a scorched earth campaign to take anything of
value back to Jakarta or to burn down or blow up what they couldn’t remove.
While much as been written about the impact of Globalization as if it was a
somewhat recent phenomenon, I would argue (Carroll, 2014), as have others (Amin-­
Khan, 2012; Appadurai, 1996; Beck, 2000; Burbules, 2000; Chilcote, 2002;
Chossudovsky, 1997; Deckard, 2009; Holton, 1998; James & Steger, 2021; Jomo,
2001; Martin, 2018; Pangestu, 2001; Waters, 1995) that in many respects there is
nothing new about globalization, the differences are of degree not kind. Where once
information flow traveled at the speed of a square rigger and took months to years
to be disseminated, today information and capital can be transmitted almost instan-
taneously around the globe.
Another way to frame both the histories of Liberia and Timor-Leste would be
that regions that fall into the categories of distance and desire fail to register human
rights concerns and further as stated by Veltmeyer:
both development and globalization can be understood as imperialism – as different facts of
the same dynamics arising out of a project of world domination and longstanding efforts of
the united states to establish its hegemony (2005, p. 89).

While the US does bear responsibility, it is only a part of the global hegemon;
global capital, being the driving force and enabling (promoting/pushing) multina-
tional companies into new frontiers, Columbus-like in the search for riches. In the
case of Liberia this harks back to the 99 year lease given to Firestone Natural Rubber
Corporation in 1926 for one million acres (anywhere of the companies choosing)
for 6 cents an acre. This was on top of a $5 million US loan given in exchange for
complete authority over the Government of Liberia’s revenues until the loan was
repaid. The loan was finally repaid in 1952 with the effective interest rate of 17%
(Rosenau et al., 2009, p. 17).
18 G. Carroll

Natural resources have driven human rights concerns around the globe and natu-
ral resources have played such a role (and continue to do so) in both Timor-Leste
and Liberia. Originally it was sandalwood in Timor (Jannisa, 2019) and natural rub-
ber in the case of Liberia (Dalton, 1965; Mower, 1947). The more recent driver
being oil and gas in the case of Timor-Leste and the willingness of Western govern-
ments (in particular Australia) to be bought off by Indonesia with their excising part
of the Timorese continental shelf (Chaudhry, 2006; Stepan, 1990), recently it has
been coffee (Grenfell, 2005; Khamis, 2015). While in Liberia it was blood dia-
monds (Ellis, 1999; Marchuk, 2009; Orogun, 2003), and now for both it is the
extremely lucrative and environmentally destructive Palm Oil Industry (Evans &
Griffiths, 2013; Gilfoy, 2015). Control and profit from these resources has shaped
the ground on which the peoples of both countries have benefited, though largely
denied the fruits of their own lands, while multinational companies have made (and
continue to make) trillions of dollars.
From the earliest of times a (the) major driving force for exploration has been the
discovery of riches; be they knowledge or resources. From the time of the
Conquistadors to today it is the drive for riches that have motivated North South
interactions and though it has been given different names development or aid the
reality is that global flows have predominately been in one direction and have ben-
efitted only a select few. Yes, these flows speciate when they arrive at new locations,
that said, the flow of capital tends to be more of a one-way street with the driving
force primarily the fetishizing of wants over needs.
Globalization … [is] a cover term for a world of disjunctive flows – [that] produces prob-
lems that manifest themselves in intensely local forms but have contexts that are anything
but local (Appadurai, 2000, p. 6).

It is therefore useful to think about globalization, rather than a single or mono-

lithic entity but rather to think of it as a flow of ideas and the engine of these ideas
being capital. In this respect it is hardly surprising that the major battle fields for
these ideas happens in the realm of compulsory and post-compulsory education. It
is in this area that we can see the creation of fictions the recent US Republican
party’s preoccupation with ‘the big lie’ of election fraud or the attack on the
New York Times 1619 Project’s as “the politically correct editors of the debunked
1619 Project” (Cotton, 2020). In other words the control of ideas or in the dictum of
Francis Bacon “knowledge itself is power”, it is also the control over the production
of knowledge and what is considered as valuable, the “market place of ideas” that
we see the expropriation of labour and resources from the global south. The ques-
tion that needs to be asked if globalization is spreading knowledge, what else is it
spreading; and at what cost. “I know what modern capital does to poor and colored
peoples. I know what European imperialism has done to Asia and Africa” (Du Bois,
1933, p. 684).
Long before the term Globalization was coined by Theodore Levitt in a 1983
Harvard Business Review, Liberia was facing the negative effects of globalization
in its dealings with the United States and its attempts to avoid colonization by
France and Britain. It would seem that we cannot really separate globalization from
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 19

colonialism, nor can we separate these phenomena from Human Rights abuses.
Today the ubiquitous reach of Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT’s) can result in an event being broadcast worldwide instantaneously. It is
important that in seeking to understand the nexus between ICTs and global capital
we are hopefully beginning to see a lessening of the impact of distance if not
of desire.
Does there need to be a stronger body that oversees the movement of global capi-
tal, is there a mechanism that can provide teeth to already existing bodies? We do
have the organizations, the World Court, the United Nations, but until all partici-
pants are equal we are faced with the rule of the few outweighing the safety of the
many. The current retreat to tribalism and nativism, as evidenced by the recently
completed Brexit fiasco, or the Trump presidency’s stoking fears of migrants on the
boarder. By design or default, out of sight is to a large extent out of mind, for the
general population and while this has primarily been the case for the histories of
Liberia and Timor-Leste, we do well to remember that directly and indirectly the
North has benefited from them:
The local Firestone bank was to act as financial agent. The loan charges, including interest
on the bonds, amortization expenses, and salaries of fiscal officers, in 1928 absorbed 20
percent of the total revenue of Liberia; in 1929, 26 percent; in 1930, 32 percent; in 1931,
54.9 percent; and for 1932, according to an official statement, “nearly the whole revenue
intake of the government” (Du Bois, 1933 pp. 685–6).

With respect to the development of rubber tree growth, harvesting, and the profits
to be made:
it will take about five years for the whole plantation to reach its full output. If the crop is
estimated at 400 pounds per acre, the exports will amount to about 9,000 tons. The price of
rubber at New York is at present about 5 ½ cents per pound. But even assuming a price of
20 cents per pound? which in present circumstances seems impossible to attain in five
years? the crop would fetch $4,032,000, of which the Liberian Republic would receive 1
percent, or $40,320. In addition, Firestone pays a rental of 6 cents per acre, which gives
$3,000. The Republic of Liberia thus receives from Firestone $43,320, an amount which is
not sufficient even to pay the official responsible for the service of the loan, $53,650. If the
contributions to be paid by Firestone are reckoned on the basis of the present price of 5 1/2
cents per pound for rubber, the amount is only $13,188 instead of $43,320 (Du Bois, 1933
p. 690).

Given this reality, while Firestone and the US government were profiting, the
Government and peoples of Liberia were paying for the privilege of being exploited.
If the notion that globalization is the flow of ideas and capital then the flows are all
in one direction.
While Du Bois clearly saw that it was not just the Global North that was at fault
the underlying theme is as relevant today as it was when DuBois wrote, that of
White Supremacy.
Liberia is not faultless. She lacks training, experience and thrift. But her chief crime is to be
black and poor in a rich, white world; and in precisely that portion of the world where color
is ruthlessly exploited as a foundation for American and European wealth. The success of
Liberia as a Negro republic would be a blow to the whole colonial slave labor system (Du
Bois, 1933 p. 695).
20 G. Carroll

So while Human Rights as an abstract concept is something that we can all

broadly support, the competing claim of western white male hegemony still has the
power to block our moral growth. We are currently in a battle, and yes that term is
appropriate. Anybody who witnessed (and we all did) the white angry mob that was
happy to attack their ‘blue lives matter’ brothers on January 6th 2021, in an attempt
to subvert democracy, should be in no illusion about the power of toxicity white
masculinity.
Human rights is (or should be) a fairly straight forward concept. We all feel com-
fortable with some level of concern/consideration for others. The issue becomes
when the “other” is far removed from us or if we are in direct competition for
resources. Liberia and Timor-Leste are just two cases that highlight the challenges
to a functional human rights for all; distance and desire. In these cases the othering,
mental gymnastics that we go through to rationalize that ‘those’ people aren’t really
worthy of concern, being inferior. A further case in point being the ongoing refugee
crisis that the world has been part of; and will only get worse as climate change
displaces more and more of the human population. Though according to the 1951
Refugee convention and its 1967 Protocol, climate refugees are not eligible for
“consideration” under this convention and protocol, however, “by 2050 the number
of climate change refugees may dwarf the number of traditional refugees—that is,
those entitled to protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967
Protocol” (Docherty & Giannini, 2009, p. 349).
On one hand we can say that Human Rights is an easily understood concept, its
praxis on the ground is something else. In virtually all our dealings around the
globe, particularly with capital markets, the aim of said markets is to achieve a com-
petitive advantage. In all areas the aim is to minimize costs and maximize profits.
Such a move should really be seen as a race to the bottom. Back to distance and
desire, the further away the less concern, the greater the desire the more willing not
to see. The automotive industry in North America is a perfect case in point, the push
for fuel efficiency standards should have been an easy sell. More fuel efficient cars
and trucks, however, means less profits for the oil industry, therefore anything that
could potentially harm corporate America’s bottom line is to be attacked. It is not as
if we haven’t known. Increases in Carbon Dioxide “attributable to … agricultural,
industrial and domestic activities” were noted in the 1960s in the scientific journal
Tellus (Keeling, 1960, p. 201). We can however go back even further to a Swedish
scientist, Nobel Prize winner and founder of Physical Chemistry, Svante August
Arrhenius who published his findings on the ‘influence of carbonic acid in the air
upon temperatures on the ground (Arrhenius, 1896). It is not as if we haven’t been
warned, it is a matter that we have constantly been fed a steady diet of distraction
and misinformation, by those who stand to benefit in the short term and damn the
consequences to our children and grandchildren.
The current Corona virus pandemic is another chance to learn – or willfully let
ourselves be deceived. While there are those that can claim “I don’t see it” or “I
don’t believe” with respect to climate change, doing the same with the current pan-
demic can and all too frequently does have more immediate deleterious repercus-
sions. With respect to pandemics, in a globalized world the ability to maintain a
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 21

distance stance breaks down. The global flow of goods, services and travel mean
that a virus that jumps the species barrier (as has been confirmed the case with the
2014 Ebola outbreak Castillo-Chavez et al., 2015) can and does spread far too eas-
ily. Should we care that patient zero was a two year old boy who ate bush meat?
Should we be concerned that at the start of the Ebola crisis Liberia only had 57 doc-
tors in the whole country (Baize et al., 2014)? The same cannot be said with regards
to Covid-19; for the purposes of my argument it is irrelevant the providence of the
virus. It started at a large population center that is intimately connected to the world
through goods, services and travel, the consequences have and continue to be dev-
astating. This pandemic provides the perfect example of how using distance and
desire to deny Human Rights concerns ultimately doesn’t work and that the denial
of human rights for some, challenges my own personal human rights.
Taking a line from Tandon:
At the end of the day, we need a truly heterogeneous, pluralistic global society that is based
on the shared values of our civilisation, and the shared fruits of the historical development
of the productive forces of science, technology and human ingenuity. Only on this basis can
we build a global society that is free from want, exploitation, insecurity and injustice (2008,
p. 133).

The question remains will we as a species be willing to place some limits on our
behavior for the benefit of all? Or do we remain trapped in the ‘tragedy of the
commons’(Hardin, 1968). While a heterogeneous, pluralistic global society based
on shared values would go a long way towards creating a just community of nations,
creating an awareness of the need does not equate to generating actions on the
ground. So while we can optimistically talk about what shifts are needed, the reality
as pointed out long before by Niebuhr is that:
Most of the social scientists are such unqualified rationalists that they seem to imagine that
men of power will immediately check their exactions and pretensions in society, as soon as
they have been apprised by the social scientists that their action and attitudes are anti-social
(Niebuhr, 1960, p. xviii).

As long as there are riches to be made and frameworks to be exploited there will
always be men (as yes, it is typically/mostly men) who believe that it is their right
to take. Though Niebuhr wrote Moral Man and Immoral Society: a study in ethics
and politics prior to World War II, the productive forces and communication he
spoke of bear no resemblance to the marvels of communication technology we take
for granted today. His challenge, however, remains the same, that as a species we
have developed commerce to even greater heights, heights that have created greater
interdependence, yet we still have not been able to generate the same level of con-
cern for each other.
While rapid means of communication have increased the breadth of knowledge about world
affairs among citizens of various nations, and the general advance of education has ostensi-
bly promoted the capacity to think rationally and justly upon the inevitable conflicts of
interest between nations, there is nevertheless little hope of arriving at a perceptible increase
of international morality through the growth of intelligence and the perfection of means of
communication. The development of international commerce, the increased economic
interdependence among nations and the whole apparatus of a technological civilisation,
22 G. Carroll

increase the problems and issues between nations much more rapidly than the intelligence
to solve them can be created (Niebuhr, 1960, p. 85).

There is no question, human rights are, in many senses simple and straight for-
ward. It is as Niebuhr contends a lack of intellect, though I would add there also a
willingness to place personal desires above that of others. In a globalized world we
have globalized the wants of the few over the globalized needs of the many. Being
admitted to the “human” club affords you status and privilege. Yet we still denial
access, in the 1930s it was the Jews, Roma, Homosexuals, Africans, who were
deemed not “fully” human enough or defective so as to not warrant care. We learned
(did we really) at our peril the costs of such denial. If we are to buy the Enlightenment
Project, where is the progress? In many parts of the world today we are still seeing
a rise in tribalism and an “othering”, a blaming and exploitation. It doesn’t matter if
there are sweatshops in the south or if the Uighurs are picking cotton for us in
China. It is the Industrial complex that creates producers and consumers. Being
admitted into the consumer class grants you greater access to Human Rights. This
therefore is the problem, the crisis is with the Western Consumer class.
One would assume that experiencing oppression or witnessing it would prompt
a reflective attitude towards power differentials and a desire to change the dynamic,
instead it runs into the distance desire dilemma. The dynamic doesn’t change, it
flips. In a world where to be powerful is to exploit, the lessons learned have more to
do with the pursuit of power to oppress, not as Freire would put it – humanization
(1993). If Globalization has a silver lining it is that the current treatment of systems
/ regions of the world as less than or less worthy of concern, has been laid bare as a
morally bankrupt frame of reference, long has the West viewed the rest as not wor-
thy of concern, it was over there and as long as I have my goods and services then
what is the worry. Such a blasé attitude highlights Niebuhr’s point about our lack of
intellectual growth. While it is perhaps too much to hope for an expansion of our
moral thinking, Climate Change and the Covide-19 pandemic can and should be a
wakeup call for us all. While I might not care, for ‘them’, if I care for myself then I
am forced to care for them. While this might not be the great moral awakening that
Niebuhr had hoped for, it is at least a start. Regardless of my motivation, these catas-
trophes not only signify a need for consideration for all, they highlight the self-­
defeating nature of the conservative right-wing backlash. Denial of Human Rights
in the Global South or a ‘it’s not my concern’ may provide a comforting fairytales.
Falsely believing that the Global North is inoculated by geography or wealth, from
‘those’ people and ‘their’ troubles. Climate Change and Covid-19 provide the
inconvenient truth that the world is a system and we can’t build walls high enough
to protect those who deny the fundamental humanity of all. In a futile attempt at
convincing ourselves that it isn’t our crisis or that it is our right to continue a global-
ization of wants, at the expense of those who only seek a globalization of needs. The
fundamental truth, however we get there, is that we are all sisters and brothers and
we can either choose to live together as a common family for all, or we can die as
fools, and it will not be from old age.
2 Viewpoints on Human Rights from the Global South 23

There have been concerted efforts to in both Timor-Leste and Liberia to recover
from their conflict histories, and build a framework for human rights considerations,
however, the failure of their Truth and Reconciliation efforts are not totally of their
own making. In both instances the geo-political forces seem assured that account-
ability is never reached. While Timor-Leste had the added impetus of seeking to
reach the Millennium Development Goals, the reality of coming late to the party
and the United Nations desire to proclaim early victory hides a darker truth:
Timor Leste and the international community both need to be commended on the efforts
that they have put into pushing the development of the world’s newest democracy and to the
promotion of the human values inherent in the Millennium Development Goals, however,
unless the terms of reference for the Millennium Development Goals are broadened to
include a major focus on the section of the population in the 15 to 35 year bracket then his-
tory will look back on the Millennium Development Goals not as an enlightened piece of
international public policy but rather a cynical numbers counting exercise that enabled
those in the more developed countries to assuage their guilt over the plight of so many in
the lesser developed world (Carroll & Kupczyk-Romanczuk, 2007, p. 80).

We still have a ways to go, taken within the context of globalization, colonialism
and imperialism set the seeds for corruption, and for a disregard to human rights.
When what is seen in the global south is a disregard for life and that the notion of
justice is a rich man’s justice then following Freire, to be powerful is to be like and
to be like is to oppress (1993). Is it any wonder that in the dynamic where riches are
being made but little of it stays, supports or develops the local of where it is gener-
ated; the so-called ‘resource curse’(Davis & Tilton, 2005; Frankel, 2011; Tiba &
Frikha, 2019). How do we balance the “globalization of wants” with a countries
own internal needs; more broadly how to we achieve a “globalization of needs” how
do we pay reparations to those of the global south who have enriched those in the
global north and how do we move beyond a globalization of wants, and live com-
fortably within a globalization of needs.
Our current consumer society like the processes of globalization are nothing
new, these tendencies have always been in evidence. What is new is the degree, what
took months and years for new ideas and technology to spread now happens almost
instantaneously. That connection comes at a price; the need for raw materials has
fueled industries and what were once out of sight/out of mind are now more easily
brought to the world’s attention. It would seem though in many cases, as a general
statement, the world doesn’t really care. There are still many places in the world
were big business can operate largely out of sight and mind. The original natural
rubber plantations in Liberia were (and still are) to be found in Harbel, Margibi
county, now a short drive from the Robertsfield International Airport. The same
can’t be said for the Palm Oil plantations found in the counties of Sinoe, Grand Kru,
Maryland and River Gee. There is no direct route from the capital city of Monroiva
to any of these counties and the travel typically takes days (in the dry season) and
impossible during the wet. The only reliable access is via light plane or access
through the ports of Greenville and Harper (in the counties of Sinoe and Maryland
respectively). Though the main worldwide production of Palm Oil takes place in
Indonesia and Malaysia, with the demand for Palm Oil set to double by 2030 and
24 G. Carroll

triple by 2050 it is easy to see that this demand for cash crops will increase the bur-
den on impoverished countries such as Liberia and the demand for greater acreage,
currently at 500,000 acres3 will only increase.

Conclusion

While there will always be a demand for cheap raw materials and labor, there will
also be a tendency to ‘cut corners’ and as we have seen around the world (and not
just Liberia and Timor-Leste), the more remote those locations, the more likely are
the systems rife with abuse. In deed it will not be until consumers and markets truly
see the world as one system, where my cheap consumer goods or products are the
cause of somebody else’s misery. Moving forwards we are situated in a global com-
munity that while aware of the finite nature of our globe and with the increasing
spread and saturation of ICT’s the ability to connect with almost anybody on the
planet, at any time, in an instant. Being an optimist I would like to think that one of
the lessons we can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic is that there is no us and them
there is only us. There is no other, we do not live on an island, and despite some of
our lesser-politicians, we can either choose to live together as one or die separately
as fools.

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Chapter 3
Historical, Contemporary, and Future
Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation,
Human Rights, and Education

Andrew Swindell and Joseph Wright

Globalisation and Human Rights

Theodore Levitt, a former Harvard Business School professor, is widely credited as

the first to use the term ‘globalisation’ in 1985, which at the time, he used to describe
a mostly economic phenomena regarding increasingly interconnected global mar-
kets and finance institutions (Stromquist, 2002). However, according to the Oxford
dictionary, the word ‘globalisation’ was already employed in 1930. The term was
widely used by economists and sociologists in the 1960s. Furthermore, Marhall
McLuhan, a Canadian professor of English at the University of Toronto, who anal-
ysed the media and introduced the term the ‘medium is the message’, also coined
the term ‘global village’ (Zajda & Majhanovich, 2021). Since then, the term has
come to have a variety of meanings, stretching beyond economics, to include social,
cultural, political and environmental realms of society to name a few. There is no
universally agreed upon singular definition of globalisation while its usage has
become popular everywhere from informal conversations to academic debate. Given
this wide range of uses and meanings, it is beyond the scope of this chapter to devote
time to all of these definitions. Instead, we briefly distinguish one conceptualization
of globalisation as a multidirectional process and situate it over time in order to
frame further discussion of human rights and education.
One of the most cited definitions put forth by Held et al. (1999) who argue that
globalisation does not float alone in the ether, but rather can be understood as a set
of multidirectional processes that increasingly and unevenly connect people, places,
and societies together at a global scale. Held et al. (1999) further argue that the
specific processes that account for these interconnections include a stretching of
social relations across space, an intensification of multilateral and multicontinental

A. Swindell · J. Wright (*)

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 29

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_3
30 A. Swindell and J. Wright

flows and networks of interaction, the increasing interpenetration of economic and

social practices, and finally the emergence of a global institutional infrastructure.
Within this framing, globalisation is not a singular and always increasing phenom-
ena but rather a set of processes that can increase or decrease, occur from multiple
directions simultaneously, and have implications on how global, national, and local
social, cultural, economic, and political power and norms arise and change over time.
To help distinguish how scholars assess the direction and impact these processes,
Held et al. (1999) describe three broad categories of globalisation: (1) the hyperglo-
balists whose argument is rooted in economics and perhaps closest to the colloquial
use of globalisation, where global trade and interconnectedness is resulting in the
world moving towards one unified political, economic, and even cultural system
where nation-states and the local become significantly less important than the new
global order (2), the skeptics who use strong, and perhaps underestimated, national
and regional based economic activity to argue essentially the opposite and view
nation-states and smaller regions as still the most important political, economic, and
cultural actors, and (3) the transformationalists who accept that globalization is the
dominant political, economic, and cultural ‘force’, though the “direction of this
‘shake-out’ remains uncertain, since globalization is conceived as an essentially
contingent historical process” (Held et al., 1999, p. 7). In other words, this uncertain
“shake-out” is exhibited by how global powerhouses like the United States (US),
China, India, and European Union (EU) rise and fall in terms of the power they exert
over other countries, people, and societies, and the transformationalists’ perspective
helps see these as continually in flux and the resulting direction from which power
is exerted as unclear and unpredictable.
The second element of globalisation that requires attention is time. It is tempting
to be biased by recent history alone and consider globalisation a new phenomenon
that has come to exist only with the advent of technologies like the internet or air
travel. However, we argue that from the broad perspective where globalisation is
ultimately just a set of processes related to connecting people and societies at a
global scale, globalisation has in fact been happening for thousands of years and
more importantly, changes hands in terms of where power rests. In other words,
countries, societies, and civilizations rise and fall, and so too does their influence on
these globalising processes. The ancient silk road is often considered one of the first
examples of economic and social globalisation given the multi-continental distance
it covered and the effects it had on increasing global connections and trade. Beyond
the economic impact, even the maps and literature that were exchanged in these
ancient times can be considered a type of globalisation given the effect they have on
spreading ideas that shaped transcontinental culture, society, and markets. After the
silk road established a tangible connection between people in distant places, and
perhaps more importantly a hunger for more, more distinctive eras of globalisation
became apparent, particularly with the advent of specific technologies. Oceanic
exploration during the fifteenth to eighteenth century was characterized by European
colonialism (e.g. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal) which was followed by the indus-
trial revolution in the nineteenth century (globalisation 1.0, power concentrated in
Britain and France), post-World War II global institutions and air travel
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 31

(globalisation 2.0, power concentrated in USSR and USA), the rapid increase
brought about by the internet in the 1990s–2000s (globalisation 3.0, power concen-
trated in USA, EU), the rise of China and social media companies (globalisation
4.0, power concentrated in China, EU, USA), and the current pandemi era we find
ourselves in now (globalisation 5.0) (Gao, 2018; Vanham, 2019). While this chapter
primarily focuses on the process of globalisation since the 1940s, this analysis is
important in that it places globalisation in historical context and illuminates the
changing nature of where power to impact globalising processes is held and exerted
changes (e.g. a shift from the US in globalisation 3.0 to China in 4.0). This changing
nature of power within globalisation has significant impacts on the intersection of
the future of education, human rights, and globalisation. These eras are summarized
in Table 3.1 below.

Human Rights

McCorquodale and Fairbrother (1999) suggest that, “human rights are both a part of
globalisation and separate from globalisation” (p. 740). Globalisation and human
rights share this dynamic relationship, which becomes important for tracing the
intersections and evolution of the two—especially as we think about directions for
the future. Human rights have strong roots in globalisation 2.0 as is exhibited by the
post World-War II creation of global political institutions like that United Nations
(UN), as well as the establishment of global social and political norms like the 1948
UN declaration of human rights that provides the foundation of human rights dis-
course to this day; however, one should not read the subsequent eras of globalisation
as progressive or inevitable. Events like the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic or the
rise of populism and nationalism from 2016 and into the early 2020s suggest that
economic, social, and political globalisation can retract and shift, and so can the
promotion and acceptance of human rights. However, reaching a comprehensive
understanding of this dynamic interplay between rights and globalisation remains
elusive and complex. This chapter is one attempt to begin dissecting these dynam-
ics, especially as we think about possible future directions of education. Even in the
face of ambiguity about these nuances, one thing is clear—certain elements of glo-
balisation are not neutral in regards to human rights. Military conflict, economic
exploitation, and environmental degradation are just a few examples of how certain
elements of globalisation lack any awareness of human rights and the current con-
ceptualisation of our basic social contract as global citizens often places economics
above most social and cultural responsibility (Polanyi, 2001).
In regards to education, globalisation, and human rights, there are three main
questions raised in this chapter (1) Who enforces human rights such as education?
(2) Who defines what are the minimum standards of human rights such as educa-
tion? and (3) What role can education play in shaping the dynamic between rights
and globalisation as we look to the future? The rest of this chapter will be spent
 32

Table 3.1 Eras of globalisation (Gao, 2018; Vanham, 2019)

Ancient Silk European Globalisation Globalisation Globalisation Globalisation Globalisation
Era Road Colonialism 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Time 200 BCE– 1400s–1700s 1800s–1945 1945–1989 1989–2010 2010–2020 2020–?
1400s
Leading N/A Portugal, Spain, France, Britain, France USA and USSR USA China, EU, USA ?
Countries Britain, Belgium
Influence Land Trade Oceanic Exploration Industrial Revolution, UN, Air Travel, Internet, Social Media, Pandemic
Train and Ships Shipping Containers NAFTA Big Data
A. Swindell and J. Wright
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 33

exploring the first two questions before attempting to address the last question in the
conclusion.

Accountability and Remedy

The lack of accountability and remedy for human rights violations has always been
a significant criticism of a rights paradigm, and the right to education is no excep-
tion (Brysk, 2002). While human rights treaties are often articulated at the multi-­
national level, very few are enforced at the same. Rather, most international human
rights treaties require national incorporation, which is the lynchpin for realising
human rights at the personal level (Kilkelly, 2019). Incorporation is contextually
driven and as such, comes in various forms including direct, where the treaty
becomes part of national law; indirect, where there are some legal obligations which
encourage incorporation; partial, where aspects of the human rights treaty are incor-
porated into law; and full, where the human rights treaty becomes national law
(Hoffman & Stern, 2020). One question that remains to be answered is the degree to
which globalisation has influenced these various incorporation processes. Given
that incorporation is a state level decision, it might suggest that globalisation plays
less of a role in shaping human rights treaty incorporation, with domestic politics
playing a more prominent role. For example, while the US has ratified some UN
treaties and declarations that call for a right to education, they have failed to incor-
porate a right to education at the national level (Robinson, 2019).
However, one cannot ignore the reality that increasingly universal social norms
surrounding human rights, tolerance, and justice do play an important role in pro-
viding political and social pressure both within and across countries (Brysk, 2002).
Globalisation complements and at times can exacerbate this political and social
pressure by providing a much larger sense of rights and duties. The 2020 social
justice movements that began with the murder of George Floyd went global at a
scale that is hard to comprehend without grasping the global impact of technology
like social media that allows people on every continent to instantaneously share and
consume the same information. The time-space compression that has come about
with these technologies and a part of every era of globalisation may indeed play a
key role in helping to provide some level of accountability and remedy. But one can
hardly build a legal system of rights around social and political pressure—legal
systems of remedy are not needed by the majority. The test of a rights effectiveness
is based on how minorities are treated. In the case of education, this largely falls
under the principles of quality and inclusion.
34 A. Swindell and J. Wright

 uality and Inclusive Education from a Human

Q
Rights Perspective

While there stands a human right to education and a concerted global effort has been
made to bring it about, what is less clear is what counts as “education” and for
whom. These questions were raised with the Education for All (EFA) framework in
1990 and later with the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) in 2000 in which a call for all children to receive a primary education was
largely realised (United Nations, 1990, 2000, 2015a). Yet evidence suggests that the
quality of that education was mediocre, especially for the most vulnerable. The
2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attempted to rectify this by calling
for “quality education” and setting proficiency standards (United Nations, 2015b).
What has become increasingly normalized within the SDGs call for a “right to
education” is to talk of a right to quality education. This shift has been matched by
data systems and tracking that seek to add elements of quality, like relevance and
linking education to specific career related skills, into monitoring and evaluation of
primary and secondary education systems globally. This helpful shift in parlance
has signaled a new social acceptance and awareness that a right to education has to
have a qualitative element to it for that right to be realized. One cannot separate this
helpful advancement of the right of education from social and political pressure
within and amongst countries as related to socio-political globalisation, which
played some role in advancing these norms. However, this still leaves a major ques-
tion, regardless if a country or global institutions like UNESCO accepts this wide
definition of a right to education, what legal remedies and accountability does a
person have to ensure that they can access education that is of high quality and rel-
evant to their unique local and global context. As suggested previously, this is espe-
cially important for minority and vulnerable groups such as students with
disabilities.
In addition to quality, inclusive education for all is also uniquely tied to globali-
sation and human rights. By definition, human rights should be inclusive, in that
they are accessible by all persons without discrimination (United Nations, 1948).
However, here, like with accountability and remedy, we see that expectations are far
from realized. Inclusive education continues to be a struggle for many individuals to
realize and for the system to deliver—especially in the cases of the most marginal-
ized groups who experience issues like segregation, education delivered in a second
or third language, and outright discrimination. This brings into question the effec-
tiveness of human rights as a mechanism for ensuring equal access to education.
However, in recent eras of increasing globalisation, while incorporation and remedy
are far from realized, shifting norms around inclusive education have seen progress.
Calls for inclusive education have found their way into several documents including
the SDGs and increasingly are finding their way into data systems and budgets. Like
quality education, inclusive education is also benefiting from the increasingly glo-
balised norms around a right for education for all.
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 35

The Nexus of Education

Accountability and remedy, as well as quality and inclusive education are unique
challenges that face the human right to education in an ever increasingly globalised
world. To further understand these dynamics, several pertinent issues related to glo-
balisation, human rights, and education are explored below.

Multilateral Institutions and Decolonisation

Multilateral institutions, human rights, and globalisation are intimately connected.

The United Nations, and its auxiliary organizations, have their founding largely in
human rights principles and have gained prominence through treaties and alignment
that is a result of increasing political, economic, and western-centric sociocultural
global interconnectedness (United Nations, 1948). The work of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as other
organizations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have taken the human right to
education as a central focus of their missions and have sought to advance the right
to education for all globally. While seemingly positive, a more critical lens can be
helpful in interrogating the issues of power underlying these processes.
We must first critically examine the role that a rights-based philosophy tied to
globalisation has played in perpetuating western-centric political and economic
paradigms at the expense of other cultures and peoples. As Sinha (1981) suggested
in their article about non-western perspectives on human rights, “The contemporary
movement for human rights has a western imprint. Although called universal, it is
the result of Western European history and a product of Western axiological tradi-
tion” (p. 76). Similarly, in their article on children’s rights as a western-centric para-
digm, Elizabeth Faulkner and Conrad Nyamutata (2020) both highlight the colonial
legacy, western-paradigm of childhood, and power dynamics that were associated
with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While they are not necessarily argu-
ing against the merit of those rights, they do highlight the problematic universal
assumption of human rights. This concern should cause significant reflection; espe-
cially in recognition of the problematic history of colonisation that continues to
extend into intellectual, political, and social philosophies. As found at the intersec-
tion of socio-economic and political globalisation, human rights and education cre-
ate contested spaces between power and culture that have yet to be resolved, with
some calling for a further decolonisation of the rights-based agenda (Faulkner &
Nyamutata, 2020; Sinha, 1981). Within this mindset of contested spaces within
rights, culture, and power, we must question the role of multilateral organizations
that rely on funding from generally Western countries and, to a more limited extent,
corporate-related foundations. While not explicit, the role of funding could place
donor countries in positions with greater “soft” power to control narratives,
36 A. Swindell and J. Wright

agendas, and programs. We argue that at worst, this may represent a form of neo-­
colonialism, even if it is implemented with good intentions, or at least a lack of
inclusivity surrounding who is able to impact the rights agenda for education.
However, there might be new vision and hope arising for multilateral organiza-
tions to decolonize their work as they expand and reimagine what the right to educa-
tion might be by drawing on more and historically underrepresented voices. For
example, UNESCO’s Futures of Education project is fore sighting what the future
of education might be by 2050 (UNESCO, 2021). Some of the ideas are fundamen-
tally transformative as they rethink how “knowledge and learning can shape the
future of humanity and the planet” (UNESCO, 2021, p. 17). The structure of the
project has included millions of individuals taking surveys, participating in focus
groups, and submitting comments and artwork. The work also seeks to rethink four
specific areas, (1) human and planetary sustainability, (2) knowledge production,
access, and governance, (3) citizenship and participation, and (4) work and eco-
nomic security.
The results of this process will be finalized in November of 2021; however, the
process itself is worth noting in that it is providing a fundamental rethinking of what
the right to education should look like and how it should be implemented and
realised in the face of various globalisations (economic, social, political, etc.) and
their discontents. This type of imagining holds promise, however, it could also be
just another example of multilateral rhetoric that is relatively disconnected from
structural realities at the international, national, and local levels and lacks sincere
incorporation. Additionally, decolonizing the right to education, by which we mean
increasing localized control and autonomy over education systems and curriculum
especially around issues of language and representation in formerly colonized coun-
tries in the face of continued socio-political globalisation, remains a major chal-
lenge that cannot be easily ignored in the face of the current structure of multilateral
organisations (Faulkner & Nyamutata, 2020).

International Education and Migration

Perhaps the defining characteristic, and most distinctly human element, of globali-
sation is mobility and increased international migration. The global movement of
goods and services, though powerful representations of globalisation, are less tan-
gible than actual people who decide to up and move to a new country and send their
children to a new school. Before discussing the role of education in migration today,
though, it is useful to provide a brief overview of the scale and direction of migra-
tion today for context. The number of international migrants (i.e. people who change
the country of their usual residence) is estimated to be about 272 million people
which represents approximately 3.5% of the total global population. This number
has been steadily increasing since the 1970s, though it is interesting to note that the
vast majority of people (96.5%) actually live in their country of origin. Given the
scale of migration today, it is also tempting to think that we now live in an age of
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 37

unprecedented international migration, though scholars like De Haas (2005) note

that this sentiment may actually be a myth given that even in the early twentieth
century, international migrants represented roughly the same global percentage
(2.5–3%).
As we mentioned, work opportunities are the largest cited reason for interna-
tional migration, though education also plays a key role. One way to conceptualize
migration is through push factors (i.e. events that cause people to move like conflict
or natural disaster) and pull factors (i.e. work or education opportunities in a new
place that are attractive for migrants), some of which can be human rights affirming,
and some of which can be violations of basic human rights. It is an imperfect dichot-
omy, but helpful in the context of education which can be understood as both. In
other words, education both influences and is influenced by migration. For example,
higher education rates largely enable migration whereby migration rates for emi-
grants with a college degree are three times higher than those with only a high
school diploma and nearly five times more than people with a primary education.
Given the importance that a college degree in particular can have on allowing inter-
national migration, it is interesting to also note that immigrants are generally more
likely to be educated than the native population of their destination country, with
immigrants in Canada, for example, being nearly 20% more likely to have a college
degree than their Canadian peers. While educated adults may be more able to
migrate, children are of course less able given their age, though this does not mean
that education is not a factor in international migration patterns for children. The
share of first- and second-generation students has steadily increased to 12.5% in
OECD countries, while 20% of fifteen-year-old students in the same grouping of
countries are either immigrants themselves or have immigrant backgrounds. The
story of education for immigrants and their children, though, is not entirely positive.
Undocumented migrants and first- or second-generation children who face barriers
like language or unequal wealth compared to natives, tend to lag behind their native
peers in educational attainment and can do so for generations. Clearly the right to
quality and inclusive education is not being realized by all, with some migrants
being left more vulnerable to seeing that right realized (UNESCO, 2019).
Education for im/migrant children is also by no means homogenous and difficult
to track for a variety of reasons. Given that children (under the age of 18), are much
less able to make international migration decisions for themselves, international
students at the tertiary level make an interesting and more concrete case study for
how globalisation has impacted the ability for people to access quality and inclusive
education at the university level. Despite deep seeded inequalities in accessing
international tertiary education, which we will discuss in the next section, one of the
benefits of an increasingly connected world with greater mobility can be found in
international tertiary student migration patterns. International student enrollment in
the United States was close to nothing in 1960 and has steadily increased over the
past 60 years to well over 1 million students today (Open Doors, 2020). Globally,
the number of college students studying abroad more than doubled from 2.1 million
in 2001 to 5.3 million in 2019 (Project Atlas, 2019). These are clear indicators that
college students are more mobile now than ever, which is a direct result of countries
38 A. Swindell and J. Wright

opening visa and border policies in the recent era of increased globalisation.
Economic globalisation has also made international travel faster, cheaper, and more
readily available. Similar to general migration, the United States is far and away the
leading destination country for these students, while China and India are also top in
sending students abroad (Project Atlas, 2020).
Of course, the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic had a noticeable impact on col-
lege level international students that may even echo a larger trend in how globalisa-
tion is shaking out. Enrollment of these students dropped globally as borders were
closed and travel restrictions were implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.
This was felt perhaps the most in the United States where total enrollment dropped
by 16% in the Fall of 2020 and new enrollment dropped 43% for the same time
(Martel, 2021). These sharp declines were due in large part to decreased enrollment
from Chinese nationals which may be a result of factors other than COVID-19, like
Trump-era visa restrictiveness and improving higher education opportunities in
mainland China. As Held et al. (1999) noted, the direction of the globalisation shake
out is yet to be determined, and the dominance of the United States in higher educa-
tion may be yielding to advancements in China who have been steadily investing in
their own domestic system for decades (Swindell, 2020). There is even evidence
now that some Chinese firms may prefer graduates with a Chinese diploma (Chen,
2020) which echoes the larger trend in Chinese economic growth and influence on
the processes that are fundamental to globalisation.

 rivate Schooling, Curriculum, and Education in Context

P
of Neoliberal Economic Globalisation

One characteristic of the drive for people to access global work and educational
opportunities beyond their country of origin has been an increased global emphasis
on English language and Western ideologies on pedagogy and schooling. As the
global labor market has expanded, so too has demand for education that provides
the skills, knowledge, and credentials to access better paying jobs in the global
marketplace. Neoliberal policies in particular, like the promotion of structural
adjustment and government austerity by the World Bank and trade liberalization by
the WTO, have had immense impact on education. Testing regimes like the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) have also played a role in this by promot-
ing global education standards with an emphasis on workplace skills. In their analy-
sis of the education and globalisation Spring (2008) notes that these developments
have led to “uniformity of global curriculum, instruction, and testing …educational
plans tied to the knowledge economy and human capital development…[and] a
push for global privatization of educational services, in particular in higher educa-
tion and the sale of information services and books by multinational corporations”
(p. 352). The number of international schools, most if not all of which are private,
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 39

that use these materials and exist within this framework have more than quadrupled
since 2000 (Bunnell, 2021) and their impact demands further analysis. This leaves
one to question if this process is furthering or hindering the human rights project of
quality education for all.
Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and Curriculum, International
Baccalaureate, Pearson and the College Board are just a few examples of private
organizations and companies that have an immense impact on the global education
arena. In their critique of the CIE Thinking Skills curriculum, Lim (2012) notes how
these organizations can spread politically and class biased versions of western cen-
tric notions of critical thinking is and ought to be that are often framed in terms of
western labor markets and rationality. Needless to say, like most of the content of
this section, these can be beneficial for those who are critically aware and in search
of this type of education while also representing how education can serve as a pro-
moting economic interests. More broadly, international schools and curricula can
indeed promote beneficial cross-cultural exchange and learning, but must be done
so with preparation, local input, and adaptations to the context to avoid dependent
and uncritical relationships (Ledger, 2016, p. 36).
Like the providers of other globally branded products, schools offering interna-
tional education must provide a reliable service throughout the world. This is sup-
ported by the quality assurance conferred by participation in such curriculum and
assessment organizations as the IBO, Cambridge International Examinations (CIE)
and the US-based College Board, and through accreditation by various US-based
accrediting agencies and by international schools organizations such as the European
Council of International Schools (ECIS). Murphy (1998) proposes that being found
worthy of accreditation by experienced colleagues is a source of satisfaction to
schools, and that ‘peripatetic parents are becoming familiar with the process of
accreditation and are beginning to feel that placing their children in an unexamined
school is a risk they do not wish to take’ (p. 223). To reference Held’s framing of
hyperglobalist globalisation, it is easy to see how schooling that is directed mostly
by western private organizations has increased homogenization of education, per-
haps for the worse and in violation of basic human rights.
Indeed, questions must be asked from a human rights perspective that focuses on
universal access to quality and inclusive education, surrounding exactly who bene-
fits from the universalist global spread of western and privatized education. Class
based segregation and unequal access to these opportunities are clear (Dvir et al.,
2018), while some scholars have articulated that a new “transnational capitalist
class (TCC) is being created by these developments (Cambridge & Thompson,
2004, p. 170). In other words, the access created by the spread of privatized (and
often for-profit) schooling and curriculum publishers will only be for the TCC thus
perpetuating global inequality. The other side of this argument, though, is similar to
many others in the favor of hyperglobalist proponents. Educational materials are
incredibly time consuming and expensive to create, so the availability cannot be
entirely negative. Moreover, to argue that teachers, parents, and schools that have
chosen to use these is not in their best interest presupposes that they lack their own
agency and that academics on the other side of the world know better. We do not
40 A. Swindell and J. Wright

claim to be the authority, but rather are shining light on a trend, the full effects of
which simply are not known.
We also want to comment on these same neoliberal tendencies and their relation
to human rights in education generally. As private education and the curricula dis-
cussed above suggest, the right to education remains the challenge that economic
globalisation brings in defining what that education should be and for whom. While
rights technically should preclude any other justification for investment in access to
quality education, one must also recognize that most states fail to deliver on these
rights unless there is strong economic justification to do so. Often this justification
for investment in education is closely associated with increasing human capital and
skills that results in economic returns to a domestic economy. The natural push back
from a human rights perspective is that the right to education should be more than
the right to become a cog in the machine of capitalism—humans are simply more
than their economic ends. Rather, humans should be valued for their humanity, their
ability to think and reason and as independent agents in their communities. While
proponents of both sides rarely argue to such dogmatic extremes, the practical
implications of both sides are important as we think about the future of education in
an economically globalising world. The right to education must ultimately seek to
accomplish both ends—good jobs and realized agency and autonomy.

Forced Migration and Education in Emergencies

People from emergency contexts and those of forced international and internal
migration most likely lack the access to the type of schooling and materials described
above. Estimates project that even pre-pandemic, nearly 170 million people were in
need of humanitarian assistance or protection (UNOCHA, 2019) while global emer-
gencies resulting from persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and
climate/natural disasters have caused more than 80 million people, half of whom are
under 18, to flee their homes, which represents the highest level of forced displace-
ment since the Second World War (UNHCR, 2020). Forced migration is often a
result of emergencies, and 127 million children living in these contexts were out of
school globally at the end of 2019 (INEE, 2020). It is beyond the scope of this chap-
ter to assess to what degree specific elements of globalisation can be identified as
causes of forced displacement. Instead, we will discuss the state of education for
children that have been displaced, like refugees now living half a world away from
their homes, or who are unable to leave but still lacking access to an education that
might satisfy their basic human needs as articulated in several human rights treaties.
While Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) calls for sustainable access to
inclusive and quality education for all people by 2030, global education systems
have fallen short in achieving this lofty goal thus far, particularly for forcibly dis-
placed migrants and people living in emergency settings (UNESCO, 2018, 2019).
Refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than peers while Internally
Displaced People (IDPs) also have limited access to education (IDMC, 2019). More
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 41

generally, access to education was also found to be severely reduced in conflict

areas globally (Burde et al., 2017) and in countries affected by civil conflict like
Liberia, Mozambique, Sudan, and Guatemala (Lai & Thyne, 2007). In this sense,
violations of human rights to safety and security also compound with other rights
like education.
The quality and inclusiveness of education in areas affected by emergencies is
also severely lacking compared to places unaffected by such challenges. Levels of
literacy, numeracy, and educational attainment are all in places affected by emer-
gencies (INEE, 2020). Longitudinal studies of educational attainment for people
affected by the Rwandan genocide (La Mattina, 2018) and conflict in Tajikistan
(Shemyakina, 2011) and Pakistan (Ullah et al., 2017) all found similar results of
lower secondary attainment for people affected by conflict. Though data reporting
specifically on the quality of education in conflict affected areas is limited globally,
issues like finding qualified teachers, limiting class sizes, accessing proper learning
materials, and creating adequate learning infrastructure were all found to be nega-
tively impacted in these spaces (UNESCO, 2019). Finally, underrepresented groups,
like ethnic minorities, face barriers like language and discrimination which limit
their ability to be meaningfully included in classrooms in emergency and post-­
emergency settings (Awada et al., 2018).
Conflict has clearly been shown to negatively affect education systems and deliv-
ery thus violating the right to education, but the results have been mixed with regard
to education’s reciprocal effects on conflict. Bush and Saltarelli (2001) proposed the
‘two faces of education’ concept to explain how education can have either negative
or positive effects on conflict. That is, they found that schooling can actually pro-
mote conflict when textbooks, history lessons, and rhetoric are used to promote
nationalism or an ‘us vs. them’ attitude in children, thus propagating the surround-
ing conflict. This equally, we argue, is a violation of human rights, as it does not lead
towards a more justice and equitable society. Conversely, education with the spe-
cific goal of building peace was found to do just that, and actually help to decrease
violence over time (Bush & Saltarelli, 2001). Similar positive or negative outcomes,
depending on the type of education delivered, have been found in various settings
globally, thus reinforcing the idea that access to education is not enough to end
conflict, but creative and peace-based pedagogy must be employed in a purposeful
manner for positive educational outcomes that decrease conflict (Richards &
Bekele, 2011).
It is important to also understand that emergency settings differ if people are able
to flee to another country or are unable and thus remain within a national border.
Indeed, forcibly displaced people are generally understood as either those who were
able to cross an international boundary as refugees/asylum seekers, or Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were unable or unwilling to leave their home coun-
try. The educational challenges and hardships faced by IDPs are comparable to refu-
gees, if not worse regarding access, enrollment, quality, and educational attainment.
However, the focus on IDPs receives less financial aid and media coverage than
refugees and education in particular is often low on the list of priorities for IDPs
generally. One explanation for why refugees are more visible to Western media and
42 A. Swindell and J. Wright

governments in particular is that when they cross an international border, they are
eligible for protection under the 1951 refugee convention and are supported by a
dedicated UN agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, com-
pared to IDPs who are largely dependent on the whim of their national government
(IDMC, 2019; UNESCO, 2019) which impacts how IDPs are counted and ulti-
mately able to realize their right to quality and inclusive education.
Perhaps the largest impact emergencies have on education is depleting resources
needed for sustainable access to quality and inclusive education as demanded by a
rights framing. Schools in emergency contexts have been shown to consistently lack
the human and financial resources needed to operate and maintain adequate school-
ing in a sustainable manner. Despite these challenges, international focus has tradi-
tionally been on other aspects of humanitarian responses like health and food
security. Of course, these are incredibly important in emergency contexts, though
attention and funding for education on the whole has suffered as a result and not
improved, perhaps, as much as it could have in recent memory. Ultimately, more
resources and outlets are needed to create truly sustainable systems for providing
access to quality and inclusive education in emergency contexts that fulfil basic
human needs.

Health, Nutrition, and Safety

The relationship between rights, education, globalisation, and health help us under-
stand the importance of looking at rights holistically and not in isolation from each
other. The school has always been a site for promoting the overall health and well-
being of children and the realization of their rights (Mukamana & Johri, 2016). It
is also critical for setting a foundation for lifelong health development (Halfon
et al., 2014). For many children globally, school has become the primary place
where they receive nutrition, vaccinations, and is usually a site free from violence
and child labor, all foundations of the human rights of children (United
Nations, 1989).
However, the connection with globalisation goes both ways. This was made clear
with the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic in which most schools around the world
were shut down for an extended period of time, it was argued, to protect health and
wellbeing. During this time, many children, especially the most vulnerable, lost out
on their right to education, despite the best attempts of teachers and others to sustain
learning (Engzell et al., 2021). Some might argue that the right to health and wellbe-
ing superseded the right to education in this instance. This certainly includes
respecting the right of health for teachers, administrators and others. But the con-
nection between rights, education and globalisation extended even further and
shared deeper interactions. Despite a right to health and wellbeing, without schools
as an essential infrastructure in realizing that right, child marriages increased, rates
of child labor increased, vaccination rates fell, and rates of child malutrition grew
(UNICEF, 2020). In short, for a child to realize their right to quality, inclusive
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 43

education they must also be healthy, have adequate nutrition, and be safe; and con-
versely, they also must be educated to have a better chance of being healthy for the
entirety of their life.
However, we should also acknowledge that the relationship between health,
nutrition and safety is still evolving. With ever increasing connections in transporta-
tion and trade, isolated public health events can quickly become global education
catastrophes, as has been made abundantly clear by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, increasing concerns over teenage mental and emotional health related
to digital interconnectivity, global economic pressures, and climate change are
largely being handled by schools globally (Azzopardi et al., 2019; Shackleton et al.,
2016; Shirk et al., 2009). The trend appears to be that academics and practitioners
are calling upon rights to be realized holistically and not in isolation, often resulting
in increased pressure on health and education systems. More and more we are rec-
ognizing that the right to education, health, nutrition, and safety cannot be separated
from each other, but rather, they should be seen and advanced as bundles of rights
that require the school setting as rights enabling infrastructure. In this sense, we
recognize the unique role that physical and social infrastructure play in realizing
human rights in a globalising world.
Given these interconnections, what is needed next is a fundamental rethink about
how health and education system can promote wellbeing collectively in the future.
It will not be enough for siloed and independent funding streams to operate as they
are now if we are to overcome the health and education challenges presented by
existencial and global threats like climate change and inequality. Education chal-
lenges are now health challenges and health challenges are education challenges,
and this reality requires transformative systems level thinking.

Technology and the Digital Environment

The growing digital interconnectedness of the world is often identified as a key

component of globalisation. Given the rise of technology within education, it is
clear that this may be a new development resulting in a greater connection between
globalisation and education. This is further exacerbated by technology companies
who are key players in scaling educational technology across the world. However,
this leaves one to question the location of human rights within this larger
conversation.
UNICEF’s general comment on the rights of children within the digital environ-
ment provides one potential framing of some of the most salient issues (Committee
on the Rights of the Child, 2021). Rather than focus exclusively on rights to safety,
which can bring a sense of paternalism, Committee on the Rights of the Child’s
General Comment 25 (2021) emphasises that the digital space should be a place
where children should have equal access and opportunities to be heard and have
those views taken seriously. The proponents of this second framing still emphasize
the need for safety and security within the digital space; however, concerns about
44 A. Swindell and J. Wright

equal access to the internet and hardware are of equal importance. Often, this dis-
cussion harkens back to issues around quality and inclusive education. In today’s
educational environment, learning to use and have access to digital resources is an
important aspect of quality education. However, ensuring that marginalized indi-
viduals have access to that digital environment is an issue of inclusivity. For exam-
ple, ensuring that students in rural areas have the same access to education in the
digital environment is critical to pursuing equity in education globally. More frame-
works will be needed that focus on the digital divide and human rights rather than
focus primarily on paternalistic approaches to digital safety. Education should be an
empowering experience, especially within a globalizing context and while safe-
guarding is important, so should be other aspects of human rights such as voice and
participation.
As a final word of caution, while access to the internet and hardware is a compo-
nent of quality education, educators and policy makers should not equate technol-
ogy with quality (Selwyn, 2016). Simply giving students access to technology
without teaching them how to use it and providing them the tools necessary to be
empowered in the digital world would still fail the “quality” standard of education
and thus be a violation of their human rights.

Climate Change

One of the most pressing questions facing the intersection of education, globalisa-
tion and human rights is and will continue to be climate change. From heatwaves to
monsoons and wildfires to blizzards, the changes to weather patterns are having
significant impacts on education, especially for the most vulnerable. Early evidence
suggests that students will experience less years of schooling overall as tempera-
tures increase, especially around the global tropics (Randell & Gray, 2019). The
mechanism of impact can include school buildings destroyed by extreme weather
events, school closures due to excessive rainfall, or other weather events that hinder
access (Randell, 2019). Even in developed countries, schools often lack the infra-
structure to support learning and education in the face of hotter or colder days.
Additional concerns arise from climate induced health concerns, such as asthma,
which limit school attendance. In addition to these direct implications, indirect
mechanisms include food and water shortages, climate change related violence, and
climate-induced conflict leading to forced migration. These disruptions often result
in not only lost days, but also increases in human rights violations that often accom-
pany emergencies like child labor and child marriage which can signal a permanent
end to formal schooling (Randell, 2019).
Efforts by children and youth, based on human rights framing, are currently
underway to demand action. Education is one of many solutions put forward in the
lawsuit raised by several youth around the world against their countries under
Article 5 of the Third Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (Sacchi et al., 2019). They suggest that the impact of climate
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 45

change on education is a fundamental violation of their right to education, as well

as a host of other human rights. Like with public health, it becomes difficult to sepa-
rate the right to education in the face of climate change from other basic human
rights. The right to a sustainable environment is foundational for realizing the right
to education. Additionally, education will be pivotal in preparing future generations
to live more sustainably with the environment.
Within UNESCOs Future of Education project, mentioned previously, signifi-
cant effort has been made to try and capture how a right to education, as well as the
role of education generally, shifts as we approach a world dramatically altered by
humans. The work of Affrica Taylor et al. is visionary in promoting a word where
education is no longer a tool that promotes human exceptionalism that views the
earth as an object to be manipulated by humans, and instead promotes an education
that, “plays a pivotal role in radically reconfiguring our place and agency within this
interdependent world” (p. 1). In this sense, these authors move beyond education as
a promotion of justice and instead look at education beyond a humanist framing and
towards a framing in which the planet and humans are one and education seeks to
bring about a sustainable end for both (Common Worlds Research Collective, 2020).
However, if climate action efforts have taught us anything over the last two
decades, we must fully recognize that these actions must be taken collectively, and
not in isolation. Only a collective redefinition of a right to education and a right to a
sustainable future can have enough staying power to fundamentally shift the para-
digm towards one where we can move beyond the needs for human rights and into
planetary solidarity.

 utures of Education and Human Rights in an Increasingly

F
Globalised World

Children’s rights expert, Gerison Lansdown, has called for a shift in how we think
about rights, especially for children. In her recent work on rights by design,
Lansdown (2021) calls for a world where rights become fundamental to how we
create and design systems, programs, and policies. As we look to the future of glo-
balisation, education, and human rights, we advocate for a world in which we design
a holistic approach to rights into and even from the education system itself. This is
in sharp contrast to the current systems design which privileges neoliberal economic
policies and western ideologies. Given the increasing economic, cultural, environ-
mental, and political global connections between societies we detailed above, a
truly global perspective for education is necessary. To finish our analysis, we now
turn to what the future of human rights and education might be in an increasingly
globalised world.
The Futures of Education Project, as well as Global Citizen Education (GCE)
provide guiding “rights by design” principles, as mentioned earlier, that can help
shape the future of education we want to see. While the Futures of Education Project
46 A. Swindell and J. Wright

was discussed previously, we spend time here reflecting on the role that GCE might
play as a framework for the future of education. GCE has gained significant popu-
larity amongst academics, human rights advocates, and educators over the past sev-
eral decades. There are many types of GCE, and UNESCO (2018) provides a useful
working definition for GCE generally as education as a “form of civic learning that
involves students’ active participation in projects that address global issues of a
social, political, economic, or environmental nature”. Clearly, GCE seeks to accom-
plish a lot, and to better understand the specifics of how and what dimensions are
included, Oxley and Morris (2013) created a framework of GCE that is based on the
two broad categories of cosmopolitanism and advocacy which are outlined in
Table 3.2 below.
It will take a combination of these various forms of GCE to both conceptualize
and achieve human rights in the future. For example, the universalist idea that there
are certain morals and ethics that are truly global fits with the cosmopolitan framing
of GCE. However, actually helping equip students with the skills and knowledge to
decide what these look like in their own context and the ability to realize them is
would better map to advocacy GCE. Moreover, these distinct elements of GCE, like
environmental and moral citizenship, if taught at global scale could help usher in the
next generation of leaders and human rights activists that are able to inform the

Table 3.2 Models of global citizenship education by type (Oxley & Morris, 2013 as cited in
Goren & Yemini, 2017, p. 171)
Cosmopolitan 1. political 2. moral global 3. economic global 4. cultural global
GCE global citizenship, citizenship, which citizenship, which
(Universalist) citizenship, which focuses on focuses on power emphasizes
which focuses ideas such as relations, forms of symbols and
on the changing human rights and capital, the work cultural structures
relations empathy force, and that divide or unite
between states international members of
and individuals development different societies
or other polities and considers the
globalization of
different cultural
forms
Advocacy 1. social global 2. critical global 3. environmental 4. spiritual global
GCE citizenship citizenship global citizenship citizenship
(Relativist) focuses on ideas focuses on encourages concentrates on
such as global inequality and advocating for connections
civil society and oppression, environmental between humans
advocacy for the critiquing the sustainability and based on spiritual
‘people’s voice’ role current preservation through aspects including
even when those power relations striving to change religion.
people are and economic the negative impacts
abroad in other agendas play in of humanity on the
parts of the these issues environment; and
world through a finally
post-colonial
agenda
3 Historical, Contemporary, and Future Issues on the Nexus of Globalisation, Human… 47

future human rights agenda from multiple global contexts. Thus, the human rights
agenda can be seen as both being incorporated into education while potentially
drawing from future students.
Regardless of the typology, GCE is based on the premise that globalisation has
increased to a point, perhaps of no return, where people from distant lands are
intrinsically connected to one another and education must adapt for this new reality.
In their vision for future theoretical and pedagogical futures for GCE, prominent
GCE scholar Carlos Torres (2017) argued that:
Furthering global citizenship education requires principles of human rights, liberty and
equality for all, including the ‘rights of hospitality’ in the Kantian sense, a formidable and
pressing need in this challenging age of global migration...global citizenship as being
marked by an understanding of global ties, relations and connections, and a commitment to
the collective good. We assume that furthering Global Citizenship Education is one of the
most powerful tools we have to interrupt inequality in this growingly unequal global world
(p. 148).

Torres (2017) goes on to explicate some specific ends for GCE such as leading to
a refocus on a new learning strategies globally, helping raise voices of the oppressed,
recasting the goal of education from cognitive skills to more humanistic ends (i.e.
spiritual, moral, peace, artistic) and rigorous dialogue on ending global injustices
like climate change and forced migration (p. 149). Even more, GCE presents an
opportunity to switch the global focus from competition to cooperation and com-
passion, which is an absolute necessity if a new brand of human rights remedies are
to be created and specific actors actually held accountable.

Conclusion

As the above demonstrates, this chapter is particularly concerned not only with the
relationship between globalisation and human rights, but specifically, the role of
education, which further complicates these dynamics. We argue that education is
both a human right and also plays a role in socializing norms around rights. In this
sense it sits both within rights but is also as an external force, shaping the develop-
ment of rights. Similarly, education sits within globalisation, as one of its many
facets, it also sits outside of globalisation as it shapes socio-cultural, political, and
economic globalising processes. In this sense, the dynamics between rights and
globalisation is both mediated and moderated by education; while at the same time,
these processes shape education (Olssen et al., 2004). It is almost impossible to
adequately dissect these complexities; however, asking a few basic questions can
help guide the discussion, especially around the most salient and pertinent issues
facing an increasingly interconnected world.
In many ways, education has always been a mirror of and motor for human soci-
ety; both reflecting and directing humanity forward. We now stand at a pivotal junc-
ture where education can serve to reinforce and proliferate the problems brought
about by neoliberal economic globalisation or be used as a tool to help provide an
48 A. Swindell and J. Wright

alternative path forward with frameworks like GCE. It is these fundamental princi-
ples above that help us begin to imagine quality, education for all as a rights affirm-
ing, and environmentally sustainable project. One in which increased economic,
social, and political interconnectedness does not have to lead to increased exploita-
tion of people and the earth, but rather, leads towards greater respect and common
good. However, the last few decades have demonstrated that this future is not easy
to achieve or inevitable. We must actively work alongside all levels of governance
to ensure this future. To do so we must adopt rights by design principles that are
holistic and break down silos between education, health, economics, and the envi-
ronment. We must move towards greater emphasis on sustainability, equity, and
wellbeing. Finally, we must seek to advance Global Citizenship Education as a
foundational framework that promotes a future in which we can all thrive.

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Chapter 4
Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe
Children: A New Perspective

José Noronha Rodrigues

Introduction

When we approach any issue involving children, for example at the criminal, fam-
ily, social, educational, and/or migration level, as well as all other topics related to
children, we must analyze these issues from a different perspective and with sensi-
tivity. The primary aim should be to safeguard and protect the most basic human
rights and, in particular, the child, an invisible victim who is exploited and often
unable to express his anguish, fears, needs, weaknesses, and insecurities. The child
is by her very nature is a fragile, singular being with specific needs, secure in her
insecurity and distinctive way of thinking, adventurous in her naivety, and coura-
geous in her fragility, regardless of ancestry, gender, race, language, territory of
origin, religion, education, economic situation, and social condition.
The concept of the child and the general awareness of his fragilities have evolved
in time and space and, simultaneously, several international, European, and national
legal instruments have been progressively adopted, whether of hard law or soft law,
to safeguard the most elementary rights of the child. Therefore, when analyzing the
issue of migrants and refugees in Europe and particularly the issue of migrant and/
or refugee children, we must necessarily refocus our discourse and analysis on chil-
dren as extremely sensitive beings.
The globalization of atrocities and violations of the most basic human rights has
led to an exponential increase in the number of migrant and refugee children in the
European Union. It is necessary to find uniform policies within the European Union
for action, intervention, aid, and support for these victims who are exploited, mis-
treated, and often abandoned and neglected by member states. To this end, one of
the basic principles to consider when adopting these uniform policies is the best

J. N. Rodrigues (*)
Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 53

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_4
54 J. N. Rodrigues

interests of the child, simply because they are children. In adopting such policies to
safeguard the best interests of the child, we believe the European ombudsperson for
children has a key role to play. That is what we address in this chapter.

 he Conceptual and Legal Evolution of Children in Time

T
and Space

When addressing the issue of childhood and/or migrant children or refugees in

Europe, we must restrict our analysis to the conceptual evolution of the child in time
and space as well as to the progressive legal consecration of their rights in interna-
tional, European, and/or national instruments. In fact, as Lígia Cláudia Gonçalves
Monteiro stated, “[t]he current democratic societies, bathed by the ideals of equal-
ity and freedom, are the result of a long process, both cultural and political, which
began to identify in law the different human beings, affirming their belonging to a
common world. This includes childhood [and the child in all his fullness]. (...)
Despite an extensive trajectory, this period of human development ended up seeing
its status as a subject of rights, a “same“, a citizen in the world and of the world
recognized during the twentieth century” (Monteiro, 2006, p. 5).
When we talk about childhood and/or children, we can find several interpreta-
tions and/or definitions depending on the scientific area we analyze. However, the
word childhood refers essentially to the first period of human life, the first years,
and comes from the Latin infante, which means “one who is not able to speak,
without eloquence, very childlike” (Machado, 1997, p. 291). Thus, the history of the
rights of childhood or children can be distinguished into three phases:
(a) In ancient times, the child was subjected to the absolute power of the “family
power” that could dispose of the children as they saw fit, subjecting them to
exploitation and mistreatment. In fact, as Reis says, “children are referred to
late in the history of the concept of child, as they were not seen as an integral
part of humanity. (...) In this context, it is not surprising that the baby and the
child have only been recognized much later, more specifically at the time of the
Renaissance, being until then either completely ignored, or else the target of all
sorts of abuse and mistreatment, among which stands out the abandonment to
which they were left” (Reis, 2009, p. 9);
(b) In the middle ages, the child was seen as a productive being, a mere object with
utilitarian functions for society and the family economy, that could be sold or
abandoned, since it was parental property. In fact, babies and children, being
too fragile and unable to share the adult world, did not count, being considered
“a nothing or almost nothing insignificant” (Badinter, 1985, p. 79);
(c) During the enlightenment, the child began to appear as a minor and an incapa-
ble being who needs protection and support for survival. At this point, the child
was recognized as a person and a citizen (Monteiro, 2006, p. 2). In fact, the
eighteenth century was the turning point regarding children’s rights, since par-
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 55

ents started to adopt a kinder and more sensitive approach towards their chil-
dren, but the right to childhood had not yet been properly conquered, since
children were still seen more as things than people. However, in the eighteenth
century, a series of fundamental changes took place in the relationship between
adults and the world of the younger ones (Reis, 2009, p. 11).
Truly, the history of childhood, or rather the history of the relationship of adults
with the world of children and babies, is marked by meetings and mismatches,
closeness and distance, which perhaps means that “at all moments in history we
have always seen the world at the height of our eyes, and we did not always imagine
that others – the children, for instance – saw it higher or from another point of view
that, in relation to ours, would give us light” (Reis, 2009, p. 13; Sá, 1999, p. 23).
However, the concept of childhood and of the child as a subject of law and with
rights only began to gain importance in the nineteenth century and extended through
the progressive adoption of several international, European, and/or national instru-
ments, either of hard law or soft law, particularly from 1924. The last stage of legis-
lative consecration, that is, the national one, will restrict the analysis to the
instruments adopted in Portugal. In this way, we can subdivide this legislative con-
secration regarding the rights of the child into three levels of analysis: (A) the inter-
national level, (B) the European Union level, and (C) the national level (Portugal).
(A) At the international level:
The first international instrument was the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of
the Child in 1924, and progressively others have emerged, as we will now analyze
and list.
(I) Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1924.
As highlighted by Paulo Lins e Silva, in 1923, “the League of Nations created
the “Committee for the Protection of Children“, which is why states were no longer
considered the sole sovereign in matters related to children’s rights” (Silva, 2015,
p. 2). As a result, 1 year later, the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child of
1924 was adopted within the defunct League of Nations by the non-governmental
organization, the Council of the International Union for the Protection of Children
(Save the Children International Union).1
This Geneva Declaration, although a soft law instrument, was truly the “first
normative instrument of international scope to directly and specifically address
issues related to children and adolescents” (Silva, 2015, p. 1). Thus, it stipulates the
following: “men and women of all nations, recognizing that mankind owes to the
Child the best that it has to give, declare and accept it as their duty that beyond and
above all considerations of race, nationality or creed: – The child must be given the
means requisite for its normal development, both materially and spiritually; – The
child that is hungry must be fed; the child that is sick must be nursed; the child that
is backward must be helped; the delinquent child must be reclaímed; the orphan and

1
Adopted 26 September, 1924, League of Nations.
56 J. N. Rodrigues

the waif must be sheltered and succored; – the child must be the first to receive relief
in times of distress; – The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood and
must be protected against every form of exploitation; – The child must be brought
up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to the service of fellow men.”
(UN Documents – Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1924).
However, this declaration did not have the desired impact on the full interna-
tional recognition of children’s rights, since it was not binding on states, since it was
soft law. In fact, as stated by Alston Philip, “[the] Geneva Declaration of the Rights
of the Child, adopted in 1924 by the Assembly of the League, was not cast in terms
of state obligation but of duties declared and accepted by “men and women of all
nations“ and according to which “the child must be given the means requisite for
its normal development, both materially and spiritually” (Alston, 1986).
(II) Inter-American Children’s Institute, 1927.
On June 9, 1927, during the IV Panamerican Congress on Children’s Issues, ten
countries (Argentina, Bolívia, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, the United States of
America, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) signed the Charter of the Inter-American
Children’s Institute (Charter of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, 1927). They
also adopted Statutes of the Inter-American Children’s Institute between May 13
and 15, 2002 (The Statutes of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, 2002). This
Institute “is a Specialized Organization of the Organization of American States, in
charge of promoting the study of the areas of motherhood, children, adolescents, the
family, and the community in the Americas and the adoption of the corresponding
integral protection measures.”2 The Institute’s primary goals are “to promote and to
cooperate with the governments of the member states in the establishment and car-
rying out of activities contributing to adequate overall development of minors, as
well as constant improvement of standards of living, particularly of families”.3
However, this Institute has several functions:
–– To stimulate and promote the development of an alert awareness by all the peo-
ple of the American States with respect to all the problems related to mother-
hood, children, adolescents, the family, and the community; to awaken or
increase a sense of social responsability towards these problems; and to channel
this feeling towards the carrying out of activities intended to solved them by the
means within their reach.
–– To collaborate with the national administrations of the American countries, their
institutions and representatives, and with the organs of the Organization of
American States and other international institutions that may contribute, directly
or indirectly, to the improvement of future generations by means of activities
foreseen in theses Statutes.
–– To promote, with the cooperation of the government of national and interna-
tional organizations: (1) Research on the nature, magnitude, seriousness, and

2
See Article 1 of the Statues of the Inter-American Children’s Institute.
3
See Article 3 of the Statues of the Inter-American Children’s Institute.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 57

importance of the various problems affecting motherhood, adolescence, the fam-

ily, and the community in the Americas; (2) Determination of the most effective
methods and procedures to solve them, and dissemination of information on
these methods and procedures in the American States; (3) Regular and advanced
training or technical and administrative personnel to take part in the various
activities concerned with protection and welfare of children.
–– To stimulate and assist the governments of the member states to establish,
expand, and improve the institutions and services designed for the protection and
welfare of mothers, children, adolescents, the family, and the community, par-
ticularly in the suburban and rural regions and to provide them with the advisory
services, technical assistance, and cooperation that they may request or accept.4
Essentially, this Institute aims to safeguard the rights of children and to support
member states in adopting legislative policies and social measures that place the
child at the center of their priorities.
(III) United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, 1946.
This United Nations Children’s Fund, also known as UNICEF, was created in
1946 after World War II and promotes the rights and well-being of children and
adolescents in 190 countries and territories. In fact, according to several authors,
UNICEF is “an international political articulator that organizes a hybrid field of
interests in the name of defending the human rights of children and adolescents,
having in the family a privileged medicalization instrument, in terms of a neoliberal
economic and political rationality, to govern individual behaviors and, in a total-
izing way, to manage the population” (Lemos et al., 2013). In 1953, UNICEF
became a permanent body at the UN and expanded its competence to serve children
around the world.
UNICEF is a non-partisan organisation that is governed by the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and therefore, it encompasses and tries to
protect all children without discrimination in terms of race, colour, sex, language,
religion, and political or other opinion. These efforts are focused on promoting
equal rights for girls and women and supporting their full participation in political,
social, and economic development in the communities in which they live as well as
safeguarding the right to survival, education, health care, adequate nutrition, access
to water, and protection. It is a United Nations humanitarian agency funded exclu-
sively by voluntary contributions from governments, foundations, businesses, and
individual donors.
Truly, UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to pro-
mote and defend the rights of children, save their lives, and help them realize their
full potential to build a better world. Indeed, as Henry Labouisse, former UNICEF
executive director (1965–1979) said, “the well-being of children today is insepara-
bly linked to the peace of tomorrow’s world (Labouisse, 1965, p.1).

4
See Article 5 of the Statues of the Inter-American Children’s Institute.
58 J. N. Rodrigues

(IV) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948.

Two years after UNICEF’s creation, on December 10, 1948, the UN General
Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.5 This declaration
is a legal instrument of soft law; i.e., without legal force, as stated by Antoon de
Baets. “[There] is perhaps no text with a broader impact on our lives than the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)” (Baets, 2009, p. 86). Indeed, it
represents a significant advancement in individual human rights and freedoms, as it
stipulates in its very first article, “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights. Endowed with reason and conscience, they should act towards
one another in a spirit of brotherhood” (Leão et al., 2019, p. 22).
It should, however, be emphasized that this declaration does not focus specifi-
cally on children’s rights, but on human rights as a whole, and as such, by stating the
civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of all human beings, it naturally
includes children. However, Article 25.2 stipulates some specific rights related to
children: “[m]aternity and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All
children born in or out of wedlock shall enjoy the same social protection” (Leão
et al., 2019, p. 162). Article 26 (1), (2), and (3) outlines others, such as “[e]very
human being has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the ele-
mentary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. (...)
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to
the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall
promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations and racial or
religious groups, and shall support the activities of the United Nations for the main-
tenance of peace. (...). Parents shall have priority of right in the choice of the kind
of instruction which shall be given to their children” (Leão et al., 2019, p. 168).
Thus, as Leão et al., argue, “special reference to maternity and childhood, par-
ticularly vulnerable phases of life, needing special protection and assistance.
Human beings are premature beings: they are born unfinished. For this reason, they
need an essential period of learning, which is embodied in childhood, and which
will play an essential role in the being’s future. In view of this scientific truth, it is
up to the state to guarantee and establish the essential environment and conditions.”
(Leão et al., 2019, p. 166).
(V) Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959,6 establishes through ten prin-
ciples the basic rights of every child: Principle I – The right to equality, without
distinction on account of race, religion, or national origin; Principle II – The right to
special protection for the child’s physical, mental and social development; Principle
III – The right to a name and a nationality; Principle IV – The right to adequate

5
Adopted and proclaimed by Resolution 217 A (III) of the United Nations General Assembly on
December 10, 1948.
6
Adopted 20 November 1959, by all 78 Member States of the United Nations General Assembly
in Resolution 1386 (XIV).
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 59

nutrition, housing and medical services; Principle V – The right to special education
and treatment when a child is physically or mentally handicapped; Principle VI –
The right to understanding and love from parents and society; Principle VII – The
right to recreational activities and free education; Principle VIII – The right to be
among the first to receive relief in all circumstances; Principle IX – The right to
protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation; Principle X – The
right to be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among
peoples, and universal brotherhood (Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959).
However, and although all the rights enshrined in this 1959 declaration are
important for safeguarding the most elementary rights of the child, we must high-
light three of these principles, since they are directly related to the issue of migrant
and/or refugee children. Thus, Principle 1 stipulates that “[every] child, without any
exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or dis-
crimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself
or of his family” (Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959). We all know that
many of the migrant or refugee children who arrive in Europe are not of the same
race, color, language, and/or religion as the citizens of the European Union. Among
other reasons, they cannot be harmed mainly because they are children. In fact,
Principle 2 states, “[the] child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given
opportunities and facilities, by law and by other means, to enable him to develop
physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal man-
ner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this pur-
pose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration” (Idem).
Therefore, regardless of the reasons or the way in which migrant and/or refugee
children enter the European Union, they must, as Principle 8 stipulates, “[the] child
shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief “
(Ibidem).
(VI) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966,7 recognizes “the
inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, (…) that these
rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, (…) the ideal of free
human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want
can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil
and political rights, as well as his economic, social, and cultural rights, (…) the
obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms” (International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, 1966).

7
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution
2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49.
60 J. N. Rodrigues

However, children’s rights are specifically stated in Articles 23.1 and 2 “[the]
family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protec-
tion by society and the State. […] In the case of dissolution, provision shall be made
for the necessary protection of any children.” Furthermore, Article 24 says, “1.
Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language,
religion, national or social origin, property or birth, the right to such measures of
protection as required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and
the State. 2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have a
name. 3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality” (International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, 1966).
(VII) American Convention on Human Rights “Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica”, 1969.
The American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San José
de Costa Rica,8 establishes in its preamble three fundamental ideas regarding the
safeguarding of human rights, which should be emphasized, implemented, and reaf-
firmed every day when dealing with migrant and refugee cases, regardless of
whether they are children. Thus, this “[reaffirms] their intention to consolidate in
this hemisphere, within the framework of democratic institutions, a system of per-
sonal liberty and social justice based on respect for the essential rights of man;
[recognizes] that the essential rights of man are not derived from one’s being a
national of a certain state, but are based upon attributes of the human personality,
and that they therefore justify international protection in the form of a convention
reinforcing or complementing the protection provided by the domestic law of the
American states. In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the ideal of free men enjoying freedom from fear and want can be achieved only if
conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social, and cul-
tural rights, as well as his civil and political rights” (American Convention on
Human Rights, 1969).
However, in Articles 4.1 (Right to Life) and 19 (Rights of the Child), this
Convention specifically enshrines some rights for children: “[every] person has the
right to have his life respected. This right shall be protected by law and, in general,
from the moment of conception. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” In
addition, “[every] minor child has the right to the measures of protection required
by his condition as a minor on the part of his family, society, and the state.” Here,
we can see that the family, society, and the state must treat children as children and
adopt specific protection measures given their vulnerabilities. The child, being a
child, deserves favorable treatment from all stakeholders.
(VIII) United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice (“The Beijing Rules”), 1980.

8
Signed at the Inter-American Specialized Conference on Human Rights, San Jose, Costa Rica,
November 22, 1969.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 61

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice (“The Beijing Rules”),9 were approved at the preparatory meetings for the
Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of
Offenders. They set fundamental guidelines and uniform minimum rules for the
administration of juvenile justice; specifically, they guide the signatory states in
dealing with juvenile offenders, clarify their rights, and stipulate basic procedural
guarantees.
In fact, “these fundamental guidelines of general character refer to social policy
as a whole and aim to promote the well-being of young people as much as possible,
which will minimize the need for intervention by the juvenile justice system and, on
the other hand, will reduce the damage often caused by any intervention. These
measures for the protection of young people, before they move on to delinquency,
are essential policy imperatives to avoid the need for the application of these Rules”
(Ministério Público, 1985, p.2).
On the other hand, the uniform minimum rules established for the administration
of juvenile justice are deliberately formulated so as to be applicable in different
legal systems and to set minimum standards for the treatment of juvenile offenders,
whatever the definition of juvenile and in all systems dealing with juvenile offend-
ers. The rules shall always be applied impartially and without distinction of any
kind, in particular regarding race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, economic condition, birth, or other status
(Ministério Público, 1985, p.3).
Thus, we have minimum rules for the administration of juvenile justice regarding
the age of criminal responsibility, the objectives of juvenile justice, the scope of
discretion (those who exercise discretion shall be specially qualified or trained to
exercise it judiciously and in accordance with their functions and mandates) (United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, 1985,
p.4), the rights of juveniles, the protection of private life, and the protection clause.
In addition to these minimum rules, some principles and rights are fixed, namely the
presumption of innocence, the right to be informed of the charges, the right not to
answer or to remain silent, the right to legal assistance, the right to the presence of
parents or guardians, the right to present evidence and to appeal the decision to a
higher authority, and the right to privacy and to image preservation, among
many others.
These Beijing Rules are fundamental, mainly because many times migrants and
refugees, regardless of whether they are children or not, are treated by member
states as mere criminals invading their territory.
(IX) Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.

9
Adopted by General Assembly resolution 40/33 of 29 November 1985.
62 J. N. Rodrigues

The Convention on the Rights of the Child10 is an international legal instrument

of hard law, which vehemently consecrated all rights and achievements, mean-
while, i tis instituted on behalf of the child. In fact, the preamble of the Convention
states the following: “[recognizing] that the United Nations has, in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants on Human Rights,
proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set
forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or
other status;[recalling] that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and
assistance;[convinced] that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the
natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particu-
larly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it
can fully assume its responsibilities within the community; [recognizing] that the
child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should
grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and
understanding;[considering] that the child should be fully prepared to live an indi-
vidual life in society, and brought up in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the
Charter of the United Nations, and in particular in the spirit of peace, dignity, toler-
ance, freedom, equality, and solidarity” (United Nations Human Rights, 2021).
Thus, as argued by Victor Hugo Albernaz Júnior and Paulo Roberto Vaz Ferreira,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child set “as a goal to encourage member
countries to implement the full and harmonious development of the personality of
their children, encouraging their growth in a family environment, in a climate of
happiness, love, and understanding, preparing them fully to live an individual life in
society and to be educated in the spirit of the ideals proclaimed in the Charter of the
United Nations, in a spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and soli-
darity. It was inspired by the international standards that preceded it and with the
purpose of particularizing them due to the subject of law that it targets – the child –
as well as developing them from the creation of mechanisms for enforceability and
monitoring of these principles and standards” (Júnior & Ferreira, 2011).
The convention consists of 54 articles, which can be divided into four categories
of rights: “1. the rights to survival (e.g. the right to adequate care); 2. the rights
related to development (e.g. the right to education); 3. the rights related to protec-
tion (e.g. the right to be protected from exploitation); 4. the rights to participation
(e.g. the right to express one’s opinion) (UNICEF – The Convention on the Rights
of the Child, 2004), and Article 1 defines the concept of child: “every human being
below the age of 18 years, unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is
attained earlier” (UNICEF for every child. Convention on the Rights of the Child,
2021). It establishes a set of fundamental rights for the child: non-discrimination,
the best interests of the child, the implementation of these rights by the States;

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution
10

44/25 of 20 November 1989, entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 63

guidance of the child and the evolution of his or her capacities; survival and devel-
opment; name and nationality; identity protection; separation from the country;
family reunification; unlawful removal and retention, the child’s opinion; freedom
of expression; freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; freedom of associa-
tion; protection of private life; access to appropriate information; parental responsi-
bility; protection from abuse and neglect, protection of children deprived of a family
environment; adoption; protection of refugee children and the special protection
children with disabilities; health and medical services; periodic review of place-
ment; social security; standard of living; educational goals; protection of children
from minority or indigenous populations; leisure, recreational, and cultural activi-
ties; children’s work; protection from drug use and trafficking, sexual exploitation,
sale, trafficking and abduction, other forms of exploitation, torture, and deprivation
of liberty; protection from armed conflict; recovery and reintegration; administra-
tion of juvenile justice; and application of the standard most favorable to the child.
All of these rights enshrined in the Convention portray the atrocities that children
are victims of on a daily basis, so it is necessary to strengthen their rights for protec-
tion in these areas. In addition, we cannot forget that the Convention on the Rights
of the Child also includes Optional Protocols on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography (entered into force 18 January 2020), on the
Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (entered into force 12 February 2002),
and on a Communications Procedure (entered into force 14 April 2014). All in all,
we commend this huge step taken by the international community in drafting a hard
law instrument.
(X) World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of
Children, 1990.
The 1990 World Declaration on the Survival, Protection, and Development of
Children was a commitment made during the World Summit for Children, held on
September 28–29, 1990, at the United Nations. At that time, the Plan of Action for
the 1990s was also adopted, where world leaders committed themselves “to improve
the health of children and mothers, combat malnutrition and illiteracy, and eradi-
cate the diseases that kill millions of children every year. (...) [Their goal was] to
give every child a better future. The child is innocent, vulnerable, and dependent.
He is also curious, active, and full of hope. His universe should be one of joy and
peace, of play, of learning and growth. Their future should be shaped by harmony
and cooperation. His development should proceed as he broadens his perspectives
and acquires new experiences” (World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and
Development of the Child, 1990).
Article 20 of this Declaration describes ten fundamental points to be developed
by the signatory countries for the protection of children and the improvement of
their living conditions:
1. We will work to promote the ratification and implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child as soon as possible. Programs should be launched
around the world to encourage the dissemination of information about chil-
64 J. N. Rodrigues

dren’s rights, taking into account the diverse cultural and social values of dif-
ferent countries;
2. We will work toward a consistent effort of action at the national and interna-
tional levels for improved child health, the promotion of prenatal care, and the
reduction of child mortality in all countries and among all peoples. We will
promote the provision of clean water to all communities for all their children
and universal access to basic sanitation;
3. We will work for improved conditions for child growth and development through
measures to eradicate hunger, malnutrition, and starvation, thus minimizing the
tragic suffering of millions of children in a world that has the means to feed all
its citizens;
4. We will work to strengthen the role and status of women. We will promote
responsible family planning, birth spacing, breastfeeding, and risk-free
motherhood;
5. We will work to enhance the role of the family as the caregiver of the child, sup-
port the efforts of parents, other caregivers, and communities to support chil-
dren from early childhood through adolescence. We also recognize the special
needs of children who are separated from their families;
6. We will work for programs that reduce illiteracy and ensure educational oppor-
tunities for all children, regardless of background and gender, that prepare chil-
dren for productive work and lifelong learning opportunities, i.e., vocational
education, and that enable children to grow to adulthood in a supportive and
protective cultural and social context;
7. We will work to improve the living conditions of millions of children abroad, the
orphans and street children and children of migrant workers, refugee children
and victims of natural and man-made disasters, the disabled and abused, and
the socially marginalized and exploited. Refugee children need to be helped to
find new roots. We will work for special protection for working children and for
the abolition of illegal child labor. We will do our best to ensure that children do
not become victims of the scourge of illicit drugs;
8. We will work hard to protect the child from the scourge of war, and we will take
measures to prevent further armed conflict in order to guarantee him/her every-
where a peaceful and secure future. We will promote the values of peace, under-
standing, and dialogue in early childhood education. The essential needs of the
child and his or her family must be protected, even during war and in areas
affected by violence. We ask that periods of tranquility and corridors of peace
be observed to benefit children where war and violence still persist;
9. We will work for common measures to protect the environment at all levels so
that all children can have a safer and healthier future;
10. We will work for a global fight against poverty that brings immediate benefits
for the welfare of children. The vulnerability and special needs of children in
developing countries, and in particular in the least developed countries, deserve
priority. But growth and development need to be promoted in all Nations,
through national action and international cooperation. This requires the trans-
fer of adequate additional resources to developing countries, as well as better
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 65

terms of trade, further trade liberalization, and measures to reduce debt. It also
implies structural adjustment measures that promote world economic growth,
particularly in developing countries, while ensuring the well-being of the most
vulnerable sectors of the population, particularly children” (World Declaration
on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, 1990).
This declaration is important to achieve the goal to safeguard the most elemen-
tary rights of children, mainly because, as Nilton Kasctin dos Santos argued, it talks
about the “principle of immediate priority”, making it clear, therefore, that the (inte-
gral) protection of childhood must be, besides being a priority, urgent and fast
(Santos, 2002, p. 240).
(XI) United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency –
Riyadh Guidelines, 1990.
The United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, also
called the 1990 Riyadh Guidelines, were adopted in December 1990 at the 8th
United Nations Congress (UN Doc. No. A/Conf. 157/24 (Part I), 1990). These are
soft law “norms,” yet they set the United Nations Guiding Principles for the
Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guiding Principles)11 by stipulating
that, “1. [a] the prevention of juvenile delinquency is an essential part of crime
prevention in society. By engaging in lawful and socially useful activities and adopt-
ing a humanistic orientation towards society and life, young people can develop
non-criminal attitudes. 2. Successful prevention of juvenile delinquency requires
efforts on the part of society as a whole to ensure the harmonious development of
adolescents, with respect and promotion of their personality, from the earliest age.
3. For the purposes of interpreting these Guiding Principles, a child-centered orien-
tation should be followed. Young people should play an active and cooperative role
within society and should not be regarded as mere objects of socialization and con-
trol measures” (United Nations Guiding Principles for the Prevention of Juvenile
Delinquency [Riyadh Guiding Principles], 1990).
As effectively described by Amorim Dutra, the fundamental principles are: (1)
“Prevent juvenile delinquency as an essential part of crime prevention in society;
(2) Provide investments aimed at the well-being of children and adolescentes; (3)
Implement political and progressive measures to prevent delinquency; and (4)
Develop community-based services and programs for the prevention of juvenile
delinquency” (Dutra, 2006, p. 32). Thus, in practice, these guidelines have contrib-
uted to the consolidation, respect, and affirmation of the rights of the child in the
prevention of juvenile delinquency.
(XII) United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Protection of Juveniles
Deprived of their Liberty, 1990.

Adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 45/112,
11

December 14, 1990.

66 J. N. Rodrigues

These United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Protection of Juveniles
Deprived of their Liberty were adopted at the Eighth United Nations Congress,
established by Resolution 45/113 of December 1990, and set out exceptional mea-
sures regarding the imprisonment of juvenile offenders: “[t]he juvenile justice sys-
tem should uphold the rights and safety of juveniles and promote their physical and
mental well-being. Imprisonment should only be used as a measure of last resort
[...] and be for the shortest possible duration, and should be limited to exceptional
cases. The duration of the sanction should be determined by the judicial authority,
without excluding the possibility of early release. [...] The Rules are intended to
establish a set of minimum standards accepted by the United Nations for the protec-
tion of juveniles deprived of their liberty in any form, compatible with human rights
and fundamental freedoms, and designed to combat the harmful effects of all types
of detention and to promote integration into society.” (United Nations Rules for the
Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 1990).12
In this context, it should also be noted that this law defines youth as anyone under
the age of 18. The age limit below which a child should not be allowed to be deprived
of liberty should be fixed by law. It also defines deprivation of liberty as any form of
detention or imprisonment, or the placement of a person in a public or private facil-
ity from which he or she cannot leave of his or her own free will by order of any
judicial, administrative, or other public authority (United Nations Rules for the
Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 1990, pp. 2–3).13
It is interesting to note that in addition to dealing with the Rules for juveniles
deprived of their liberty, there is a concern with re(insertion), in that it stipulates that
deprivation of liberty must be carried out in conditions and circumstances that
ensure respect for the human rights of juveniles; that they must not be deprived of
civil, economic, political, social or cultural rights that they enjoy under domestic, or
international law; and that are compatible with the deprivation of liberty. In practice,
they should benefit from measures designed to assist their return to society, family
life, education, or employment after release (United Nations Rules for the Protection
of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, 1990, pp. 8–9).14
This is a very useful tool for migrant and refugee children, as many of these
children are treated as criminals and arbitrarily detained in reception centers.
(XIII) X Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government – Declaration
of Panama – “United for childhood and adolescence, the basis of justice and
equity in the new millennium”, 2000.
The Heads of State and Government of the 21 Ibero-American countries, met in
Panama City, Republic of Panama, on November 17 and 18, 2000. These leaders
were convinced that, in order to achieve sustainable human development,

12
See point 1 to 3 of the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their
Liberty, 1990.
13
See points 11(a) and (b).
14
See points 38 to 46.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 67

democratic consolidation, equity, and social justice, and based on the principles of
universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights, it is of strategic
importance to devote special attention to children and adolescents, and they decided
once again to examine together the situation of children and adolescents in order to
promote programs and actions to ensure respect for their rights, their well-being,
and their integral development (10th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and
Government – Declaration of Panama, 2000).15
This declaration has as its strategic orientation the recognition and fundamental
importance of children and adolescents as subjects of rights in our societies and the
regulatory and normative role of the State in the elaboration and execution of social
policies for their benefit and as a guarantee of their rights. In this way, in paragraphs
a) to n) of point 9, the statement proposes several actions or programs in order to
promote development with equity and social justice: ensure the exercise of the right
of children to be registered at birth; ensure respect for linguistic, ethnic, cultural,
and gender equity diversity, which support human and individual development;
ensure access to free and compulsory early childhood education and basic educa-
tion; promote the use of information technology in teaching-learning processes,
including open and distance education; promote the free flow of information and
communication among educational institutions; strengthen food security programs
in each country; extend social security systems to as many families as possible;
adopt urgent measures for research, prevention, treatment, and control of HIV/
AIDS; incorporate sex education programs into educational systems, both school
and non-school; give high priority to the problem of homelessness; implement
national strategies and programs directed at children and adolescents in adverse
social conditions and at-risk situations; foster the adoption of measures directed at
children and adolescents with disabilities; and promote sports and the healthy and
creative use of free time by children and adolescents (Iberoamerican Summit of
Heads of State and Government – Declaration of Panama, 2000).
In conclusion, in the words of Mauro Ferrandin, “the initiative of the countries
that formulated the Panama Declaration is praiseworthy, not only for protecting the
rights of children and adolescents with promising policies (without instantaneous
and transitory effect), but also, and mainly, for safeguarding the socioeconomic
welfare of future generations” (Ferrandin, 2009, p. 32).
(XIV) Council of Europe Strategy on the Rights of the Child, 2016–2021.
The five priority areas for securing the rights of the child in this, the Council of
Europe’s strategy on the rights of the child, are: I) Equal opportunity for all chil-
dren; II) Participation of all children; III) A life free from violence for all children;
IV) Child-friendly justice for all children; and V) Children’s rights in the digital
environment. These areas are based on four general principles, namely non-­
discrimination; the best interests of the child; respect for the right to life, survival,

15
See point 1 of the X Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government – Declaration
of Panama.
68 J. N. Rodrigues

and development; and finally the right to be heard in decisions concerning them
(Council of Europe Strategy on the Rights of the Child, 2016–2021).
(B) At the European Union level:
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights was proclaimed on December 7, 2000,
on the sidelines of the European Council meeting in Nice, and was subsequently
published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.16 As
Sophie Perez Fernandes states, “the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union is the most recent face of this acquired jusfundamental heritage. By reaffirm-
ing in a single catalog the civil, political, social, and economic rights of EU citi-
zens, of persons resident or based in EU territory, or affected by its actions, the
[Charter] makes the importance of these rights and their function in the EU legal
system more visible: an objective function, as a control standard for the actions of
the authorities entrusted with the exercise of public power in the EU, and above all,
a subjective function, to protect the rights of individuals whose situation falls within
the scope of [European Union law]. In addition to consolidating the EU’s jusfunda-
mental acquis into a comprehensive catalog of fundamental rights protected by the
EU legal order, the [Charter] dictates the modus operandi of the EU’s internorma-
tive and dynamic system of jusfundamental protection. From an evolutionary point
of view, the [Charter] is both the point of arrival and the point of departure of the
EU system of fundamental rights protection” (Fernandes, 2017, p.6).
The Charter of Fundamental Rights is divided into seven chapters: Chapter I
(Dignity), Chapter II (Freedoms), Chapter III (Equality), Chapter IV (Solidarity),
Chapter V (Citizenship), Chapter VI (Justice), and Chapter VII (General Provisions).
However, on the Rights of the Child, the Charter of Fundamental Rights is inspired
by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and enshrines some general rights,
including the right to attend free compulsory education (Article 14, paragraph 2),
the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age (Article 21), and the prohibition
of exploitation of child labor (Article 32). It specifically dedicates Article 24 to the
rights of children, in which it states: “1. Children shall have the right to such pro-
tection and care as is necessary for their well-being. They may express their views
freely. Such views shall be taken into consideration on matters which concern them
in accordance with their age and maturity. 2. In all actions relating to children,
whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests
must be a primary consideration. 3. Every child shall have the right to maintain on
a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both his or her par-
ents, unless that is contrary to his or her interests” (Charter of Fundamental Rights
of the European Union, 2000, pp. 13–14).
With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, the Charter of
Fundamental Rights ceases to be an annex to the Treaty of Nice and gains the same
legal value as the Treaty of Lisbon, thus enabling the promotion of the rights of the
child by making the protection of the rights of the child an objective (Article 2 (3)

16
JO C 364 de 18.12.2000.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 69

TEU) and by highlighting the protection of the rights of the child as a fundamental
aspect of the EU’s external policy (Article 2 (5) TEU), (Treaty of Lisbon, 2007,
pp. 11). Naturally, as a result of this, many other secondary legal instruments have
been adopted over time within the European Union.
The Charter does indeed give greater visibility to rights as well as enhances legal
certainty and security, but it does not per se confer a policy of promoting fundamen-
tal rights. However, the gains in visibility and legal certainty should not be mini-
mized, since effective legal protection also implies that, only by knowing our rights
can we effectively enforce them, and this naturally applies to the rights of the child
(Leão, 2006, p. 75).
II) Council Recommendation on the creation of a child guarantee 2021.
If we analyze points 15 and 16 of this recommendation, we quickly realize its
intent and objective. Thus, “[t]he aim of this Recommendation is to prevent and
combat social exclusion by ensuring access to a range of essential services for chil-
dren in need, incorporating a gender perspective in order to take into account the
different situations of girls and boys, combating child poverty and promoting equal
opportunities. Children in need are people under the age of 18 who are at risk of
poverty or social exclusion. These are children living in households at risk of pov-
erty, or suffering from severe material and social deprivation, or with very low work
intensity. In order to ensure effective access or effective and free access to essential
services, Member States should, in accordance with national circumstances and
approaches, organise and provide such services or ensure adequate provision for
parents or guardians of children in need to be able to afford the costs or charges for
such services. Particular attention is needed to avoid that possible associated costs
constitute an obstacle for children in need in low-income families to full access to
essential services” (Council Recommendation on establishing a European
Children’s Guarantee, 2021, p. 6).
Essentially, like so many other instruments, this strategy proposes a set of actions
in seven key areas: (I) Participation in political and democratic life; (II) Socio-­
economic inclusion, health, and education; (III) Combating violence against chil-
dren and ensuring the protection of children; (IV) Child-friendly justice; (V) Digital
and information society; (VI) The global dimension; and (VII) Incorporating a
child’s perspective in all EU actions (EUROCID, 2021).
In fact, we believe that this last action of incorporating the child’s perspective in
all the actions of the EU is the most important, because we have to adopt policies
and measures that take into account the peculiar characteristics of children.
(C) At the National level – Portugal:
In the Portuguese legal system, we have several legal instruments that address
the issue of minors. For example, the Portuguese Civil Code defines a minor in
Article 122 as all those who have not yet reached the age of eighteen. In Article 123,
it speaks of the incapacity of minors, in Article 124 of the suppression of the inca-
pacity of minors, in Article 126 of the deceit of the minor, in Article 127 of the
exceptions to the incapacity of minors, in Article 128 of the duty of obedience to the
70 J. N. Rodrigues

parents, and in Article 129 of the end of the incapacity of minors. From article 1796
to 1972, it discusses filiation, paternal power, and other related issues. The
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic of 1974, with the various revisions,
addresses family, marriage, and filiation in Article 36, Family in Article 67,
Childhood in Article 69,17 and Youth in Article 7018 (Constitution of the Portuguese’s
Republic, 1974).
The Portuguese Penal Code19 has several articles regarding crimes against chil-
dren: Infanticide – Article 136, Exhibition or abandonment – Article 138; Female
genital mutilation – Article 144-A; Domestic violence – Article 152; Forced mar-
riage – Article 154-B; Trafficking in persons – Article 160; Sexual abuse of person
incapable of resistance – Article 165; Sexual abuse of children – Article 171; Sexual
abuse of dependent minors – Article 173; Recourse to prostitution of minors –
Article 174; Lenocination of minors – Article 175; Pornography of minors – Article
176; Solicitation of minors for sexual purposes – Article 176A; Inhibition of paren-
tal power and prohibition of the exercise of functions – Article 179; and Violation of
the obligation of maintenance – Article 250.
Finally, the Law for the Protection of Children and Youngsters in Danger, 1999,20
establishes a set of principles through which the best interest of the child is the cen-
tral axis of action, whenever the legal representative or the de facto custodian of the
child endangers his or her safety, health, training, education, or development or
when this danger results from an action or omission of a third party or the child or
young person himself or herself, which the latter does not oppose in an appropriate
manner to remove it. Finally, we have the Educational Guardianship Law,21 for use
when a minor between the ages of 12 and 16 commits an act qualified by law as
a crime.
In short, Portuguese legal instruments regarding the protection of children’s
rights have been inspired by international and European legal instruments, which is
why I repeatedly state that it is not for lack of legal instruments that children are not
protected; it is essentially for lack of awareness that children need other treatment
appropriate to their age.

17
See Article 69 (Childhood) of Constitution of the Portuguese’s Republic, 1974 “(1) Children
have the protection of society and the State, with a view to their full development, especially
against all forms of abandonment, discrimination and oppression and against the abusive exercise
of authority in the family and in other institutions. (2) The State ensures special protection to chil-
dren who are orphans, abandoned or otherwise deprived of a normal family environment. (3) The
work of minors of school age is prohibited under the law”.
18
See article 70 (Youth) of Constitution of the Portuguese’s Republic, 1974 “(1) Young people
shall enjoy special protection for the realization of their economic, social and cultural rights,
namely:( a) In education, vocational training and culture; (b) In access to their first job, at work
and in social security; (c) In access to housing; (d) In physical education and sport; (e) In the
enjoyment of leisure time”.
19
See Portuguese Decree-Law No 48/95, Official Gazette, No 63/1995, Series I-A of 1995-03-15.
20
The Law for the Protection of Children and Youngsters in Danger was adopted by Law n° 147/99,
September 1st.
21
The Educational Guardianship Law was adopted by Law 166/99, of September 14.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 71

 igrant and Refugee Children in Europe – Causes

M
and Consequences

Before addressing the issue of migrant and refugee children in Europe, it is impor-
tant to analyze the evolution of asylum applications in the European Union over
time. In this way, if we analyze the statistics of the European Union body, Eurostat,
regarding the number of asylum applications, we verify that there was a decrease in
2020, essentially due to COVID-19. “Between 2008 and 2012 there was a gradual
increase in the number of asylum applications within the EU, after which the num-
ber of asylum seekers rose at a more rapid pace, with 400,500 applications in 2013,
594,200 in 2014, and around 1.3 million in 2015. In 2016, the number levelled off
at around 1.2 million. In 2017, the number of asylum applications market a signifi-
cant decrease of 44.5% in comparison with 2016 and continued a downward path
also in 2018. In 2019, the number of asylum seekers climbed to 698,800, up by
11.7% compared to 2018. In 2020, 471,300 asylum applicants applied for interna-
tional protection in the EU Member States; it was down by 32.6% compared with
2019. This decrease can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related
travel restrictions implemented by the EU Member States” (Eurostat Statistics
Explained. Number of asylum applicants, 2021).
On the other hand, it is convenient to underline that one third of refugees and
migrants who have arrived in Europe are children. Refugee and migrant children –
some travelling with their families, some alone – risk everything, even their own
lives, in search of a better life. Millions of uprooted families flee their homes to
escape conflict, persecution, and poverty in countries including Syria, Afghanistan,
Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan. When children and young people feel that they have no
choices, have no sense of a future, and face no safe and legal alternatives for migra-
tion available to them, uprooted children will take matters into their own hands,
facing even greater risks of exploitation at the hands of people smugglers and traf-
fickers (UNICEF for every child, 2017).
As mentioned by Afshan Khan, Regional Director for UNICEF in Europe and
Central Asia, “[there] are far more reasons that push children to leave their homes
and fewer pull factors that lure them to Europe. But for those who do aim to come
to Europe, the allure is the chance to further their education, find respect for their
rights and get ahead in life. Once they reach Europe, their expectations are sadly
shattered” (Afshan Khan, UNICEF for every child, 2017).
All children on the move are vulnerable to abuse and other grave forms of vio-
lence during and after their journeys. However, little is known regarding how many
migrant and refugee children reach Europe, the main causes of these long journeys,
and the main consequences that these children themselves suffer in their journey in
search of a new world, a world that is safer and in principle respectful of the most
basic rights of children.
We intend to pursue answers to these questions using Eurostat statistics. In fact,
in addition to defining an unaccompanied minor as “a person less than 18 years old
who arrives on the territory of na EU Member State not accompanied by an adult
72 J. N. Rodrigues

responsible for the minor or a minor who is left unaccompanied after having entered
the territory of a Member State” (Eurostat Statistics Explained, Applications by
unaccompanied minors, 2021), this provides us with the necessary figures to better
understand the breadth of this issue. “In 2020, there were 13,600 applications in the
EU from unaccompanied minors; 9.6% of all minors were unaccompanied. In the
majority of EU Member States, in 2020 the share of minors that was unaccompa-
nied was less than 50%. Only five Member States recorded higher rates: Portugal
(50.0%), Slovakia (56.3%), Romania (62.2%), Bulgaria, and Slovenia (71, 0% for
both)” (Eurostat Statistics Explained. Applications by unaccompanied minors, 2021).
On the other hand, if we analyze the ages and genders of first-time applicants, we
can see that “More than three quarters (78.7%) of the first-time asylum seekers in
the EU in 2020 were less than 35 years old; those in the age range 18-34 years
accounted for slightly less than half (47.7%) of the total number of first-time appli-
cants, while almost one-third (31.0%) of the total number of first-time applicants
were minors aged less than 18 years. This age distribution of first-time asylum
applicants was common in almost all of the EU Member States, with the largest
share of applicants being those aged 18–34. However, there were a few exception to
this pattern: Germany, Croatia, and Sweden reported a higher proportion of asylum
applicants less than 18 years old; Estonia reported a higher proportion of asylum
applicants aged 35–64; and in Hungary, a higher proportion of applications were
observed from asylum seekers less than 18 years old and those aged 35–64.
The distribution of first-time asylum applicants by sex shows that more men
(63.8%) than women (36.1%) sought asylum; an unknown category accounted for
the remaining 0.1%. Among the youngest age group (0–13 years), males accounted
for 51.2% of the total number of applicants in 2020. Greater differences were
observed for asylum applicants who were 14–17 or 18–34 years old, in which 71.7%
and 71.8%, respectively, of first-time applicants were male, with this share dropping
back to 59.2% for the age group 35–64. Across the EU, female applicants outnum-
bered male applicants in 2020 for asylum applicants aged 65 and over, although this
group was relatively small, accounting for just 0.8% (0.5% females and 0.3% males)
of the total number of first-time applicants” (Eurostat Statistics Explained. Age and
gender of first-time applicants, 2021).
After analyzing the numbers, what are the main causes that lead people, and in
particular children, to undertake these long journeys and what are the main conse-
quences for them in this crossing. In fact, “[in] 1951, most of the refugees were
Europeans. Today, most come from Africa and Asia. Today, refugee movements are
increasingly taking the form of mass exoduses, unlike the individual escapes of the
past. Eighty per cent of refugees today are women and children. The causes of the
exoduses have also multiplied, now including natural or ecological disasters and
extreme poverty. (...) [However, there is] a clear relationship between the refugee
problem and the question of human rights. Human rights violations are not only one
of the main causes of mass exoduses, but they also rule out the option of voluntary
repatriation for as long as they occur. Violations of minority rights and ethnic con-
flicts are increasingly at the root of both mass exoduses and internal displacement”
(United Nations. Human Rights and Refugees, 2002, pp. 4–5).
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 73

What are the main consequences that these migrant and refugee children are
confronted with after the mass exodus in search of better living conditions? The
consequences can be diverse. They can: (a) be subject to restrictive measures by
member states denying them access to safe territories; (b) be held in detention or
forcibly sent to areas where their life, freedom, and safety are threatened; (c) be
attacked by armed groups or recruited by armed forces and forced to fight on the
side of one of the warring factions (United Nations, Human Rights and Refugees,
2002, p. 5); and (d) be victims of shipwreck, rape, discrimination, racism, intoler-
ance, xenophobia, hunger, and all other atrocities to the most basic human dignity.
However, and despite all these damaging and offending consequences for human
dignity, it is nevertheless an undeniable fact that migrant and refugee children will
continue to arrive in Europe/European Union in search of better living conditions
and protection for their lives. It is up to the European Union to find solutions and
adopt uniform procedures for the treatment of these children, mainly because they
are vulnerable children.

 etworking of Institutional Actors to Support Migrant

N
and Refugee Children Based on the Best Interests of the Child

The main institutional actors involved in following up on cases concerning migrant,

refugee, and/or unaccompanied minors are several and have various designations
and/or functions depending on the European Union Member State. However, in
general, all European Union member states have common bodies and/or institutions
for border control and border crossing, as well as for the promotion and protection
of the rights of children, refugees, migrants, and borders. In this way, we will focus
this analysis on the bodies and institutions in Portugal in order to extrapolate a uni-
form idea for the entire European Union with regard to this theme. Thus, the main
bodies and/or institutions existing in Portugal in this area are as follows:
(a) The Foreigners and Border Services (SEF), currently in Portugal renamed
Foreigners and Asylum Services (SEA)22 “is a security service integrated in the
Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) which, in the framework of internal
security policy, has the mission to ensure the control of people at borders, for-
eigners in national territory, the prevention and combat of criminality related to
illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings, manage the travel and
identification documents of foreigners and proceed to the instruction of asylum
application processes, in safeguarding internal security and individual rights
and freedoms in the global context of the migratory reality.” (Foreigners and
Borders Service [SEF], 2021).

Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 43/2021, Official Gazette No. 72/2021, Series I of
22

2021-04-14.
74 J. N. Rodrigues

It should be noted that, while SEF was a criminal police body, this new SEA
body is no longer a police body and now has only administrative competences, such
as dealing with passports, visas, residence permits, and refugee status, although it
remains under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (SIC Notices, SEF will be extinct and
will be called Foreigners and Asylum Service [SEA], 2021). Naturally, each
European Union member state has its own border control and surveillance force,
with its own designations, but integrated into the European Border and Cost Guard
Agency, also known as FRONTEX.23 However, it should be emphasized that, with
this change in designation from (SEF) to (SEA), the intention was to give a more
humanistic and less bureaucratic approach to migration issues.
(b) The Portuguese Refugee Council (CPR), a non-governmental organization that
plays a key role in the area of asylum and refugees and, in the particular case of
unaccompanied minors, in following up on asylum requests, in the legal repre-
sentation of their interests, in welcoming and ensuring the application of the
law, as well as in accessing the rights foreseen therein (Foreigners and Border
Services (SEF), Reception, Return and Integration of Unaccompanied Minors
in Portugal. European Migration Network, 2008, p. 2).
CPR’s mission is to defend and promote the right to asylum in Portugal, in accor-
dance with international, European, and national human rights and refugee law. To
this end, it provides direct and free, independent, and impartial support, carried out
by various departments specifically targeted at the applicants and beneficiaries of
international protection, with the objectives of ensuring access to international pro-
tection and empowering this population for integration, respectively, through initial
and transitional reception, advocacy (legal support) and through information,
awareness, and training activities, contributing to a more informed and receptive
society to refugees (Portuguese Council for Refugees, 2021). Naturally, each
Member State of the European Union also has governmental and non-governmental
organizations that support refugees.
(c) The Family and Juvenile Courts, which promote the protection rights of chil-
dren and youth at risk, which includes unaccompanied minors who are aban-
doned or left to their own devices (Foreigners and Border Services [SEF], and
Reception, Return, and Integration of Unaccompanied Minors in Portugal,
European Migration Network, 2008, p. 3). Naturally, each member state of the
European Union has in its legal system and institutions for the promotion and
protection of children and young people at risk.
(d) The Commissions for the Protection of Children and Young People at Risk
(CPCJRs), composed of multidisciplinary teams, run on a county basis, pro-
mote the rights of children and young people and warn about situations that
may affect their safety, health, training and education, or full development

23
Adopted by Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of 13 November 2019 on the European Border and
Coast Guard (OJ L 295, 14.11.2019, p. 1) in turn repealed Regulations (EU) No 1052/2013 and
(EU) 2016/1624.
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 75

(­Foreigners and Border Services (SEF), Reception, Return and Integration of

Unaccompanied Minors in Portugal. European Migration Network, 2008, p. 3).
Once again, all European Union member states have in their legal system iden-
tical or similar institutions and/or bodies for the promotion and protection of
children’s rights.
(e) The European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) is a not-for-­
profit association of independent children’s rights institutions (ICRIs). Its man-
date is to facilitate the promotion and protection of the rights of children, as
formulated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (European Network
of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC), 2021). In 2018, these items were
adopted by the 24th General Assembly on 18 November 2020, the revised
ENOC Statutes. Its objectives are: “to promote and safeguard children’s rights
and to work on strategies for the fullest possible implementation of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child; to serve as a forum of colleagues for the
exchange of information, capacity building, and professional support among
the members; to promote the establishment of independent children’s rights
institutions (ICRIs) in countries worldwide and offer support to such initiatives
and to maintain an overview of other activities around the world and share more
broadly beyond ENOC; to stimulate contacts and support with and among other
ICRIs worldwide and their networks; to ensure, through advocacy and policy
work, that relevant European-wide bodies place child rights at the centre of
their activities, legislation and policies, and adopt-a-child rights approach to
their work; and to promote the active participation of children and young people
in the decision-making processes, legislation, and policies concerning them.
ENOC aims to implement such active engagement with and participation of
children and young people in every aspect of ENOC’s work and decision-­
making, including inter alia through consultations, engagement, and other
activities and to initiate and coordinate strategic interventions on policy and liti-
gation affecting children’s rights agreed by at least two-thirds of full members
of ENOC” (The European Netwok of Ombudspersons for Children, Statutes as
amended November, 2020).24
However, all of these organizations and institutions should be governed by some
guiding principles, not least because migrant and refugee and/or unaccompanied
children are, above all, children subject to a variety of dangers and risks. Indeed, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “every human being below
the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is
attained earlier” (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).25 On the other
hand, the definition of a refugee is found in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees and in the New York Protocol of January 31, 1967, supple-
mentary to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, concluded in Geneva
on July 28, 1951. Thus, we must distinguish between refugee and migrant. Refugees

24
See 2.1 to 2.7. of the article 2 (Objectives of ENOC).
25
See article 1 Convention of the Right of the Child (1989).
76 J. N. Rodrigues

are “persons who have escaped from armed conflict or persecution. Their situation
is often so dangerous and intolerable that they must cross international borders to
seek safety in nearby countries, and then become an internationally recognized
‘refugee’ with access to assistance from States, UNHCR, and other organizations.
They are recognized as such precisely because it is too dangerous for them to return
to their country, and they need asylum somewhere else. For these people, the denial
of an asylum can have vital consequences” (UNHCR, Refugee or Migrant?, 2015).
On the other hand, migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat of perse-
cution or death, but primarily to improve their lives in search of work or education,
for family reunion, or for other reasons. Unlike refugees, who cannot return home,
migrants continue to receive protection from their government” (UNHCR, Refugee
or Migrant?, 2015).
Having made this distinction between refugee and migrant children, it is impor-
tant to highlight and underline the principles and procedures that member states
should adopt or follow when dealing with this vulnerable public. Thus, we are of the
opinion that all institutional actors involved in following up on cases concerning
migrant children, refugees, and/or unaccompanied minors, namely the Foreigners
and Borders Services (SEF), Foreigners and Asylum Services (SEA), the Portuguese
Refugee Council (CPR) the Family and Juvenile Courts, the Commissions for the
Protection of Children and Youngsters at Risk (CPCJRs), and the European
Children’s Ombudsman should be governed first and foremost, whenever dealing
with these cases, by mandatorily safeguarding the principle of the best interest of
the child and conjugating this principle with all others.
Therefore, mainly because we are dealing with children, regardless of being
refugee, migrant, and/or unaccompanied minors, all of these organizations and
institutions for the support and protection of children in the various Member States
of the European Union, as well as the European Network of Ombudsmen for
Children (ENOC), should collaborate and network in order to improve the respect
for the rights of children and defend the interests and needs of these same children.
Thus, as established in the Portuguese Law for the Protection of Children and Young
People in Danger, all bodies and institutions should base their actions and/or inter-
vention, as far as minors are concerned, on the following uniform guiding principles:
(a) Superior interest of the child – the interests and rights of the minor must be
given priority, without prejudice to the consideration due to other legitimate inter-
ests within the plurality of interests in the concrete case. Thus, as stated by Almiro
Rodrigues, “the best interest of the child must be understood as the right of the
minor to healthy and normal development on a physical, intellectual, moral, spiri-
tual, and social level, in conditions of freedom and dignity” (Rodrigues, 1985,
pp. 18-19). We must also not forget that the child should be taken into account in all
matters relating to the child. In this context, it is also important to remember, as
Maria Clara Sottomayor pointed out, that “the interest of the minor is a vague and
generic concept used by the legislator in order to allow the judge some discretion,
common sense and creativity, whose content must be determined in each concrete
case (Sottomayor, 2003, pp. 36-37); (b) Privacy – respect for intimacy, image, and
reserve of their private life; (c) Early Intervention – to solve the problem as soon as
4 Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe Children: A New Perspective 77

it is known. In this case, these aspects have to do with a timely decision and the due
procedural celerity, with the efficacy of the decision, which the interests of the
minor advise and demand; (d) Minimum Intervention – the intervention shall be
made exclusively by the competent entities and institutions. In addition, one must
take the steps that are strictly necessary and indispensable for the effective protec-
tion of the minor and his or her rights; (e) Proportionality and current – the interven-
tion should be the necessary and adequate to the specific situation. In fact, the
measures proposed and decided upon must be necessary and appropriate to the
minor’s situation at the time of the decision and must only interfere in the lives of
the minor and his or her family to the extent strictly necessary; (f) Parental respon-
sibility – the parents should assume their duties with the child or young person dur-
ing the intervention; (g) Primacy of the continuity of the deep psychological
relationships – the intervention should respect and preserve the affective relation-
ships; (h) Prevalence of the family – prevalence to the measures that integrate the
children or youths in the family or promote the adoption; (i) Obligation of informa-
tion – the child or youth, the parents, or the legal representatives have the right to be
informed; (j) Obligatory hearing and participation – the child or youth, the parents,
or the legal representatives have the right to be heard and to participate; and (k)
Subsidiarity – the intervention should be carried out by the entities with competence
in children or youth matters, the commissions of protection of children and youths
and, lastly, the courts (Law for the Protection of Children and Youngsters in
Danger, 1999).

Final Considerations

When we discuss children and their rights, it doesn’t matter if they are migrant chil-
dren, refugee children, and/or unaccompanied children. What really matters is a
clear understanding that, no matter what legal, social, or cultural qualification we
may give to children, they are vulnerable, sensitive, fragile, and unable to autono-
mously safeguard and protect their own interests, needs, physical integrity, and
safety. The State, the European Union, and the organizations and/or institutions
supporting and protecting the most elementary rights of the child play a fundamen-
tal role in raising awareness and defending the most elementary rights of the child.
A number of international, European, and/or national legal instruments, both hard
law and soft law, have been developed to safeguard the rights of the child.
Unfortunately, it’s not for lack of legislation that the rights of the child are not
respected, but because the men and women who apply this legislation forget that
they were once children, with dreams and needs of their own, with courage in their
fragility, with imagination without borders and with the purity and sincerity of their
hearts. Unfortunately, the men who apply the migration laws tend to distinguish
their children from other children, simply because some of them came from distant
lands, with a different color, ethnicity, language, or culture.
78 J. N. Rodrigues

Conclusion

We need to adopt a top priority strategy, a green line applicable to all Member States
in matters relating to children, regardless of whether they are migrants, refugees, or
unaccompanied minors. It is necessary to create a rapid multidisciplinary team, or
rather, a European multidisciplinary border patrol force to support minors, consist-
ing of psychologists, sociologists, social workers, lawyers, military personnel, doc-
tors and other areas of social intervention so that, in coordination with the other
European Union Member States, we can detect early all migrant children, refugees,
and/or unaccompanied minors who arrive in the European Union. All actions must
be based on the uncompromising defense of the best interests of the child, because
what we do now with the children, they will do later with society. Protected children
become more balanced, thoughtful adults who also respect human rights. Children
are the hope for the future, the smile of the world, and the joy of life, regardless of
whether they are migrant children, refugee children, and/or unaccompanied minors.

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Chapter 5
Extremism vs. Human Rights: How
Ideology Is Built, Nurtured,
and Transforms Societies

Yvonne Vissing

 ow Extremist Ideology Is Built, Nurtured,

H
and Transforms Societies

Extremist attitudes and actions have long existed but are taking on new dimensions
in contemporary global society. Ideologically, extremists were once thought to be
isolated renegades or religious fanatics in far off places, but today it is much harder
to determine who is an extremist because extremists could be home-grown, govern-
ment leaders or belong to mainstream groups which present themselves as legiti-
mate alternatives to authorities. The very nature of what extremism is, and who
extremists are, have changed.
In this chapter, ideological underpinnings of both globalism and extremism are
explored in relation to human rights (Zajda, 2020; Zajda & Vissing, 2021). Globalism
has been both a cause of, and a buffer to, extremism. Global social changes such as
the coronavirus pandemic have contributed to the rise of extremism. Electronic
communications and social media have also contributed to the rise of extremism.
Particular emphasis is given to how youth are targets of extremists who encourage
them to grow violent attitudes and actions. The chapter assumes that extremism
poses significant threats to societies and that extremism can be curtailed. Extremism
can be understood as an unanticipated off-shoot of globalism. It is explored from a
variety of theoretical perspectives. As a diverse, learned process that develops over
time in certain stages, its presence is impacted by both macro factors and micro
interactions (Jensen et al., 2018). Since extremism is socially constructed, alterna-
tives to it could also be constructed; if extremism is learned, then rights-respecting
attitudes and actions can also be learned. How extremism is addressed will deter-
mine how its presence, or eradication, can transform societies into communities of

Y. Vissing (*)
Salem State University, Chester, NH, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 83

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_5
84 Y. Vissing

fear and hate or peace and tolerance. Understanding how extremist ideology is cul-
tivated and disseminated is essential in preventing it.

What Is Extremism?

Extremism is traditionally defined as a form of deviant behavior in which a person

or group seeks to exert power to impose their views upon others in a manner not
conducive to what is defined in human rights treaties, such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC), International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), or the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). These human rights treaties define
ways in which humans should treat one another; extremism is then a violent viola-
tion of these treatments.
Extremism has undergone a metamorphosis. Since the September 11, 2001
(9/11) terrorist attacks in the United States, Western countries have come to see ter-
rorism as a high-priority security threat. Previously they had viewed violent extrem-
ism principally as an external threat-committed on or against one’s homeland by
individuals who have migrated or traveled from a foreign country. But an accelera-
tion of violent extremism from people who have been born in or spent considerable
time as a resident of the target country has shifted their attention to “homegrown
violent extremism” (HVE) (Borum & Patterson, 2019). The term extremist was
often associated with groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. But
the term is being redefined by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which finds
that racial and nationalistic extremism has become a global threat that puts it on the
same footing as ISIS (Boboltz, 2020). Increased demographic diversity has contrib-
uted to an increase of violent extremist attitudes and actions among young people
(Jones, 2018); far-right attacks in Europe, jumped 43% between 2016 and 2017
(Jones, 2018). The US FBI director states that domestic extremism is metastasizing;
the number of white supremacists arrested in 2020 nearly tripled since 2017, and the
agency currently has more than 2000 domestic terrorism investigations underway,
double the amount it had in 2019 (Visser, 2020).
Extremism used to refer to holding of extreme political or religious views but
now it has other connotations. With the introduction of violence in political, reli-
gious and public domains, an extremist is one who holds extreme views, especially
one who advocates illegal, violent, or other extreme action (Murad & Murad, 2018).
The “extremist” label is now vaguer and more politically charged today than it has
ever been. It is also more subject to misuse. Extremism is a diverse process with
different pathways and mechanisms operating for different people at different points
of time in different contexts, meriting a complex understanding of its various forms
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 85

(Borum, 2011). The study of extremism, especially violent extremism, has entered
a new phase. This results that both scholars and policy makers must reconsider new
and continuing practical and ethical challenges (Berger, 2019).
Due to a rise of domestic extremists, hate-groups and domestic terrorists in the
US there are over 6000 hate and extremist groups identified (Byman, 2021; Chermak
et al., 2011; Felbab-Brown, 2021). A report by the National Consortium for the
Study of Terrorism found that extremist groups were likely to be online and promote
ideological recruitment materials through networking opportunities. Use of online
forums, standard as well as those on the dark web, are used as important extremist
recruitment and mobilization tools (Costello & Hawdon, 2018; Dean et al., 2012;
González-Bailón et al., 2011; Hodge & Hallgrimsdottir, 2019; Holt et al., 2016;
Post, 2015; van Eerten et al., 2017). The increased amount and severity of far-right
extremist violence rhetoric on social media has generated public concern about the
spread of radicalization (Davey & Ebner, 2019; Simi & Bubolz, 2017; Winter, 2019).
Extremism is now referred to as an international and domestic public health issue
(Allam, 2019; Bonn, 2019; Sanir et al., 2017; Weine & Eisenman, 2016; Youngblood,
2020). The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism reported that violence
was highest in two groups – one that had charismatic leaders like Hitler who could
gear up recruits, and the other were lone-wolfs in which individuals or small cohe-
sive groups engage in acts of violence independent of any leader or network
(Capellan, 2015). These latter leaderless resistant extremists appear common by
white supremacist organizations whose members tend to be male. Right-wing
extremism in the United States appears to be growing. The number of terrorist
attacks by far-right perpetrators, white supremacists and Neo-Nazis rose over the
past decade, more than quadrupling between 2016 and 2017. Pipe bombs and the
October 2018, synagogue attack in Pittsburgh are symptomatic of this trend.
U.S. federal and local agencies have doubled-down to counter this threat
(Jones, 2018).
Youngblood (2020) observes that the far-right movement in the is the most
deadly form of domestic extremism in the United States (Piazza, 2017; Simi &
Bubolz, 2017). Ideologically, many of these groups advocate for the use of violence
to create an idealized future favoring a particular group. This could be to support, or
oppose, a particular race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender, political group,
lifestyle, or individual trait. In 2018 far right movements were responsible for 98%
of extremist murders (Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, 2019).
The rise of anti-immigrant, white supremacy groups who have grievances about
their economic condition or directions of social change hold political resentments
which have morphed into anti-government movements (McVeigh et al., 2014;
Piazza, 2017). Right-wing armed groups in the US include white supremacist, anti-­
immigrant, anti-federal-government, pro-gun-ownership, and survivalist groups
who envision a coming civil war in the United States. So-called accelerationists
include groups such as the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois, Threepercenters, Oath
Keepers, Patriot Prayer, Civilian Defense Force, Light Foot Militia, American
Contingency, and People’s Rights seek advance it (ACLED, 2020; Felbab-Brown,
2021). These armed groups engage in hybrid tactics. They train for urban and rural
86 Y. Vissing

combat while also mixing public relations, propaganda works, and ‘security opera-
tions’ via both online and physical social platforms to engage those outside the
militia sphere. There is an increasing narrative that groups are organizing to ‘sup-
plement’ the work of law enforcement or to place themselves in a narrowly defined
‘public protection’ role in parallel with police departments of a given locale
(ACLED, 2020). Designating white supremacy groups as international terrorist
organizations would be a way to curtail their power; viewing these groups as legiti-
mate with credible forums will only enhance their escalation and mobilization
(Byman, 2021).
Many definitions of extremism have been predicated on the idea that extremists
are situated on the fringes of society and enjoy few mainstream supports. Some
allege that extremists are psychologically disturbed while others find that extremists
do not have mental disorders and believe themselves to be rational in their decisions
to pursue activities and hold attitudes that get defined as extreme (DeFoster &
Swalve, 2018; Misiak et al., 2019). But extremists may be neither fringe members
nor mentally ill. In fact, their movements and leaders may enjoy widespread popular
support or political power. This problem extends around the globe, from European
countries with extremist parties seated in parliaments, to the military-led violence
perpetrated against Rohingya and other groups in Myanmar, a rising right-wing
movement in India, the presence of jihadist and extremist Islamist political move-
ments and insurgencies in the Middle East and Africa, or Proud Boys and Q’anon in
the United States. Extremism may manifest in different forms depending based on
location, situation, labeling by those in power, and the capabilities of extremist
actors (Berger, 2019).
The term “extremist” has been co-opted by groups from government leaders
to radical fringe movements. For instance, Russian law defines extremism as
opposition to the state while China has used extremism as a pretext for creating
detention camps of Uyghur Muslims. In current United States politics, agenda-
setters may define people on political right, left, or center to be extremists. The
ability to apply the word “extremist” to certain individuals or groups empowers
governments or individuals to take extraordinary action against “other”. This
results in human rights abuses as one group seeks to label others as extreme and
dangerous. It sets up the possibility that extremist groups can profess that they
are acting with human rights interests of specific groups that they exploit.
Extremists may argue that their rights should be prioritized over the rights of
other groups – or that other groups are not entitled to rights. This opens the door
for extremists to promote their violent actions as within the purview of their
own rights (Steiner & Alston, 2000). As Berger (2019) points out, within the
term “extremist” is the assumption that they are violent – but in fact not all
extremists are violent (Berger, 2019), at least in the physical sense. But they
may be verbally or ideologically violent and plant the seeds for the escalation of
physical violence later. Extremism, therefore, is not just a violent act but a pro-
gression of human responses along a continuum. This point will be elaborated
upon in more detail later in this chapter.
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 87

In this chapter, extremism is defined to consist of attitudes and actions that target
a group of people thought to be deserving of hate-filled thoughts, disparaging words
and violent behaviors designed to harm entire groups or individuals in those groups.
Extremism is conceptualized to consist of a spectrum of attitudes and actions that
starts with embracing negative stereotypes and biases that can lead to prejudicial
attitudes and ultimately violent behavior (Vissing, 2021). Extremists stereotype
groups to create prejudicial thoughts and oppressive actions. They may target groups
property or things that are of symbolic value to them. This extremism is intentional
and consists of some element of violence or ill-intent.

Globalism Underpinnings of Extremism

Globalism and extremism are odd bedfellows. There has been a rise of extremism
alongside of rise of globalism, despite globalism promoting a “one-world” orienta-
tion. The move towards globalism has been an inevitable outgrowth of transforma-
tions in travel, communications, business, culture, and immigration. We are able to
fly anywhere in the world in a few hours. We can communicate with people on the
other side of the early in seconds through phone or electronic mediums. Multinational
corporations have financial holdings that far surpass that of many nations and their
operations, employees and clients are not geographically bound. As people travel
for work or recreation, they may choose to live in other countries or marry or have
children with people from different locales, backgrounds and traditions. All of these
factors influence our attitudes about other people. Viewing ourselves to be global
citizens, as well as citizens of a particular country, is now commonplace (Starkey,
2017; Vissing, 2020). Considering universal issues that people everyone share, such
as the environment, climate change, poverty, or war, shifts the way people regard
what is going on around the world.
Ideologically, the perception of who is “us” and who is “them” is impacted in
both positive and negative ways through the escalation of globalism. There is con-
siderable debate over the question of whether or not globalization is good for human
rights. Two opposing views of globalization and its relationship to human rights
have emerged: some see the two topics as mutually reinforcing and positive in
improving human well-being, while others view globalization as posing new threats
not adequately governed by existing international human rights law (Shelton, 2002;
Vissing & Williams, 2018).
One view is that globalization enhances human rights, leading to economic ben-
efits and consequent political freedoms. The positive contributions of globalization
have even led to the proposal that it be accepted as a new human right (Shelton,
2002; Vissing, 2019). Opponents of globalization see it as a threat to human rights
in several ways. It sees local decision-making and democratic participation under-
mined as multinational companies, the World Bank, other major organizations set
economic and social policies. Unrestricted market forces threaten economic, social,
and cultural rights such as the right to health, especially when structural adjustment
88 Y. Vissing

policies reduce public expenditures for health and education. As power and wealth
are accumulated by multinational companies there may be increased unemploy-
ment, poverty, and marginalization of vulnerable groups in local areas communities
(Kinley, 2009).
Scholars like Steger (2005) view globalism as the dominant ideology of our time,
while others like Michael Freeden argue that globalization denotes not an ideology
but a range of processes nesting under one rather unwieldly epithet (Freeden, 1996;
Steger, 2005). While globalization has enhanced the ability of civil society to func-
tion across borders and promote human rights, other actors have gained power and
violated human rights in unforeseen ways (Shelton, 2020). Unanswered questions
about whether globalism is an ideology or not, and to what extent globalization is
good for human rights and to what extent human rights are good for globalization
are salient ones that add to the complexity of its impact.
Pendelton (1998) discusses the right to globalization as a new human right. He
argues that national allegiance and globalization cannot stand together. Globalization,
he states, entails the right to international security, to trade across national borders,
to non-partisan dispute settlements across borders, freedom of movement across
borders, and the right to hold dual or multiple papers of nationality. Thus, national
allegiance and self-sacrifice is regarded as outdated, an anachronism and simply
wrong. He defines globalization as the tendency for persons, corporations and insti-
tutions to expand past the confines of a nation toward participation in and identifica-
tion with a world community. He tracks our ideology of “the other” back in time to
when our family and clan were the primary units that mattered – anyone external to
it could be a threat, enemy, or food. As villages grew with homogenous members,
they became fortified states and kingdoms with armies to protect them from poten-
tial outside invaders who could threaten their wellbeing. Giving only to those who
are like “us” and limiting contact with and participation of “them” resulted. Owing
a higher allegiance to nationals than foreigners is inherent in the concept of what it
means to be a patriot. Pendelton alleges that national allegiance today is wrong
because it is a form of racism and increases oppression, external threats and war. He
regards patriotism as a form of exclusive interest in members of one’s own national
group that gives little moral weight to the interests of others. This, he sees, as anti-
thetical in a globalized world.
While globalization’s benefits are celebrated by many people and organizations,
its problems and negative effects are becoming more apparent (Reddy, 2008).
Globalism may have led to improved incomes, education, health and physical well-­
being for many people, but have increased oppression of millions as a consequence
of the leverage that international capital has over government policies and the rights
of workers. Income increases have not been universally distributed; globalism is
accused of being responsible for a growing gap between the haves and have nots,
both within and between countries (Honey, 2004; McCorquodale & Fairbrother,
1999). Globalization has a negative impact particularly on economic, social and
cultural rights. These rights are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR), Article 27, and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 15. El Hassani (2015) alleges that civil and
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 89

political rights have been given higher priority than economic, social, and cultural
rights. Moreover, globalization tends to fragment global cultural communities
which tend to integrate some groups while excluding others. Globalization tends to
intensify excluding certain groups like marginalized persons and those who are vul-
nerable to losing their cultural heritage. For instance, in order to access the right to
work, some groups may be able to do so only at the price of abandonment of cultural
identity, particularly language and specific lifestyles (El Hassani, 2015).

Globalism and the Impact on Democracy

Democracy’s stability across the world is concerning. While there had been a move-
ment towards nations developing democratic governments, there has been an
encroachment of authoritarian governments again in recent years. Democracy and
the advancement of human rights are related; conversely, authoritarian regimes and
violent extremism are related. As of 2018, there are currently fifty nations with a
dictator or authoritarian regime ruling the country to this day. Europe is home to one
dictatorship, three can be found in Latin America and South America; there are
eight dictatorships in Asia, seven in and twelve spanning from Africa’s northern
parts into the Middle East (World Population Review 2018).
The University of Maerz et al. (2020) analyzed different types of democracies in
their report and found that 99 countries or 55% of nations are democracies with the
trend of autocratization growing. One-third of the world’s population living in coun-
tries undergoing autocratization, surging from 415 million in 2016 to 2.3 billion in
2018. The number of liberal democracies declined from 44 in 2008 to 39 in 2018.
They report that 24 countries are now in what they call a third wave of autocratiza-
tion. These countries include Brazil, India, Bulgaria, Hungry, Poland, Serbia and
the United States.
Human Rights Watch (2022) notes that current days are dark ones for the protec-
tion of human rights, even within countries deemed democratic. They state that
today’s would-be autocrats typically emerge from democratic settings. A two-step
strategy for undermining democracy is employed, where they first scapegoat and
demonize vulnerable minorities to build popular support and then weaken checks
and balances on government controls needed to preserve human rights and the rule
of law, such as an independent judiciary, a free media, and vigorous civic groups.
They observe that even the world’s established democracies have shown themselves
vulnerable to this demagoguery and manipulation.
Autocrats tend to dislike scrutiny and retreat from the defense of human rights,
both within and beyond their borders. Political leaders violate human rights because
they see advantages like maintaining their grip on power, padding their bank
accounts, and rewarding their cronies. Such activities can be manipulated through
political relationships with global industries, multinational corporations and the
military industrial complex (Human Rights Watch, 2022). The economic power of
globalization could set the stage for human rights – but politics, money,
90 Y. Vissing

globalization and extremism are intertwined. As Addison (2004) observes, poverty

pushes people to consider extreme actions in order to survive. Poverty makes it
challenging to sustain democracy in low-income nations or populations. When
incomes are low and poverty is high, people may resort to violence as a livelihood.
When they do, democratic principles are undermined and gross violations of human
rights occur. Individuals have been found to support authoritarian governments over
democratic ones if it improves their standard of living. In short, economic develop-
ment is crucial for supporting democratization and human rights, while perceived or
actual economic deprivation may give rise to authoritarianism and extremism
(Addison, 2004).
Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the global economy is not working well for poor
countries or poor people. Increased trade, finance and technology are key elements
of the globalization process that are not accessible for many groups and their lack
may result in deterioration of human development indicators such as health, educa-
tion, and employment. Economic distress fuels desperate searches for survival that
may result in a host of human rights violations – and nurtures attitudes and actions
that are extreme. The promotion of either human rights or extremism cannot be
viewed in isolation from the wider economic situation in which people live (Addison,
2004). When globalization benefits only the upper echelon of society and fails to
address the struggles of those who do not have access to fundamental necessities of
food, shelter, education, healthcare, and income, globalization sets the stage for
extremism and dictatorships and autocratic governments.
Globalization has challenged states to comply with human rights obligations,
particularly around economic, social, cultural, and security rights, trade union free-
doms, right to work which have disproportionately impacted minority groups, The
right for equality and socio-economic rights, when unequally shared, strains both
individuals and nations. People who are suffering may not accept new or liberal
ideas which are often part of globalization. They may rebel against them and those
who they believe are responsible for their oppression as a result. Conversely, if glo-
balization actually benefits all, the result would likely be greater support for both
democracy and human rights. Human dignity is reinforced through human rights
and attacked through extremism in all its forms (Arfat, 2013; Shelton, 2002). While
globalism may be related to extremism, not everyone in oppressed groups becomes
an extremist. What then are explanations for why someone may accept extremist
views and engage in extremist actions?

Why Are People Extremists?

There are many different theories about why people may become extremists, and
our understanding of why people engage in extremist actions has changed across
time. At its fundamental level, extremism will be understood as a form of deviant
behavior that fulfills the agenda for one individual or group of people while it is
harmful and opposed by another individual or group of people. In the following
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 91

section, main theories of deviant behavior will be explored with respect to extrem-
ism. These include:

Stratification’s Contribution to the Rise of Extremism

The rise of globalism to increase money and productivity starts back at the begin-
ning of the previous century, under the Spirit of Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic
(Weber, 1901). The Protestant faith predominated in Europe and North America and
people wanted to know if they were going to be “saved” and go to heaven. Capitalism
was becoming the dominant economic system, and people observed there were dis-
parities between those who were rich and those who were poor. Max Weber (1901)
observed that a common assumption held that wealthy people must be blessed by
God, and those who were poor or destitute must have been punished by God for
some reason. Since there was no way to know for certain if one was going to heaven,
people looked at each other’s economic wellbeing as an indicator. Capitalism pro-
vided a way for people to gain economic standing, which became a proxy measure
for being saved by God. The more wealth that people could accumulate, the better
they felt about themselves. Conversely, the less wealth that people had, the more
they were disparaged for not being blessed or good.
Fast forward this line of thinking. Rich people became regarded as better than
poor people in the social stratification system. Over time money, goodness and god-
liness became intertwined and this has been the justification of blaming people who
are poor for their misery (Harrington, 1981; Ryan, 1976; Vissing et al., 2020).
Similarly, developed, rich countries have become portrayed as “better” or superior
to less developed or poor ones, and globalism has played into dichotomy. Globalism
has made national boundaries more permeable. It is within economically stratified
groups that extremism could be born.
In times of economic distress, people look for someone to blame. Stratification
theories hold that the people who are lower-middle-class are often those with the
most to lose if the lower classes are able to improve their lot in life. Hovering
towards the lower end of the stratification ladder, if people lose what they have, they
will then be at the bottom. Therefore, this group of people feels more threatened by
the advancement of the lower classes (Manstead, 2018). There is an emotional
insultation felt when one is not at the bottom; they can say to themselves that at least
they are not as poor as others – and inherently there is the assumption that they are
better than those who are at the bottom.
During the 2008 economic recession in the US, many middle-class people found
themselves losing their jobs, going into bankruptcy and finding themselves hungry
and homeless (Frasquilho et al., 2015). This reality challenged the assumption that
poor people were to be blamed for their poverty, or that they had been smited by
God. There have been public attempts to provide a certain amount of aid to ease
people’s financial burdens, but in recent years there has been an increase of number
of people who are poor, a shrinking middle class, and a tiny but much richer group
92 Y. Vissing

of people at the top of the stratification ladder. The amount of money gained by the
top 1% of the population has been extraordinary, with the top fifth of the population
holding more assets than the other four-fifths of the population combined (Kent,
2020; Rutstein, 2004; Schaeffer, 2020). Under the COVID pandemic, the rich have
gotten even richer while the poor and middle classes have continued to suffer dis-
proportionately, especially those who are nonwhite (Choe, 2021; Kristof, 2021).
As race and ethnic diversity have increased, as women have become common-
place in the workforce, and as immigrants have arrived, the position of white, mid-
dle class males has become threatened (Doyle, 2021; Gillan, 2017; Gilborn, 2010).
In the US and other developed nations, middle and lower-middle class white men
may feel themselves to be at more risk of losing their precarious position on the
social stratification ladder when others advance. This is a paucity-view of econom-
ics, where there isn’t enough for everyone, so one must compete to seize one’s
share. Mutz (2018) observed that the 2016 presidential election turned towards
Donald Trump and a conservative political constituency primarily because middle
and lower middle-class people were worried about losing their status. They may
have enough money economically, but were concerned that they could lose their
social position and emotional status if women, nonwhite people, and immigrants
(aka “others”) gained access to upward mobility. Maintaining dominance, feeling
threatened, and viewing governmental support for the “others” as a danger to their
social positions became fuel for the rise of hate speech, discrimination, oppression,
and ultimately extremist views.

Differential Association Theory

Another potential explanation for the rise of extremism comes out of the differential
association theory. Edwin Sutherland (1939) proposed that criminal or deviant
behavior is learned through interactions with others – especially people in one’s
intimate personal groups. These intimate groups include family, friends, peers, and
significant others or those whose opinions and importance to us are of primary
importance. It is through these interpersonal groups that people learn to define cer-
tain people as good or bad, or certain behaviors to be favorable and acceptable or
unfavorable and unacceptable. Deviant, or extremist, views are learned, as are atti-
tudes, motivations, and techniques for engaging in extremist behaviors.
Sutherland alleged that interaction factors impact a youth’s acceptance of deviant
attitudes and actions. These include frequency of contact, priority of the person’s
importance, intensity of the communication and relationship, and the duration of the
relationship. In short, if someone has a brief, one-shot communication with some-
one who they barely know, that person’s extremist views may not be incorporated as
readily as when a youth is with someone important to them who expounds extremist
views as good, and they are with them day after day for extended periods of time.
The greater the frequency and duration of contact with someone promoting deviant
behavior, and the more important that person is to the youth and the more intense
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 93

their relationship, the more likely it is that extremist views will be accepted and
acted upon. Specific motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes for extremism
are thus learned and fulfill personal needs the same way as non-deviant (or non-­
extremist) views are learned.
Social media relationships with strangers can fulfill many of the same functions
that Sutherland outlines. People who are online regularly may develop relation-
ships, information, reinforcements, and learn about ideas and actions in which they
can participate. The “dark web” and online relationships with extremist people and
groups may now take precedence over face-to-face contacts (Chang, 2015; Darden,
2019a, b; Digital Citizens Alliance, 2021; University of Washington, 2017).

Operant Conditioning or Differential Reinforcement Theory

In an expansion of Sutherland’s work, Burgess and Akers (1966) argued that deviant
(or extremist) behavior is learned through imitating or modeling significant other’s
behaviors. They agreed that learning deviant, or extremist, behaviors were shaped
through operant conditioning of positive or negative reinforcements. Operant con-
ditioning has been promoted by psychologists like B.F. Skinner (1963) or Pavlov
(Clark, 2004). Classical conditioning assumes that people learn through associa-
tions between stimuli and responses. The premise is that deviant (or extremist), or
rights-respectful behavior, are learned through everyday situations in which people
receive positive or negative feedback to either continue or curtail their behavior pat-
terns. People whose opinions of us matter, or those who hold power over resources
that we need or want, are those whose reinforcements matter the most to us and have
the greatest influence over our behavioral choices. Over time, we respond to stimuli
in a predictable way. We may generalize our perceptions and actions to similar situ-
ations as a result, so that in the case of extremism, people who were not hurting us
could be associated with people who once did, and we react towards them as if they
were going to harm us. This generalization is relevant because someone can “hate”
a certain type of person that they were taught to fear, even though that person may
not have any intention of harming at all.
In short, if we are receiving positive reinforcement for extremist behavior, we are
likely to continue being extremist because there are significant rewards, especially
when they come from significant others. On the other hand, if when we engage in
extremist attitudes or actions we receive negative reinforcements from significant
others, this is likely to curb further extremist behaviors. Similarly, when we engage
in respectful behavior towards others and receive positive feedback for doing so, we
are likely to continue such behavior. But if we receive negative feedback for being
respectful, we may be more inclined to see respectful behavior as weak, “sissy” or
not powerful or desirable choices if our significant others make fun of us for acting
“nice”, as shown in Fig. 5.1. When the reinforcements we receive are confusing,
contradictory or ambivalent, this leaves a youth in limbo, not sure which way to act.
94 Y. Vissing

Behavior
Positive Negative
reinforcement reinforcement
Increase Curb
Extremist
behavior behavior

Human rights Increase Curb

respecting behavior behavior

Fig. 5.1 Relationship between reinforcements and behavior

This means that the role of significant others is of major importance in creating
and supporting either extremist or respectful behavior – or curtailing extremism or
curbing one’s desire to choose respectful behavior. Given that many behaviors are
not firmly embedded into extreme or respect, and that the reactions that others give
us may be neither positive nor negative, there is a great deal of opportunity for a
youth to be swayed in one direction or another over time. The reinforcement trends
will enliven the opportunity for certain behaviors to continue.
Research suggests that radicalized individuals are destabilized by various envi-
ronmental (or endemic) factors, exposed to extremist ideology, and subsequently
reinforced by members of their community. As such, the spread of radicalization
may proceed through a social contagion process, in which extremist ideologies
behave like complex contagions that require multiple exposures for adoption. The
results indicate that patterns of far-right radicalization in the United States are con-
sistent with a complex contagion process, in which reinforcement is required for
transmission. Both social media usage and group membership enhance the spread
of extremist ideology, suggesting that online and physical organizing remain pri-
mary recruitment tools of the far-right movement. In addition, factors such as pov-
erty increase the probability of radicalization (Cherif et al., 2009; Ferrara, 2017;
Green et al., 1998; Kwon & Cabrera, 2019; Majumder, 2017; Midlarsky et al., 1980;
Youngblood, 2020).

Differential Identification Theory

Glaser (1960) found that in the creation of deviant, or in our case extremist behav-
ior, learning extremism can occur not just when we are in contact with significant
others on an ongoing basis, as Sutherland argued, but it can occur by identifying
with other reference groups of people that we may not even know. Youth may iden-
tify with a sports figure, celebrity, movie star, virtual character online, or someone
they read about. In these cases, the youth may never have had any contact with that
person. Online blogs and communication programs allow people to develop inti-
mate relationships with others whom they have never met. Glaser observed that it
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 95

was possible for youth to develop relationships with imaginary or fictitious charac-
ters. The key element in his theory was that youth identifies themselves to be similar
to the otherwise unknown character, figure or person and models their attitudes,
appearance, and actions to be similar to them. When this occurs with people who
have intolerant attitudes or embrace violent actions, they may choose to imitate
them and even long to be accepted by them.
This can be seen in the 2014 case of two Wisconsin 12-year-old girls who lured
their friend, Payton Leutner, into the woods and stabbed her 19 times in order to
appease a fictional character called Slender Man. They almost killed her in order to
please Slender Man and keep this online made-up figure from allegedly killing
their families. Therefore, it is entirely possible that youth who go online and are
groomed by people on extremist sites and to regard them as an influential refer-
ence group.
This approach is similar to George Herbert Mead’s role-playing leading to role-­
taking. People may “try on” different behaviors to see if they “fit”. If they receive
supportive reinforcements they are more likely to continue the behavior compared
with receiving negative reinforcements. Over time people may incorporate extrem-
ist behaviors into their persona and they may come to actually believe ideas that
they once just “toyed” with.

Bandura’s Theory of Social Learning and Imitation

Bandura (Bandura et al., 1961) alleged that people learn attitudes and behaviors by
observing what others say and do. Young people mimic what others do. In studies
where children who had observed adults acting in aggressive and violent ways, the
children then acted similarly when given the opportunity. Psychologically, this is a
form of conditioning and has important implications for the influence of social
media, movies, video games, and the learning of extremism as acceptable.

Neutralization Theory

This theory, promoted by Sykes and Matza (1957), alleges that people who engage
in deviant behavior may not initially be committed to either extremist or conformist
ideologies. Youth, especially, may drift between criminal and conventional actions.
They may be partially committed to the conventional social order and justify their
support of the conventional order through the use of extremist behaviors. This
means that they may rationalize, or neutralize, their actions by coming up with
excuses that include denying responsibility for their actions and denying that people
were hurt by their behaviors. Extremists may perceive themselves as avengers and
anyone who was injured (victims) deserved it which justified retaliation against
perceived wrong-doing. Extremists may shift the focus of attention away from their
96 Y. Vissing

actions and condemn the condemners or those who disapprove of what they think or
do. They may use a defense of necessity, implying that extremists should not feel
shame or gift by doing something immoral as long as their behavior is perceived to
be necessary.
When a youth engages in behavior that can be defined as “neutral” or “ambiva-
lent”, neither extreme or respectful, they have not made a commitment to one type
of action or belief system or the other. Sykes and Matza (1957) observe that youth
are often caught between worlds, struggling with conformity and non-conformity,
adhering to norms and rejecting norms to explore nontraditional or socially unac-
ceptable behaviors. They note that young people are connected with family but
grow to have relationships with different subcultures and groups that are all vying
for their commitment. As a result, youth often drift back and forth between worlds
until they receive enough pressure or desire to run towards one direction or the
other. Because of their ambivalence, they may experience feelings of confusion or
guilt, and seek to justify or rationalize their misbehaviors through techniques of
neutralization such as denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim,
condemnation of the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties.

Control Theories

There are a wide variety of approaches under this theoretical umbrella that attempt
to explain why someone may violate norms and choose deviant or extreme actions.
Reiss (1951) claimed that deviance was a consequence of weak egos or superego
controls, that the family was responsible for keeping a member in check, and that
punishments were necessary in order to ensure right action. Nye (1958) identified
three primary mechanisms of control, which included informal control through
social interactions; direct control, which included ridicule, jail, or restricting one’s
chances to engage in criminal activity; and indirect control, which includes attach-
ments people have that predispose them to please others. Walter Reckless (1950)
coined containment theory to emphasize the importance of both inner and outer
containments, or internal and external controls that will push or pull people towards
antisocial behavior. These pushes and pulls, internally and externally, are at the
heart of promoting or resisting engagement in extremist behavior. Hirschi (1969)
reported that social bonding and attachment led to one following conventional or
deviant/extremist actions. Affectionate bonds with significant others led to commit-
ment to others, belief what they stand for, and involvement in particular types of
activities, activities that could be rights-respecting or extreme. When people have
low self-control they may have lower internal controls that could nurture extrem-
ist views.
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 97

Conflict Theories

In this family of theories, the notion is that people engage in deviant or extreme
actions because of constraints on their behavior that they believe is not in their best
interests. Functionalist theorists hold that society has to have rules that everyone
obeys in order for society to move forward and that people must be held accountable
to following them while conflict theorists noted that behaviors labeled as deviant or
extreme may be necessary to bring a society into balance when rules are contrary to
the interests of others. Marx and Engles (1848) stated that class consciousness
bound people together and there was a natural tendency for the proletariats, or
underdogs of society, to overthrow the ruling classes or those in power. C. Wright
Mills (1956) identified that there was a powerful group of elites who promoted their
interests through social institutions and structures. These individuals created social
structures and distribution of resources and powers that were unequal, oppressing
the majority of people in society.
Conflict and unequal distribution of resources and power are universally found
around the world, even in democratic, human-rights-respecting nations. Systemic
inequality breeds anger, which often results in violence. Violent extremism is seen
as fundamentally a symptom of failures of social systems (Zinchenko, 2014), a
failure of governance (Glazzard & Zeuthen, 2016), alienation of out-group mem-
bers in which the number of extremists grows with increasing conflict between
groups (Alizadeh et al., 2014), interpersonal communication conflict (Burton,
1969), lack of socio-economic opportunities, marginalization, discrimination and
prolonged unresolved conflict between groups (UNODC, 2018), racism, sexism,
and essentially opposition to any group defined as “the other” who is perceived to
violate some preconceived assumptions about the way things are supposed to be.
Groups vie for resources, but also the power to define who, or what, is legitimate.

Conflict and Labeling Theory Compatibility

Extremists, from the aforementioned point of view, can be labeled as crusaders for
what is good and right, or as dangerous people who are to be curtailed by whatever
means necessary. Who is considered to be an extremist all depends upon who is
doing the labeling. As Becker (1967) observes, labels depend upon whose side you
are on. This notion reinforces what Berger (2019) and Borum (2011) referenced
earlier – that who is considered to be an extremist today is vague, unclear, and
depends upon situations and the definitions employed. And definitions are seldom
static and usually subjective (Vissing et al., 2020).
98 Y. Vissing

Rise of Extremism During COVID-19

The United States Institute of Peace found the COVID-19 pandemic is spawning the
growth of violent extremism, especially in fragile states and conflict zones
(Aryaeinejad & McGann, 2020). They find that poor service delivery, limited insti-
tutional capacity, weak health infrastructures, security sector abuses, and predatory
elites have long existed, but COVID-19 is exacerbating these and other potential
drivers of violent extremism. Entrepreneurs, criminals and corrupt entities are tak-
ing advantage of people’s fear, uncertainty, and desperate need for services and
trusted information. Globally, non-state and violent extremist groups have shifted
their messaging and actions about hygienic best practices like mask wearing or use
of vaccines or services. This may reflect extremists coming in to protest hygienic
actions when faced with limited access to resources, or promote a skewed view of
human rights (such as it is my right not to wear a mask or expose others to the virus
when I am sick). Extremists may step in to address a void of resources, like access
to healthcare of clean water, or to promote strategies that will not help individuals –
but will support the agendas, or finances, of extremists who are seizing the pan-
demic as an opportunity to serve their own interests. Perceived legitimacy is one of
the greatest currencies for any extremist group. If governments or the scientific
community are not adequately addressing the rise of COVID-19, it provides oppor-
tunities for extremists to promote their own self-serving agendas. This is especially
true when people are suffering ill health, increased financial stress, evictions, and
declining opportunities in employment or education.
Extremists rely upon community support to conduct its operations. COVID-19
be used for recruitment by extremists because violent extremist actors are likely to
take advantage of and instrumentalize instability to further their own narratives and
achieve their goals. Central to COVID-19 is fear and restrictions in where we can go
and what we can do. Extremists are inclined to mobilize people’s uncertainty, fear,
and resentments. As people have been locked-down and share smaller social net-
works, lack of exposure to other points of view, thought and everyday realities,
makes it really hard to discern fact from fiction and can leave people more suscep-
tible to narratives that present easy or superficially comforting solutions to other-
wise incredibly complex issues like COVID-19. Authors of the report note that this
is particularly troubling in light of the narratives, conspiracy theories and misinfor-
mation being distributed amongst violent extremist groups that contextualize the
crisis in racial or ethnic battles, and “us” versus “them” mentalities. Placing blame
for the crisis on certain groups serve to justify oppression on others, false narratives,
and increased violence against perceived perpetrators of the problem (Aryaeinejad
& McGann, 2020).
There are other’s significant concerns that the politicization of the pandemic has
given fuel for the development of extremists to take hold of public sentiments
through aggressive means. Operations of governmental and legislative activities
have been impacted, government leaders have become ill, elections and political
events have been postponed (Ang, 2020; Lipscy, 2020; Stasavage, 2020). There
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 99

have been widespread disagreements about how states respond to the virus, an
increased distrust of government and scientific communities, and the relationships
with other countries (Druckman et al., 2021).
COVID-19 response can be understood by the concept of authoritarian backslid-
ing. Authoritarian backsliding a gradual decline of democracy with a class of strate-
gies that include perceived infringement of individual rights, the freedom of
expression to question the health, efficiency and sustainability of democratic sys-
tems, manipulating votes or violating civil liberties (Dresden & Howard, 2016;
Waldner & Lust, 2018). Aryaeinejad and McGann (2020) anticipate that the threat
of violent extremism could have significant impacts beyond the pandemic itself.
This is due in part to further marginalization of different communities and increased
hate speech that might lead to radicalization, which could lead to violence.
Establishing supports for all peoples to get through the pandemic successfully is
important not just for their health, but for curtailing the underpinnings of extremism.

Selected Theory for This Chapter

Extremism is traditionally viewed as a radical, fanatical fundamental, political or

religious ideology that can be far-left or far-right in orientation. Those acting in
extremist ways may appear to be obsessed and sure their position is correct, unwill-
ing to compromise, and tend to demonize “the other” that they oppose (Wintrobe,
2006). Extremism, like mass shootings or bombings, are often looked at as an out-
come rather than a process. But shootings or bombings are just the end-point of a
lengthy trajectory of socialization and reinforcements. Interventions that focus
more on the macro and micro process by which extremist attitudes are learned and
supported have front-end benefit in preventing back-end violence. The previ-
ous theories all point to similar factors that contribute to the rise of extremism.
These include unstable governments that fail to deliver services and equality to the
entirety of the population. When people suffer or perceive they are deprived in com-
parison to others, it engenders resentment and anger that nurtures hatred toward
groups or individuals whom they feel are responsible for their inequality. When the
courts, criminal justice systems and laws show preferential treatment for some
groups while oppressing others, when education systems do not promote human
rights and human dignity, and when extremist groups exist that provide counter
realities, either by coercion or force, extremist view grow.
Add in interaction influences from primary and secondary groups, and those
from social media and online groups. Virtually all the theories discuss how contact
with others can pull someone towards extremist attitudes and actions, or how they
can given negative reinforcements that dissuade people away from extremism.
Historically primary groups consisted of family and friends while secondary groups
were people such as peers, teachers, work-colleagues, and neighbors. Tansformation
of online communication, with its increased use and importance during COVID-19
lock-downs, has made contacts with people we don’t know much more important.
100 Y. Vissing

People tend to gravitate online with people in clustered social networks and lack
feedback from others who might express divergent perspectives. This insular type of
communication found in online communications may push people who may be
strangers or secondary group members into the primary influencers category (Holt
et al., 2016; Post, 2015; Youngblood, 2020).
The radicalization that may occur through social media increases the tendency
to engage in extreme attitudes and action (Costello & Hawdon, 2018; Holt et al.,
2016; Lowe, 2019; Ottoni et al., 2018). Social media platforms in the dark-web or
traditional ones like Facebook and Twitter provide extremist groups with access to
information, events and networks of like-minded persons (Bertram, 2016; Wu,
2015). (Blackbourn et al., 2019; Hodge & Hallgrimsdottir, 2019). It is important to
remember that extremism is likely not caused by psychopathology (Misiak et al.,
2019; Post, 2015; Webber & Kruglanski, 2017). It is the result of interactions
between macro and micro factors in which extremist ideology is reinforced (Becker,
2019; Jasko et al., 2017; Jensen et al., 2018; Webber & Kruglanski, 2017). As
Gordon Allport (1954) noted, intergroup contact plays an important role in creating
or reducing prejudice. He contended that contact combined with other social fac-
tors can push someone towards, away from, extreme harmful behavior. With impact
from macro and micro factors, far-right radicalization can spread through popula-
tions like a complex contagion (Youngblood, 2020). Figure 5.2 illustrates key
points along the spectrum from intolerant attitudes to extreme violence.
Extremism starts with prejudice, which is a pre-judgment that reflects a notion of
“that’s how those people are” as reality. Prejudice categorizes some groups as posi-
tive and better than others, while negative stereotypes portray others in ways that are
disparaging. While it is almost impossible to escape being exposed to stereotypes
and having some degree of prejudice, those prone to extremism accept harsh views
of “the other”. As Robert Kennedy (1964) is credited for saying, “What is objection-
able, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they
are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say
about their opponents”. In order to counter violent extremism, it is therefore neces-
sary to critically assess how young people come to embrace biased, distorted think-
ing of others in the first place.
Laird Wilcox’s typology of extremism (1987) fits into the Fig. 5.1 behavior spec-
trum. He alleges that extremists engage in character assassination, question some-
one’s qualifications, make fun of someone’s looks, personality or mental health.
They employ negative labels and resort to epithets that disparage others, making
sweeping false generalizations. They discount the importance or use of facts, exag-
gerate information, rely on double-standards, and rely on inadequate proof for mak-
ing assertions that place others in a negative light. Black-and-white thinkers, people
who disagree with their views or challenge them, are viewed as evil, bad, immoral,
or dishonest people who are wrong. Seeing themselves as having moral superiority,
their attempts to quash critics may be intense, as they are perceived to be enemies
that must be stopped. Extremists feel a need to “win” or be “right”, thus may delib-
erately lie, distort, slander, defame, promote misinformation or undertake violence
in “special cases” even over minor interpersonal slights because it is deemed
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 101

Macro Factors
Community climate
toward economic
wellbeing & equality

Government

Laws & Criminal Justice

System

Education

Presence of extremist groups

Stages of Extremist Socialization

Biased & Minor Major

Violence & Terrorism &
Prejudicial Discriminatiory Discriminatory
Aggression Intent to Kill
Atttudes Actions Actions

Primary
Groups
Secondary
Groups

Social
Media

Fig. 5.2 Factors influencing rise of extremism or rights respect

necessary to protect their “good cause” and reputation. Extremists are prone to con-
form to group-think, which makes social media and associations with like-minded
people dangerous – but group-think also could be used to promote pro-social atti-
tudes and behaviors as well (Janis, 1972). Thus interpersonal and relational inter-
ventions may be best suited to disrupt these kinds of hostile thinking patterns and
replace them with pro-social groups that support respectful values, attitudes, and
actions (Vissing, 2021).
102 Y. Vissing

Replication of experienced behaviors is considered vital in the social construc-

tion of reality (James & Prout, 1990). Research on child abuse finds that use of
violence against children is often learned and transmitted from one generation to
another as both normative and appropriate (Straus, 2017). Research on bullying
indicates that children who became bullies were often themselves the targets of bul-
lying and aggression (Coloroso, 2009). The words that children hear and actions
they observe about how to refer to and treat others may have major long-term
consequences.
In the spectrum used here, youth may engage in minor discriminatory actions,
such as verbal abuse or setting people up to be embarrassed or inconvenienced. If
there are sufficient social and organizational supports to curtail these actions,
extremism might be circumvented. However, if youth receive positive reinforce-
ment for engaging in these discriminatory actions, they obtain incentives for engag-
ing in more severe types of discrimination. Feeling emboldened through positive
responses from others for discriminating, there may be heightened encouragement
for more intense aggression and violence. The willingness to terrorize others and to
engage in violent extremism is nurtured and can escalate unless interventions are
implemented (Coloroso, 2009). And as Fig. 5.2 illustrates, there are many different
points of intervention that could turn the tide away from extremism. At the end of
the spectrum when violence is greatest, criminal justice interventions may be effec-
tive. But long before they are necessary, other diversion strategies, especially at the
individual and organizational level, may be effective to prevent more harmful
actions that constitute terrorism (Vissing, 2021).

Ideological Shifts in Addressing Extremism

The changing nature of extremism gives rise to consideration about strategies on

how to stop it. Both a proactive and reactive stance are necessary.

Criminal Justice Response

A variety of criminal justice approaches have been implemented to prevent the rise
of extremism. Criminal justice intervention is an absolute necessity. From a reactive
position, police intervention has historically been the major way that extremism has
been addressed. Police identify trends and prevent extremism from occurring. They
look for evidence of potential extremist events, break-up or manage an extremist
activity, investigate its occurrence, and seek court action to punish perpetrators.
When extremism occurs, police are called upon to make arrests and stop the insur-
gence and violence.
Extremists are subject to punishment. Retribution theorists claim that individuals
are rational beings, capable of making informed decisions, and therefore rule
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 103

breaking is a rational, conscious decision so punishment that fits the crime is appro-
priate. The theory of incapacitation, or social protection, assumes the state has a
duty to protect the public from future harms and that such protection can be afforded
through some form of incarceration or incapacitation. It prevents future crime by
disabling or restricting the extremist’s liberty, their movements or ability to commit
a further wrong and may include the death penalty, imprisonment, curfews, house
arrest, electronic monitoring and disqualification from engaging in certain activi-
ties. Deterrence justifies imposing punishments on extremists in order to deter the
rise of further extremists and violent activity, thus protecting the community and
giving the public a greater sense of safety and security. Rehabilitation may be an
option for some people who engage in extremism, since research indicates that
some who engage in extremist may also have conventional beliefs that could be
harnessed to so they are not inclined to engage in extremism again. A reparation
approach would require that extremists make amends to victims to repair the wrong
that they have done. Sklair (2009) observes that attempts to fight “the war on terror”
has not been overly effective, especially dealing with domestic terrorists. Targeting
sanctions to impact the leaders of terrorist or extremist organizations could reduce
the spread of extremist ideology and actions.
A host of anti-extremist and anti-terrorist think-tanks and criminal justice centers
have emerged around the world to collect data on the new nature of extremism and
how best to prevent violent actions. Certainly, the criminal justice community and
professionals have undoubtedly warded off untold number of extremist acts and
have identified extremists to intercept them before they could do harm (Gill et al.,
2017; Pezzella, 2017; US Department of Homeland Security, 2019). People and
organizations have become safer and more secure because of their actions. But as
the January 6, 2021 extremist invasion of the United States capitol illustrates, crimi-
nal justice prevention, anticipation, and interception may not always be successful.
A criminal justice approach is not the only one to be used to counter violent
extremism, or to off-set extremist ideologies when they are minor and exploratory.
The public good may be well-served by focusing on ways to prevent the spread of
extremist ideology in the first instance. The value of preventive partnerships with a
variety of organizations within all countries to prevent extremism cannot be over-
stated (Sklair, 2009).

Public Health Approach

Extremism is a public health problem. As such, it requires a public health response.

This includes primary, secondary and tertiary prevention at both the macro and
micro levels. Countering violent extremism may be the goal, but there are many
points of intervention that occur during the extremist grooming process that could
fend off the escalation of extremist ideology. Community partnerships involving
people in pro-social activities facilitate networking and role-modeling of healthy,
rights-respecting behaviors. People who are looking to create social bonds and
104 Y. Vissing

identities could be intercepted and directed into positive acts of service and connec-
tion instead of extremist networks and pursuits (Ellis & Abdi, 2017; Gunaratna
et al., 2013; Hoffman et al., 2018; Sanir et al., 2017; Southern Poverty Law Center,
2017; United Nations Development Programme, 2016; Weine & Eisenman, 2016).
A public health model can prevent violent extremism through promoting inclusive
development, tolerance and respect for diversity as people search for meaning
(Frankl, 1962).

Human Rights Education Approach

It is clear that extremist ideas are spread through social media, through people’s
informal primary and secondary networks, role-modeled in the family and sup-
ported by governments or social institutions (Zajda & Vissing, 2021). To illustrate,
consider the case of one young man I worked with. He was in his late teens and
living in a dormitory attending university, where he was also on an athletic team. He
was taken under-wing by older males he lived and played with. They’d hang out, go
places, share stories and experiences, drink alcohol, party, and became what would
appear to be friends. His associates started making disparaging comments about
others in the form of jokes, comments that were sexist, racist, with religious biases
and demeaning towards certain groups. Stereotypes turned into prejudices that
turned into discrimination, and ultimately towards oppression and violence.
I didn’t know I was being tested. Now that I look at what they were doing, they baited me
by saying bad things about groups. If I laughed, they took it as a sign that they could go
further. If I felt pressured to fit in and said mean things about others, this gave them the
green-light to go further. The more they felt that I might be one of them and think like they
did, the more they trusted me and opened up with more extreme things. They pressured me
harder. I didn’t realize they were setting me up and pressuring me all the time before. It was
subtle, strategic, methodological. I was alone, away from home, family and old friends, and
I wanted to be accepted by these guys. Then one night, a small group of them took me aside
and told me that they were [a white supremacist group that advocated violence against
certain groups of people]. It was like a light bulb went on. Here I was at college, and I didn’t
expect to be recruited into a cult. They had learned a lot about me by that time. I was scared.
I didn’t see a way out. So, I transferred schools and changed my online profiles so they
wouldn’t find me. That’s how these groups work. I was lucky to see what was happening
and get out before they got me hooked.

Authoritarian ideologies or extremist ideas may be taught in religious organizations

or schools in either autocratic or democratic countries (Delbrück, 1992). Sometimes
part of a formal curriculum, sometimes autocratic or extremist views may be infor-
mal or extra-curricular. The pressure to conform to these views may be overt, covert,
subtle, and presented as a matter of right, goodness, necessity, normalcy, or the way
things are.
Human rights education can be a buffer to extremism. But as Halvorsen (1990)
observes, human rights must be comprehensive and consistent in order to be effec-
tive; an inconsistent approach to human right to education could be more harmful
5 Extremism vs. Human Rights: How Ideology Is Built, Nurtured, and Transforms… 105

than beneficial in terms of application and implementation. Just as students today

are encouraged to develop computer literacy to identify what is legitimate informa-
tion versus untrue and danger material, students also could benefit from understand-
ing how indoctrination of racist, bigoted, authoritarian, and extremist views occur.
Students are being taught how to protect themselves from identity theft and how not
to be scammed by businesses who are trying to exploit them for profit, students also
need to learn how not to be scammed or maneuvered into extremist ideologies,
actions and group involvement. But one has to be very careful since laws, policies
and practices about what can be taught can be manipulated. Politicians or authori-
tarian dictators can lead populations in certain directions (Lee, 2019). Having sup-
portive human rights education oversight is therefore critically important.
Children are not born bigoted extremists. They learn extremist attitudes and
action through a process of interaction with others. It is in this interaction, whether
in-person, online, or through reading/viewing extremist behavior, that they learn the
values, ideologies, attitudes and actions promoting extremism. Through contact
with others, in person or online, they receive positive and negative reinforcements
that lead them either towards the cultivation of embedded and aggressive extrem-
ism, or the eradication of extremist behaviors. Young people can be duped into
believing authoritarian or extremist ideology, and may be sometimes forcibly
recruited, into extremist groups or actions (Darden, 2019). Youth are vulnerable
developmentally, which makes them prime targets for extremist manipulation and
mobilization. It is natural for people in that age category to be looking to discover
their identity and a network which will give them a sense of belonging and purpose
(Jasko et al., 2017; Zajda & Majhanovich, 2021). This means that civic groups that
are human rights focused can fulfill that need – but so can extremist groups.
Learning ideologies about human nature and how we are to treat one another
occurs slowly over time as young people are socialized What is said to children
impacts their perception of reality, of good-bad, right-wrong, and sets them on a
course of how they believe they are to behave. Impacting their minds early is a strat-
egy used by consumer organizations to encourage children to become brand-loyal
early, it is a strategy used by extremist groups to view the world and groups of
people in particularized ways, and it is a strategy that can be effectively used to
promote a human rights/anti-extremist view as well.

Conclusion

This chapter examined and critiqued how extremism transformed globally and how
domestic terrorism is fueled by supremacy ideologies that justify the superiority of
some groups and oppression of others. Extremism may be inadvertently supported
through the rise of globalism. Globalism is typically viewed from an economic
vantage point where goods and services cross national boundary lines, but global-
ism also exchanges ideas and values. Sklair (2009) argued that tackling the global-
ization of human rights seriously means eliminating the ideological distinction that
106 Y. Vissing

exists between civil and political rights on the one hand, and economic and social
rights on the other. Doing this systematically undermines the three central claims of
capitalist globalization – namely, that global corporations are the most efficient and
equitable form of production, distribution and exchange; that the transnational capi-
talist class organizes communities and the global order in the best interests of every-
one; and that the culture-ideology of consumerism will satisfy our real needs.
Economic wealth and political power go together. The people who are benefitting
the most from globalized wealth and power are not distributing wealth and power
among all peoples. A stratification system of inequality prevails as globalization
undermines human rights accesses of people. The rise of domestic extremists who
strive to protect their access to wealth, prestige and power now flows into the politi-
cal and governmental arenas. The elite’s protection of forms of human rights that
benefit them may be seen as protection of human rights in general, but there are
different types of human rights and globalism is not protecting them all. There are
civil, political, economic, cultural, and social rights, and rights unique to certain
geographic, demographic, or indigenous groups. Learning to protect the human
rights of each group is a challenge that those advocating for globalism to address,
for it is a worthy consideration in the prevention of violence and the protection of
citizens.

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Chapter 6
A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human
Rights Education in Colombia

Tracy Holland

Introduction

Colombia has been convulsed by a violent civil war that lasted decades. The war
precipitated a number of human rights atrocities that have killed and displaced a
large number of people throughout the country. The survivors, many of them
women, have found themselves marginalized and postponed within a system struc-
tured to perpetuate injustice and inequality. At the same time, the end of the war has
brought change, and Colombia is also known for its ambitious transitional-justice
mechanisms and its Constitutional Court judgments, many of them designed to
move the nation farther down the road leading to long-lasting peace. Colombia has,
indeed, been called “an international showcase for integrating lessons learned
regarding local meanings of just and victim participation” (de Waardt & Sanne
Weber, 2019, p. 210).
On the ground the situation is more nuanced, and many victims groups feel frus-
trated and convinced that progressive policies, judgments, and laws emanating from
the Colombian government constitute not much more than a “a smokescreen of
democracy” (Perez Casas, 2019). Other researchers in human rights education have
argued that Colombia has used human rights laws and transitional justice mecha-
nisms to present an image of peace and stability that helps to legitimize the govern-
ment while shifting attention away from the latter’s inability to combat vast social
inequalities and to keep structural and physical violence from being perpetrated
against marginalized groups.
Social movements around the world frame their struggles and demands, at least
partly, through the language of human rights (Zajda & Vissing, 2021). This can also
be said about Latin America. More specifically in Colombia, where grassroots

T. Holland (*)
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 113

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_6
114 T. Holland

groups are confronting the injustices leveled against them by the Colombian gov-
ernment and decades of civil war through, in part, engaging the language of human
rights to advance and defend their causes and to educate their children so they will
continue the struggle in the future. Such groups not just in Colombia but worldwide
who look at the long-term sustainability of their causes see education, and HRE in
particular, as an investment in their ability to participate in justice and reconciliation
mechanisms as well as in national political processes. Even when human rights
protection fails, individuals whose rights have been violated can still be empowered
through HRE (Zajda, 2020).
The Colombian government’s approach to human rights education has many of
the characteristics typical of a “declarationist” intervention (Keet, 2018). Keet along
with HRE scholar Michael Zemblayas have been especially critical of what the
declarationist approach to HRE, which is built upon “the almost dogmatic belief
that all human rights truths are generated and consummated within human rights
instruments such as declarations, conventions and covenants.” Keet has argued that
such instruments’ all but hegemonic grip on the truths has stymied the political
imagination, making it almost impossible for people to visualize and implement
alternative forms of politics.
In many cases local grassroots organizations seek to offer a different approach to
government-sanctioned HRE. For victims groups this alternative HRE model is
vital. Rejecting the declarationist approach to HRE also means denouncing the sta-
tus quo that model seeks to reinforce. This status quo approach, which has also been
called “legalistic” or “mainstream”, fails to engage victims, and validates a certain
type of knowledge, often that of the institutional or technical expert, while discount-
ing those closer to cultural, indigenous, and community values of the most affected
by the violence (Coysh, 2014). Thus, as Keet (2012) has put it, “manufactured”
HRE efforts, often undertaken by governments, are unlikely to bring “different
understandings of equality, freedom, justice and emancipation,” those being the
potential drivers of social transformation which are especially important for victims
groups (Keet, 2012, p. 7).
This study explores the multi-generational commitment of one organization,
ANUPAR,1 that identifies as a victims group designated by the Colombian govern-
ment. ANUPAR seeks to educate its members about human rights and to pass on
this education to their children and future generations. This organization’s experi-
ence with HRE is indistinguishable from its commitment to gaining social justice
for women. The women who founded ANUPAR first use HRE to “wake themselves
up” and then to fight for others, and now they are adamant about providing the next
generation with that same two-pronged weapon. Given both Colombia’s recurring
pattern of violence perpetrated against women and subsequent impunity, and its

1
The real name of the group will be withheld for reasons of security.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 115

current highly unstable political climate, the women are under no illusion that in the
absence of activist struggle the state will ever guarantee the rights of all citizens;
hence the need for them to remain vigilant and to claim their rights, even at the risk
of their lives, and to educate each new generation.
HRE researcher Andre Keet wants us to see in HRE an ‘an alternative peda-
gogical language that is more than a regurgitation of international, regional and
national human rights provisions’ and a conceptual space (Keet, 2018, p. 60) that
“is ‘anti-disciplinarian’ (Foucault 1994) and is best implemented through ‘politi-
cal action.” This chapter argues that human rights education can and should be
deployed in emancipatory political projects today, but that reaching such a conclu-
sion requires us to go beyond narrow, formalistic, and overly juridical concepts of
what human rights are, and stress the centrality of social and political struggle in
the formulation and defense of human rights. The chapter also suggests that HRE
by grassroots organizations may do a better job than state run initiatives. The
state’s HRE interventions in schools inevitably frame the political response as
well as the healing process of the communities affected. Like any political pro-
cess, however, it is conditioned by the changing needs and perceptions of the
electorate, and it demands results that fit electoral timelines. This results in abun-
dant short-term interventions that seek to reap political rewards but make no con-
sideration for longer term needs.
In Colombia the children of victims groups have learned about human rights in
school, which means that they were also exposed to government-sponsored
HRE. Many people particularly those who have been victims of government action
or inactions, do not want to leave their children’s education about and for human
rights up to a government that they do not trust. They argue that the government’s
HRE is not justice-oriented but, rather, subtly seeks to preserve the status quo. This
puts at risk the ability of the young generation to use their own experience as a
means of empowerment and mobilization. This is of great concern for victims
groups who view their stories of a violent past as important for all students of human
rights, but most especially for the victims’ children.
Generational change puts the survival of a hard-earned and sophisticated human
rights-based activism at risk, in the same way that language survival is at risk when
children are not taught the language of their parents and grandparents. As with the
loss of their native tongue, a loss of their history of struggle and displacement
would entail the loss of much of their cultural heritage. Indeed, as times goes by,
the stories of the armed conflict and the women’s activism that have shaped their
lives start to fade. The women of ANUPAR cannot afford to leave their fate to the
public schools.
116 T. Holland

ANUPAR’s HRE (2000–2010)2

In the 1990s, when the Colombian conflict forced a large number of women and
their families to flee their violence-ridden villages in the Montes de María and
Magdalena regions of Colombia, many of them established themselves in shanty-
towns on the outskirts of the larger, comparatively safer city of Cartagena.
Eventually, one of these communities grew into a full-fledged neighborhood called
Barrio El Pozón. Continuing growth, fueled by ever growing numbers of internally
displaced peoples, gradually made life in El Pozón more and more difficult for
the women.
The women responded by organizing, and in 1998 they founded a victims’ group,
ANUPAR, which has since been fighting to protect women from violence, insecu-
rity, and a state whose actions they do not trust. By 2000, the women had begun to
learn about their legal and human rights, and to work with other civil society groups
to secure government assistance in the shape of health insurance, income support,
and psycho-social assistance for displaced families. ANUPAR was also influential
in the national political scene; they played an important role furthering the ongoing
civil society movement, and their activism helped the Colombian Peace and Justice
Act pass in 2005, the Gender Equality Law 1257 of 2008, and, finally, the Victims’
Law of 2011.
In 2001ANUPAR held their first human-rights workshop in a city near Cartagena
where many of the women eventually settled, which was attended by 109 women.
Over the years lawyers and human rights educators traveled from Bogota and other
places to give workshops on such topics as women’s rights, national and interna-
tional human rights law, leadership, and policy-advocacy skills. In those early years
“the HRE workshops helped explain [to the women] the origin of the violations,
their consequences, and the imperative to act.” The goal of HRE on the individual
level was to bring the women “a deeper understanding of the injustices and

2
This paper’s observations were made over the course of about a decade of following ANUPAR’s
HRE efforts, and over the course of four field trips – the first of them in 2010, and the subsequent
in 2017, 2018 and 2019– with the research questions and the concerns qualitative field-based
methodology which Graeme Rodgers (2004: 1) has dubbed –“hanging out,” a kind of shorthand,
he says, for participatory approaches is characterized by interactions, conversations, and the study
of artifacts and documents, but also embracing the researchers’ “patience, time and personal inter-
est in the lives of the people among whom we conduct our research.” During the research trips
in 2017 and 2018, the author observed or participated in HRE workshops and field trips in various
capacities, among them being those of curriculum-developer, facilitator, and note-taker, and con-
ducted formal interviews and engaged in informal conversations with members of the ANUPAR
Joven and ANUPAR. In addition to the interviews and other observational data, this study also
draws upon a series of documents that have paralleled ANUPAR’s historical development, includ-
ing the women’s involvement in the various phases of the reparations process. The paper also has
drawn upon email exchanges, plus some conversations conducted via SKYPE, with ANUPAR
representatives who had hosted the research field trips and who provided the author with feedback
on the observations that had made over the course of them. The research on the implementation
of the reparations was done remotely by studying the Facebook posts of the various events as well
as some written observations made by people who witnessed the events first hand.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 117

distortions produced by a history of discrimination, violence, and impunity.”

(Lemaitre et al., 2012). One of the five women interviewed for a 2010 study funded
by United States Institute of Peace,3 recalled that when she first arrived at the League
in 2000:
I didn’t even have the right to declare displacement, because I didn’t even know what dis-
placement was. I came here through Doris and the team. They helped me and explained to
me that I was displaced, and then I began to know about … my rights and what I could do,
and the things I could access. As a woman, I had things taken away from me and I had the
right to claim them and to be recognized. And we, all of us, also have the right to truth and
reparations. (interview with ANUPAR founding member in Turbaco 2010)

Another ANUPAR member speaks about the impact of the early HRE on her and
her fellow members:
I started to learn about so many things that I was entitled to and that I could do, and that as
a displaced person and as a woman had been taken away from me. We are all entitled to our
rights, justice, and reparations, and when one begins to recognize all those things to which
one has a right and that were taken away, one is motivated to have those rights recog-
nized…. In that way we started to regain stability in our lives. (interview with ANUPAR
founding member in Turbaco, 2010)

One interesting moment in ANUPAR’s educational development came in 2005

when the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) agreed to hear a
case brought against the Colombian state by several victims’ groups. From 2006 to
2009 the women documented and compiled 159 testimonios which spoke to their
members’ experiences of displacement and violence. Soon the HRE workshops
became the spaces in which the women wrote testimonies and shared them with
each other. Through this process of creating and discussing these written testimoni-
als the women acquired a deeper knowledge of both their own and others’ experi-
ences, and thereby solidified the bonds that now serve as a foundation for the
organization.
It is certain that for many of the women the knowledge of the formal human-­
rights treaties and of specific rights that they as victims of a conflict are entitled to
has represented simply “a foot in the door,” opening them up to all sorts of broader
learning. “HRE is, after all, education,” notes HRE scholar Upendra Baxi (1994,
p. 19), and the women of ANUPAR, would be the first to agree with that assertion.
For most of the founding women the HRE programming was not the only education
they had ever received but it definitely was the most advanced, taking them up to a
higher, more critical and analytical level. For some who had left school after only
one or two years, HRE did indeed prove to be education after all in a rather literal
sense. Even those who have left ANUPAR look back warmly on the HRE they
received there, and they told us they have grown because of it. To no small extent it
was their sense of having been helped by HRE that fueled their determination to not

3
This study led to findings presented as chapter in HRE and Peacebuilding (Holland and
Martin, 2014)
118 T. Holland

leave it to the schools or the mass media to teach the next generation what or how to
think about human rights.
For the women of ANUPAR, the knowledge about rights guaranteed to women
who have been victims of violence and displacement is a discourse of power, preg-
nant with the possibility of change and indeed embodying the act of change itself.
They see in HRE a tool that can be used to ensure that the next generation will build
on their successes and continue to defend themselves in the face of future human
rights abuses. Most importantly, they have developed a an HRE that is “rooted in
people’s everyday experiences, aspirations, concerns and needs rather than abstract
and intangible concepts (Coysh, 2014, pp. 110–111) for themselves and their
descendants, and even all future generations. In 2010 ANUPAR got the go-ahead
from the government, via the letter, The Right to Petition and Participate in the
Collective Reparations Program, to submit a request for reparations for the violence
and displacement they had suffered during the armed conflict. It is not surprising
that HRE funded projects topped their list.

ANUPAR Joven’s HRE (2017–2019)

Workshops and a Field Trip

In May 2005 ANUPAR created an organization formed especially for and with their
adolescent children called ANUPAR Joven. Until about 2005–2010 it operated a
series of workshops, participatory action-research endeavors, theater workshops,
and conferences, and forged strategic alliances with other organizations. Operating
in the four communities of Cartagena, Turbaco, San Jacinto, and El Carmen de
Bolívar, it helped young people to gain visibility in their communities and to con-
tinue their mothers’ human rights struggles. As the young members started to have
their own families and to leave their hometowns in order to work in Colombia’s
larger cities, the ANUPAR Joven lapsed into a period of inactivity. It was reactivated
only in 2017 when the women of ANUPAR decided to prioritize the training of the
next (and third) generation of human-rights advocates.
The rebirth of ANUPAR Joven in 2017 was marked by the issuing of a call for
project proposals for a HRE program that was to be tailored specifically to the needs
of the new third generation of young people. This led ANUPAR’s executive leader-
ship to approve and fund the Youth Leadership Training and Human Rights work-
shop series, which consisted of monthly workshops held in the three communities
of Turbaco, San Jacinto, and El Carmen del Bolivar. Workshops were developed in
each community by a small team comprised of the ANUPAR Joven coordinator,
local professionals, and visiting academics and students. The resulting workshops
delved into such topics as Introduction to Human Rights; Environmental Justice and
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 119

Human Rights; Communication Strategies for Human Rights Advocacy; Peace,

Justice, and Human Rights in Colombia; Community-building and Human Rights.4
While there were plenty of inspirational moments during these workshops, it was
the less inspired ones that motivated the facilitators to think more deeply about the
HRE workshops. Near the end of the San Jacinto workshop, for instance, when the
educators went around the room and asked the students to tell them what they had
learned, the students gave what they considered the “correct” answers, which
sounded all too much like the scripted and programmed sound-bytes about HR that
they had picked up from television or radio, or in their schools. Such responses took
everyone off topic, in that the group had not addressed those issues during the work-
shop. Another weakness observed by the educators and discussed in the debriefing
sessions held at the end of each day’s workshop what Baxi would call “the general-
ity weakness,” for when students were asked to pinpoint the most pressing problems
in human rights they usually responded by alluding to bullying and stereotyping at
school, to drug addiction taking its toll in their communities, and to air and water
pollution. While these are significant social problems, the educators had been hop-
ing to hear the students give some concrete examples. It was difficult for them to
think specifically, or to say exactly how these issues affect them personally, or relate
to their own conceptions of human rights.
The day after the workshop in El Carmen an opportunity presented itself to leave
the confines of the classroom space by taking a field trip that would focus the stu-
dents’ attention on the de-rightsification and the dehumanization that many of
ANUPAR’s founding women had first-hand knowledge of. The more specific pur-
pose of the trip was to make the students vividly aware of the violent events that had
led to their mothers’ displacements, thereby giving them an opportunity to steep
themselves in the past and in non-normative human rights learning. The trip’s orga-
nizer was one of the founding members of ANUPAR in El Carmen de Bolívar. This
person had arranged for the group to meet with Dolores5 a survivor of the massacre
and also a friend and a supporter of ANUPAR.
Dolores told her story, and some of it is paraphrased here so as to contextualize
the later claims and to place the young people’s experiences and outlooks in a long-­
view context stretching back to those of their mothers or in some cases grandmoth-
ers. but also because it parallels the history of several of the women before they
joined ANUPAR. Dolores began by telling the students about the murder of the
town’s schoolteacher in the weeks leading up to the 2002 massacre in which number
were shot down in the basketball court. At that time the paramilitaries had blocked
all food from entering the town. When one of these men came to town the teacher
bitterly decried their situation, saying that her students were no longer attending
school because they had nothing to eat. She was shot for saying this. Then, on one

4
In Turbaco and San Jacinto the ages of the Youth League’s members ranged from 8 to 15 years.
In Carmen the range went a bit higher– from 13 to 25, with many of the members falling into the
18–25 age group. These were the youngest children of the founders and even some of their
grandchildren.
5
Names used throughout are pseudonyms
120 T. Holland

of the days leading up to the massacre, a drone flew over the town, dropping leaflets
which said that the fiesta they were celebrating that day would be the last any of
them attended. The paramilitary’s occupation of Salado lasted for four days. The
students listened, awestruck, as Dolores told them that her mother, a community
leader, was taken from their home and shot in front of her younger brother.
Dolores concluded her remarks by talking about the implementation of a repara-
tions program that was corrupt and did not include what the victims had asked for,
even though it was created in the name of human rights. For instance, the people of
El Salado had requested the construction of a single, simple monument to com-
memorate the dead; instead the government built a cultural center right in the mid-
dle of town that the people did not want and that would end up being closed for
much of the time because they did not have the funds to keep it open. Then too, the
survivors of the massacre had asked the authorities to have their deceased friends
and relatives buried alongside their relatives in the town’s cemetery located near the
entryway to the town, but the government instead buried them in a tiny parcel of
land next to the basketball court where the killing had happened. In an incredible
show of both devotion and resistance, the victims dug up the remains and moved
them to family burial plots within the cemetery.6
Dolores’ story went on for hours, in part because the students asked questions
and voiced concerns that she showed no restraint in responding to. At the end of the
visit the young people in the group thanked her and acknowledged the pain she must
be feeling, having relived the tragedy by speaking about it. Juan, one of the students
in the group, expressed his gratitude and said that listening to Dolores’ story had
brought to life everything the group had talked about in the HRE workshop held on
the previous day, including such concepts as human dignity, truth, justice, memory,
peace, and reparations.

 RE Through Reparations for Future Generations

H
(2018–2019)

As Baxi has said each new generation enters the realm of HRE from a distinct van-
tage point, and programs must be adapted to meet the challenges they face. The
women had come to recognize that progress toward gaining justice for victims, and
even the very existence of their organization, was being intimately tied to the ability
to educate themselves and the next generation. They saw in the reparations an
opportunity to set up HRE opportunities adapted for future generations, knowing
that victims’ struggles for human rights never end. In September 2018 ANUPAR
received notification from the government that their reparation requests, outlined in

6
On El Salado, please see Sánchez, G. 2009. ‘La Masacre de El Salado: Esa Guerra No Era
Nuestra. Miembros Del Grupo de Memoria Histórica and Uribe, M., Salcedo, N., Correa, A.,
Barragán, A., David, J. & Yuda, M. 2009. ‘Memoria Tiempos Guerra Baja. http://www.centrode-
memoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2009/memoria_tiempos_guerra_baja.pdf.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 121

their Comprehensive Collective Repair Plan, had been approved. The officials of
ANUPAR listed, in their funding request for what they saw as being HRE-related
reparations, textbook revisions, memorials, a dance performance, a photography
exhibit, and an inter-generational symposium. The women had waited for years for
these reparations to materialize, and suddenly they had just two months in which to
implement their reparations-funded projects.
The first two reparations, which saw the light in November 2018 were a photog-
raphy exhibit and a dance, both of which premiered at Cartagena’s historic museum
during an event designed to commemorate ANUPAR’s struggle and to celebrate its
ongoing human rights activism. The photography exhibit contained portraits of
ANUPAR’s members engaged in various activities, from meetings to marches, and
seen in both their homes and community spaces. The dance was choreographed by
a Colombian artist working in close collaboration with the women.
Three months later, March of 2019, another reparations-funded event was held a
ceremony focused on the unveiling of a stone statue in The City of Women neigh-
borhood of Turbaco. The statue depicts a mother and child both of whom were pres-
ent at the ceremony. Invited guests as well as members of ANUPAR and ANUPAR
Joven also were on hand as these words carved into the statue’s pedestal were
revealed: “Let not our voices be silenced over time.” During the part of the cere-
mony which the program called I Come to Deliver My Voice, the survivors came up
to the podium one by one and handed their testimonies to the delegates attending the
event, who proceeded to read them aloud to the crowd of about one hundred people.
With the reparations, ANUPAR’s HRE education work turned a corner, as it
allowed the women to create educational opportunities for future generations that
would prepare them to engage in their own social, political, and cultural struggles.
It allowed them to breathe a bit easier knowing that their stories would not be for-
gotten. According to Elizabeth Jelin, whose work helps us to see the role that mem-
ory can and should play in HRE, in Latin America “Beyond specific demands and
goals in the realm of politics, one of the most important aspects of the human-rights
movement’s cause is its struggle ‘against forgetfulness’ and for the construction of
memory.” (Jelin, 1994, p. 49). The problem as she sees it is that people never even
have the chance to “forget” what they have never really absorbed in the first place,
or when they minimize or outright reject what they have received and fail to pass it
onward. Thus it is incumbent upon the generation that tentatively possesses the past
to convey it to the next one.

Analysis: What Can We Learn from a Victims-Centered HRE

ANUPAR has used education to give women not just a better knowledge of their
human rights and thereby greater legal protections, but also the leadership, advo-
cacy skills that have allowed the organization to advocate for broader social changes
that respect women. Through HRE they have sought to cement their gains and to
enhance their long-term sustainability in the face of adversity. Thus, it presents an
122 T. Holland

example that illustrates an HRE that builds on the needs, aspirations, and desires of
a grassroots organization.
ANUPAR’s experience with HRE is indistinguishable from its commitment to
gaining social justice for women. Keet wants us to see in HRE an “an alternative
pedagogical language that is more than a regurgitation of international, regional and
national human rights provisions,” and a conceptual space (Keet, 2015, p. 60) that
“is ‘anti-disciplinarian’ (Foucault 1994) and is best implemented through ‘political
action.” While the paper does argue that HRE must be to seen to have a non-­
disciplinarian nature, it has examined HRE through its content and method – two
identifiable areas for HRE scholars. Two themes emerge above all others: the need
for an HRE whose content privileges lived experience over formal HR law, and
secondly, an HRE where human rights ideas are transmitted through stories.

On Content: Decentered HRE

Keet and Zembylas (2018) have spoken about a decentered form of HRE, which
“repositions” or “renews” learning about human rights by moving it away from the
normative framework toward a more experiential one. This call for a decentered sort
of HRE signals a move away from an adherence to formal doctrine and toward what
learners believe to be important human-rights topics that conform to their lived
experience. If the center of most HRE is found in the human-rights articles, declara-
tions, conventions, and laws, and if the decentered sort of HRE is all about lived
experience, then we can see that although the former is present in the initial educa-
tion the women received, over time it becomes less prominent as the learners slowly
being transformed into teachers of human rights, draw upon their own experiences
and insights.
The women’s marked preference for experience over law became especially
noticeable when they first began to develop HRE for their children. Dolores, who
said she had stopped sharing her story with the public, and Dona Lucy, who had
never visited El Salado, both knew that young people craved an account of human
rights that was real, part of that was through the experience of a field trip. They
knew the students would need to find education interesting and relevant in order to
overcome the bland, abstract, almost rote HRE they had been exposed to in school,
but they also had to compete for their time. Thanks to the women’s successful strug-
gles in those regards, the opportunities for their children were much greater now:
they had soccer games, youth-ministry events, and other extracurricular activities,
not to mention their studies to keep them busy and inspired. Both Dolores and Dona
Lucy respected the young people’s decision not to attend the HRE workshops, but
at the same time they feared that the young people would never learn what they need
to know about the past. A decentered, experience-based HRE would be more likely
to both attract them and to give them that needed long view of the struggle for
human rights.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 123

The young people themselves demanded a decentered education, even inside the
HRE workshops that they attended. In Carmen this became obvious during the
workshop for the older students already seemed to know about human rights,
remaining listless until they had a chance to talk about reparations, jobs, and vio-
lence in the context of human-rights violations. They swiftly moved the discussion
away from this or that human-rights article to a searing critique of government,
reparations, and the peace process. Their main real-world concern was that although
they had studied hard and had earned academic credentials, they still couldn’t find
jobs because they lacked the requisite political and social connections. They com-
plained both that the government was unresponsive to poor people’s needs and that
many of the conditions that caused or exacerbated their vulnerability still existed.
They insisted that the government was not interested in helping them, and that if it
were left up to the government there would never be peace, justice, and respect for
human rights.
In the course of the final discussion that the Carmen group had on reparations,
the skepticism was almost palpable when it came to the proposed inclusion of vic-
tims in the ongoing Colombian peace process, and the respect that purportedly
would be paid to their rights in the process. One student said he would not wait for
the government to ensure their human rights. The consensus message of the group
was instead “Peace and conflict begin with you,” an idea that seems to have ema-
nated from the church to which many of the students belonged and indicated a
refusal to recognize the state’s commitment to human rights. These workshops
served to confirm Keet’s argument (2015) that HRE has to be subversive, even in
relation to its own content claims, and that its renewal can proceed only on the basis
of the incessant human-rights critiques.
The field trip to El Salado was a prime example of a decentered approach to HRE
for it forcibly impressed upon the students the inadequacy of any HRE that does not
include the voices of the victims of violence. As the students learned that day, most
of what had happened in El Salado, as told by Dolores, a survivor of the massacre,
plays havoc with any reasonable notion of what it means to be human, and thereby
comes close to making a mockery of formal human-rights standards. It should come
as no surprise, therefore, that the most important lessons the students likely learned
that day had little to do with human-rights norms and laws. Rather, the real life-­
lessons included: the actions that should and should not be taken in the face of a
death threat; the routes one should and should not take while trying to escape; the
various homemade ways of preserving dead bodies and of burying loved ones; and
perhaps most importantly of all, at least in times of relative non-crisis, how best to
navigate the corrupt and poorly administered government reparations program.
A decentered HRE, as exemplified by the experience in El Salado, which is one
that prioritizes practice over theory and reality over rhetoric, also underscored for
the students the importance of truth. They quickly perceived that those who have
suffered the most must be allowed to tell their stories, for not just the story itself but
the story-teller as well, in relation to her or his audience, is what constitutes the
truth. While the students had all learned about the right to reparations as codified in
international and Colombian law, the field trip allowed them, by listening to what
124 T. Holland

Dolores had to say, to learn about the dissatisfaction of the people with the repara-
tions process. Her take on it was so much more critical than was the official story
purveyed through government infomercials and U.N. sources that their eyes were
opened, or at least opened even wider. That radical disjunction made the students
aware that human rights live in a context of truth and die, or at least wither, in a
context of falsehood. Thus, if they had not made this trip which gave them a decen-
tered experience of HRE, the young people in the group might never have gained
access to the victims’ understanding of human rights and to their keen, almost raw
awareness of how easily and how savagely they can be stripped away.
A decentering toward human experience and away from the formal representa-
tion of human rights in declarations and laws gave the students of this study the
opportunity to learn some harsh lessons about the past but also to be exposed to
some promising new realities. For instance, the trip to El Salado brought the stu-
dents face to face with the horrors of the past but also with a new model of sustain-
able living. Dolores, and her husband Cristian, and their three children were building
a solar-powered farm on land they had inherited as part of a family estate and on a
pension-money inheritance left to Dolores. Before the group left the farm, Cristian
took them on a quick tour that revealed the first beans they had planted, now ripe for
picking, a pen housing two large pigs, and a newly constructed coop for their chick-
ens. The couple told the students that the farm was meant to serve as a model to be
emulated by others who had returned to El Salado after the massacre as part of the
government’s repatriation program of 2013. Their goal was yes, a self-­help-­based
lifestyle but one that also, Dolores assured the students, was redolent of “environ-
mental sustainability, social entrepreneurship,” and, she very deliberately added,
“human rights.”
The reparation-funded projects, the dance, photo exhibit, and monument, are
more manifestations of decentered human rights education because they were born
out of the women’s hard-earned knowledge of human-rights laws and activism. The
experiences the women went through when their rights were violated, when they
became aware of their rights, and when they came together to defend their rights are
all present within those three manifestations. Indeed, they are scattering seeds for
the human-rights education that they know their descendants will one day need as
much as they did. While the relation of those seeds to formal human-rights laws and
doctrines is not yet known, what we can see is how reparations can be a means of
giving young people not mere facts but rather a vivid understanding of them in the
lived context of human experience. Through HRE-related reparations, memories are
kept alive, experience is attached. Formal human-rights law has its place, especially
when it comes to helping victims come to grips with what they have been through,
but lived experience stories is a better teacher, especially for those who have not
experienced rights-violations themselves or whose strictly school-taught knowl-
edge of human rights has made them critical of or ambivalent about them.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 125

On Method: Storytelling and Historical Memory

Story-telling approaches to HRE have for the women of ANUPAR been important
from the beginning of their journey, when they began to record their testimonies, up
until the invited guests read these stories almost twenty years later at the unveiling
of their monument in Turbaco. At the beginning the stories gave them a chance to
speak of the personal experiences that they thought nobody else shared, and that
they never knew were linked to any formal human-rights laws and treaties and thus
deserving of repair. These women whose voices had been silenced by various kinds
of oppression began, in many cases for the first time in their lives, to articulate the
violations of their human rights and then to watch as their narratives were validated
by becoming part of the broader national and even international discourse on human
rights. Twenty years later at the unveiling of the monument those stories were given
their chance to teach the next generation “the pain” but also “the resilience to the
victimizing facts,” to quote Gloria who spoke that day. She ended her remarks thus:
“We want the whole country to listen to us; we want women who have not dared to
speak to speak because by doing so, our hearts heal.”
As for not daring to speak, that fearful silence also was something that HRE had
addressed all along. For the fact was that despite all their years of activism and of
sharing their stories with others through the media to foreigners, the women had
never shared their stories with their offspring. Bellino (2014) came upon a similar
phenomenon in the course of doing her research on the conflict in Guatemala. She
observed that young people across that country learn about that nation’s experiences
of social and political violence more often through “silences, evasions, and contes-
tations” than via coherent narratives. Understandably, those who have experienced
trauma try to shield their children by building walls of silence around them and
around the issues, but the sheer speaking up has a way of penetrating previously
impenetrable homes, communities, and classrooms. The organizer of the trip to El
Salado, Doña Lucy had said, “The stories are best forgotten because they are too
painful to remember.” She explained that for many years she had avoided going to
El Salado because she had wanted to forget, but that now it was time to tell the sto-
ries of the past because the young people needed to hear them.
The impetus to tell their own stories now in their HRE workshops and field trips
also comes out of their frustration at hearing their stories told by others and in ways
that they often don’t agree with. Dolores is another great example here, for she
began by telling the students that normally she no longer relates the story because
people come and take it without benefiting the people of her town of El Salado, but
that she felt impelled to share it with the young people in the group. Dolores, in the
tradition of the constructive storyteller (Senehi, 2002), chose to relate those events
and details which she knew would highlight the lessons she thought the students
should learn. In other words, she was selective, and her selection and framing came
from her desire to make a point about the present and future as they are seen from a
victim’s perspective on human rights.
126 T. Holland

As the members of ANUPAR began to think about the future of their organiza-
tion and the ongoing need for their children and grandchildren to defend and protect
rights, they became more and more interested in historical memory and in how best
to convey the past to a generation that has had no first-hand experience of human
rights violations, at least of the most extreme and violent sort. The smallest children
who were in attendance when the dance was performed at the Cartagena Historic
Museum are the grandchildren of ANUPAR’s founders. The women of ANUPAR
received their HRE before and during the enactment of the Colombian Victims Law,
whereas the young people’s education occurred at least ten years after the passage
of that law in 2018. Thus the women were learning about human-rights laws at a
time when they were not recognized as being victims of Colombia’s conflict, while
the young people had gained recognition of their victim status and had learned
about their right to receive reparations and to be rights-bearers. The latter are a post-­
memory generation, but also in many ways post-human rights, because they have
not had to struggle to gain their human rights as their mothers have.
The powerful learning potential associated with acts of ‘memory-retrieval’ is
critical to build connections with the generation that has not experienced the process
firsthand; the ‘postmemory generation’ (Hirsh et al., 2012). This is important
because each new generation enters HRE from a distinct vantage-point. Through the
efforts of ANUPAR they have been exposed to the stories of their mothers’ struggles
and the direct experience of listening to survivors. The challenge does not end there.
Their own children (the grandchildren of ANUPAR’s women) will also likely inherit
a complex and difficult environment. An active human rights movement is funda-
mental to building peace, but such a movement can only succeed if each succeeding
generation is taught about rights – and not just taught ‘about’ rights but led to ‘feel’
and ‘experience’ their importance to the movement. That is no easy task, for whereas
the founding women of ANUPAR made the connection between knowledge of
human rights and their ongoing struggle to protect themselves from violence, the
new generation lacks such immediate connection.
The stories are now passed along through the dance, photographs, and monu-
ments. These are all meant to serve as the official public records of ANUPAR’s
story, being available to posterity to transform the facts of the women’s displace-
ment and the formation of ANUPAR into a deeper, cultural knowledge of human
rights that tomorrow’s people can avail themselves of:
The dance begins with the dancers– young children, adolescents, and their mothers– enter-
ing the room with small quick steps. They then lower themselves to the floor where they
crawl on their hands and feet. After this they form groups that reflect various aspects of the
armed conflict’s pain. One group huddles around a child on the floor, assuming various
positions of mourning. Another group poses together with their arms uplifted, as if asking
for help or pleading for their lives. In a second part of the dance a young mother, holding
her baby, eventually rises to her feet and walks around, deftly navigating the chaos on the
floor. Slowly she begins to help the other dancers rise to their feet. Each one who rises,
helps another one to her feet. The music shifts from being slow and stately to more upbeat
as the dancers begin to tear off the newspaper dresses that had covered them, leaving just
their black clothing. They hold hands and begin to dance in unison, taking steps first for-
ward and then back. In the third part, an adolescent girl and two small children enter the
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 127

room and walk to its center. They are dressed in white, and the children are holding a heart
that has been cut out of red fabric. The children repeat the steps taken by others in the sec-
ond part, first forward and then back, dancing at the front and the center of the stage. The
performance is brought to an end when the adult dancers move closer together and huddle
around the young people in a protective manner. (Berryhill, personal communication, 2019)

Artistic testimonies such as the dance have powerful potential to bring learners
together, “socially and culturally sharing a traumatic experience,” and they thereby
make at least possible an “intergenerational expansion of the we.” The stories in
whatever form they took helped the young people to identify with victim’s suffering
but also gave them a chance to reinterpret and re-signify what has been passed along
to them so that they can later pass it along to others.
Another use of the reparation funds that had not yet been enacted at the time of
this research in date would be to foster an “intergenerational dialogue,” another
storytelling event. The women would talk not just about their struggles of the past
but also would include other stories relating to their families, their children’s early
experiences, the origins of those children’s names, their favorite toys, and other
memories the women had of their offspring’s lives. This idea had emerged from the
HRE workshops held in San Jacinto in the previous year. At that workshop, as an
ice-breaker the facilitators had asked the young students in the group to share with
the others the origins of their names. One of the women who was in attendance that
day, representing ANUPAR, stepped in when it was her child’s time to speak and
told the group that she had named her child after a well-known singer whom she had
loved at the time. Other name-origin stories were not so light-hearted. Another
adult, also from ANUPAR, jumped in to tell the story of a student in the group who
was her nephew. She said he had been named after his father who had died on the
day he was born, and she went on to movingly tell the group about the life of that
man. This exercise served as a reminder of the impact the conflict had had on all
lives but it also made the ANUPAR representatives who were present that day mind-
ful of the learning potential and other benefits of childhood stories, not just stories
of war but also of the happier moments and events as a means of contextualizing the
egregious human-rights violations perpetuated at the time of conflict and
displacement.

Final Thoughts: HRE’s Return to Its Violent Roots

Back in 1994, Baxi wrote that the HRE field was burdened by both a rights-­weariness
in the North: “an ethical stance which doubts whether the liberal traditions of indi-
vidual rights can be the privileged bearers of human transformation….” and, in the
South, a rights-wariness in the sense that people “perceive an immense duality, and
even duplicity, in the endless propagation of human rights languages” (Baxi, 1994).
However, Keet (2018) also argued that given HRE’s ties to international institutions;
it cannot escape the “imprisonment” of human rights within the colonial and neo-­
liberal arrangements. In his 2007 doctoral dissertation ‘Human Rights Education or
128 T. Holland

Human Rights in Education: A Conceptual Analysis’ he argued that in South Africa

and other places around the world, the HRE emancipatory project was moribund
(Baxi, 2007, p. 22). This critique has persistently plagued HRE, showing up in the
form of much scholarly debate. Baxi (1994), however, also acknowledged the spe-
cial connection that victims have to human rights. He writes that human rights
cultures:
have long been in the making by the praxis of victims of violations, regardless of the mode
of formulation of human rights standards and instruments. (Baxi, 1994, p. 1)

And while the construction of a global HRE discourse has meant the subjugation
of particular types of knowledge, with historical forms of knowledges being buried
or at least masked (Coysh, 2014, p. 89), Baxi (1994) argued that:
the experience of outrage, and judgment about, flagrant and massive violations of human
rights antedates rights-enunciations, and survives their well-manicured formulations. (Baxi,
1994, p. 5)

Situated right at the heart of ANUPAR’s work, HRE has outlived the formal
declarations, the disciplinary approaches to human rights, being transformed
through the women’s activism into a vibrant world replete with experiences and
stories. This study has explored how it is that HRE is deeply rooted in victims’
struggles. None of this came easy. The women received constant threats from para-
military groups, and they were exposed to rape and to having their children forcibly
recruited as child soldiers. A member of ANUPAR recounts:
They told us that they were going to ‘disappear’ us … As we were forming as a group, gain-
ing consciousness, and empowering ourselves about our rights … we became a stone in
their shoes.

That stone took the form of many actions taken in response to the corruption they
witnessed close to home and elsewhere in Colombia. Paradoxically, these threats
and hardships drew the women together, allowing them to grow and perfect their
organizational and survival skills. The story of ANUPAR is one of critical engage-
ment and struggle in response to these adverse conditions. They were not political
actors until the war came to their communities. They did not know about interna-
tional human rights standards or educating themselves about human rights until
violence entered their lives. Thus, no study of HRE within the context of human
rights struggles for justice for victims and marginalized people, especially within
the violent context of Colombia, would be complete if it failed to take note of the
inherent dangers of human rights education work. It is important to end with this
note: HRE’s ongoing survival and renewal in Colombia has entailed, and doubtless
will continue to entail emotional harm, revictimization, frustration, humiliation, and
loss. The findings presented in these pages have grown out of the risks that many
people have undergone in order to make human rights education work possible.
6 A Victim-Group’s Approach to Human Rights Education in Colombia 129

Conclusion

In Colombia, as above demonstrates, especially given the growing attacks on grass-

roots leaders, the open discussion of such ‘leftist’ notions as human rights continues
to be stigmatized. In the year 2016 and 2017 alone an estimated 283 social-­
movement leaders were killed, and it is still very dangerous to be the leader of a
social organization in Colombia today. The history of ANUPAR’s human-rights
work is a history of the women’s finding ways to create relatively safe spaces within
which to do this work even while always living in fear. Side by side with the inspir-
ing journey described in this paper is another: how the workshops had to move from
one location to another, how the educators were threatened, how the vehicles that
transported the women from place to place had to be driven by armed guards, how
the women themselves had their lives threatened or even taken, and how numerous
acts of destruction and arson were inflicted up their sacred places.

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Chapter 7
Discovering Unintentional Messaging
About Children’s Rights in Children’s
Literature to Advance Understanding
of Children’s Rights

Melissa M. Juchniewicz

Introduction

Literature for children is arguably the most powerful tool for educating and engag-
ing the newest world citizens, as it fosters foundational values and beliefs in readers
and listeners. Sometimes still dismissed as uncomplicated entertainment, children’s
literature is now more widely understood as a unique literature form. In picture
book creation, through author choice of words and artists selection of pictures, chil-
dren develop formative values and beliefs about what people are like and how the
world works. In any cultural setting picture books are vehicles that provide children
with an understanding of their rights as well as their responsibilities. Messages
within texts about children’s rights, as articulated in the articles of the
U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, are analyzed in this chapter from a
longitudinal perspective to show the shift towards advancing an understanding of
human rights.

 istorical Foundations of Children’s Rights in Children’s

H
Literature

The scholarship of children’s literature has developed steadily since Jacob and
Wilhelm Grimm, linguists from Germany, explored folklore as a means to better
understand language. To support their studies, they transcribed some of the tradi-
tional German tales and in 1812 published a collection, and then found them to be
considered the domain of children. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth

M. M. Juchniewicz (*)
University of Massachusetts Lowell, Chester, NH, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 131

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_7
132 M. M. Juchniewicz

centuries, as the field of children’s literature grew to ultimately be considered a

unique genre, scholarship, too, has become both more broad and more focused.
Scholarship specifically about children’s rights in children’s literature is nascent;
probably the best example is the Columbia Law Review article and subsequent book
by Johnathan Todres and Sarah Higinbotham, Human Rights in Children’s
Literature, which states, “ … important research questions … merit further explora-
tion in order to develop a body of scholarship on children’s rights and children’s
literature, and to realize the full potential of children’s literature as a vehicle for
facilitating the development of children into rights-bearing citizens who contribute
to their communities” (Todres & Higinbotham, 2016).

Lessons and Commands

Storytelling

Explicit and implicit messages about children’s rights and cultural responsibilities
in children’s literature have changed over time. For centuries, most stories told to
children reinforced messages that children are unimportant, incompetent, and pow-
erless, and need only adopt the values, behaviors, and beliefs of adults. There were
some exceptions, such as children as tricksters, but tricksters were more often
depicted as animals that served as stand-ins for children, and that depiction is pres-
ently challenged, as child-as-animal is another way of diminishing identity. Overall,
stories carried clear messages that children did not have rights, and the purpose of
story was to impart a lesson that generally asserted the idea that children must
change to fit into an adult world.
Nevertheless, messages were clear that not only did children not have rights, but
also that adults and their needs were superior, and lessons generally conveyed
ideas about punishment for not recognizing that. Before literacy was viewed as
valuable, the function of stories in the form of folklore was often entertainment,
which was not intended for children; however, an overarching theme in traditional
stories was and still is the less powerful overcoming the more powerful, whether
through cleverness or magic, which is certainly the appeal to children, the most
powerless of all. The other main function of stories was transmission of values
which decidedly did not include the rights of children but served to guide children
to emulate adulthood.

Early Books

Certainly, books have always taught lessons, but underlying messages have nearly
always been conflicting or serve only to reinforce existing ideas about power. When
literature for children moved from traditional storytelling to books, those books
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 133

were overwhelmingly didactic, with some exceptions such as “chapbooks” or cheap

books in the sixteenth century, which featured stories, frequently illustrated, for the
lower classes. Much later, a backlash against didacticism in children’s books was
initiated in 1865 with the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland, which recognized that children have imaginations, and that books can
simply be delightful in the absence of a moral lesson.
As the concept of childhood gained favor over the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, and children were thus being seen as assets, their acquisition of literacy
became valuable as well. There is some disagreement about what should be consid-
ered the earliest text for children, for example, the Orbis Sensualium Pictus
(Illustrated World of the Senses), first published in Nuremburg in 1658 by the Czech
John Comenius, is often pointed to as the first non-fiction picturebook, while Les
Contes de ma mère l’Oye (tales of Mother Goose) by Charles Perrault in 1697 fixed
in print stories that previously existed only in the oral tradition. The Orbis Pictus is
strictly informational, but in the second person voice, which implies a relationship
between book and reader. The relationship suggests the child is an “empty vessel”
into which knowledge is poured, a characterization of children challenged since the
progressive movement. The Perrault book transcribes fairy tales which perpetuate
ideas about children’s relative powerlessness; in traditional folklore, children are
often abandoned and left to starve, or they have adult responsibilities thrust upon
them. In the eighteenth century, didactic books for children, often intended to
frighten them into morality, existed alongside Rousseau’s theories about stages of
moral development, although in the mid-1700s John Newbery published books for
children meant strictly to appeal to them.

Influences on the Present

Newbery recognized that children’s interests differ. A publisher, he observed not

only that those interests varied, but that children did have some influence over the
adults who were with them, and that adults were willing to spend money on them.
Literacy was gradually acquiring respect in the 300 years since Gutenberg’s inven-
tion, and with the wider availability of printed material, and a growing middle class
who were eager to move up their station, saw schools as an asset to that end.
Newbery observed that adults were willing to spend money on children; he wrote
many books under a variety of names and marketed those books on the lower shelves
of his shop for easy access by children. Still, however, it was universally accepted
that children should be seen but not heard. Despite new ways of perceiving children
as more than a homogeneous block, children’s voices did not enter into this notion.
Although children could be categorized, they were not being considered as indi-
viduals. Nevertheless, Newbery’s breakthrough practices were an important turning
point, which is one reason, in modern times, the best children’s literature is recog-
nized with the Newbery Medal, created in 1922 and the first award for children’s
literature. Newbery sought to appeal to children rather than to command them,
134 M. M. Juchniewicz

which is also an underlying reason for the cynicism about children’s books always
necessarily having a “lesson” or “moral.” To this day, in the field we are more con-
cerned with a book’s message rather than a lesson or moral. This encourages the
active reading that we see as an important skill, and this interchange of ideas based
on experiences can show how children’s literature can be a “springboard” for dis-
cussion with children about their rights.

The Invention of Childhood

The notion of children having rights at all is recent, as the conception of children as
simply small adults, or as wild things whose wills had to be broken, held firm until
the last century. The concept of childhood as a distinct social structure and psycho-
logical condition did not exist before the sixteenth century, and it was still centuries
before the idea of childhood took hold as a universal understanding. Childhood was
eventually accepted as a stage of human life; indeed, an understanding of childhood
continues to evolve.

The Changing Dominance of a Class System

The “Golden Age”

Prior to the nineteenth century, depending upon the class a person was born into, a
child spent their first roughly 7 years preparing to take their predestined place in
society, and then took that place. Children were not valued beyond, perhaps, the
affection within a family. According to social class, they might be seen as burdens
or assets in a world with rigid class distinctions. The year 1865 was an important
turning point not only for the end of the American Civil War, but also for improved
techniques in picture book art, and, importantly, the publication of Lewis Caroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which ushered in the “Golden Age of Children’s
Literature” and asserted that children do have imaginations. The idea of rights for
children was essentially a non-issue, beyond a call for ending child abuse and hun-
ger through works by Charles Dickins. With few exceptions, prior to the start of
this first “Golden Age” of children’s literature to which Alice opened the door, lit-
erature for children was strictly didactic. Strides towards a different understanding
of childhood began to take place as a middle class took form. That understanding
was influenced in the nineteenth century by, for example, the visible affection
Queen Victoria showed to her children, which upper classes sought to emulate in
England, and the United States and other European countries followed suit. The
“Golden Age” depiction of children in realistic fiction and fantasy, outside of
domestic stories for girls and adventure stories for boys, was an idealized world of
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 135

softness and safety; the child was considered the “angel in the house” who was
seen but not heard.

Challenging Child Labor

Meanwhile, there was a drumbeat of objection to child labor in the lower classes,
where children worked in mines, factories, and on farms. Although most child
laborers were illiterate and unlikely to be read to, a trend during the “Golden Age”
period showed non-human boys striving to be real boys, such as Peter Pan and
Pinocchio, and girls lost or abandoned, such as Dorothy in Baum’s (1902) The
Wizard of Oz. Both of these tropes saw children learning to navigate the world on
their own, nonetheless, their ultimate goal was to be the adults that had abandoned
them. In response to the conditions under which lower-class children worked, the
children’s rights movements of the 1800s led to the Declaration of the Rights of the
Child in 1924 in Geneva, the precursor for the present CRC. The 1920s also saw the
progressive movement gain ground through John Dewey’s open advocacy of chil-
dren’s rights in education. In addition, children’s rooms in libraries were being des-
ignated more frequently, and the American Library Association (ALA) began the
system of awards for children’s books with the Newbery Award in 1922.

Evolution of Childhood and Children’s Literature

As protections and rights for children became widespread in the twentieth century,
children’s literature evolved alongside. Art in picture books improved in design as
well as technology from the time Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, and other
artists in the mid-nineteenth century demonstrated that children’s literature pro-
vided a vehicle for high quality and highly respected art; in 1937 the ALA estab-
lished the Caldecott Medal to recognize the best picturebook art in the name of
Randolph Caldecott.
In the twentieth century, picture books gradually gained stature in literature as a
genre. A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh is often considered the book that closed the
door to the “Golden Age” era, which ended in the early 1920s, because the chapters,
which were initially published in Punch, a humor magazine for adults, was reviewed
as an adult book. As picture books briefly waned at the close of the “Golden Age,”
intermediate fiction gained popularity, and was frequently published in series with
predictable plots. Intermediate fiction, or chapter books, were widely available to
children and the absence of parents or any adult in these stories gave the main char-
acter autonomy, despite often being characterized as the adult figure in the story. For
example, the Hardy Boys books, first published in 1927, featured boys, and the
Nancy Drew books first published in 1930, featured a girl, but the “solving
136 M. M. Juchniewicz

mysteries” formulas of the books were the same. In these books and others pat-
terned after them, parental figures were absent, there was no guiding adult; the
adults in the books were frequently villains. This formula was successful and set a
trend; the Hardy Boys books listed Franklin W. Dixon as author and the Nancy
Drew books listed Carolyn Keene as author, but these were pseudonyms for a great
number of writers who would churn out hundreds of these unchallenging books.

Maturing of Picture Books

Meanwhile, picture books were transforming from the “Golden Age” styles to a
wider variety of styles, and still carried messages that supported the relative power-
lessness of children. Still, in the 1930s children’s rooms in libraries had become
common as places that were safe and inviting for children to interact with books.
Librarianship for children’s literature was becoming increasingly consequential; in
the 1930s, librarian Augusta Baker responded to the call from Black parents who
wanted books that portrayed Black characters in a respectful way, by compiling lists
of books that parents could confidently share with their children. Creating such lists
became practice for many librarians in majority Black areas such as Chicago’s south
side, where librarian Charlemae Rollins went beyond the lists and for decades was
a powerful advocate for better representation of Black children in picture books.

Picture Books in the Western World

Every corner of the world produces picture books for children. In this chapter, the
focus will be on the analysis of children’s picture books in the United States. Picture
books framing the world from a Western world view have tended to set a standard
for how children are to behave and perceive the world. Books from non-Western
cultures have been strategically and methodologically excluded from analysis in
this chapter, with no intention of diminishing their importance and contributions to
the field. Rather, the parameters for this study focus on the impact of human rights
messages conveyed to children in Western, specifically American, picture books,
and how they have ideologically changed across time as the world has become more
globalized.

Critical Analysis

With a focus on picture books from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a sys-
tem of critical analysis may reveal messages that can be conveyed through words
and pictures. There may not be an explicit theme of explaining or advancing human
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 137

rights within the covers of a book, but there are many ways messages are provided,
whether or not it is an author’s intent. In twenty-first century children’s literature,
themes of equity, justice, and empowerment are often direct and intended. As the
articles in Part II of the CRC can be roughly divided into articles on provision, such
as food, housing, education, and healthcare, protection, for example from violence
and abuse, and participation, books referencing provision or protection are increas-
ingly available in libraries and bookstores; the latter, participation, must also be
understood as the child’s knowledge of their rights (e.g., Article 42). Critical analy-
ses of “good” children’s literature from any point in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries can reveal indirect or implicit messages leading to a reader’s or listener’s
understanding of children’s rights as well as children’s responsibilities. An absence
of any evidence of acknowledgement of children’s rights in a book is a message,
too. Conversation with caring adults can inspire these messages to emerge, if these
caring adults employ a variety of strategies for interpretation.

Contemporary Children’s Literature

Picture books have matured in quality during the twenty-first century and are often
stunningly beautiful, as they must continually compete with electronic media for
children’s attention. Picture books have a unique capability of capturing attention
because of the intimate or safe setting in which children often encounter them.
Today, picture books are not only celebrated as “art galleries” of illustrations, but
the content is also widely considered literature as consequential as any genre,
whether contemporary or classic. Good picture books lend themselves well to criti-
cal analysis by employing strategies that were once the domain of literature intended
for adult audiences. In literary theory, basic strategies can provide a variety of
“lenses” through which literature can be interpreted for a better understanding of its
strength or weakness towards its purpose, which is particularly important for the
literature provided to children, in order to examine the nature of the stories we are
telling and the messages we are sending.

Critical Strategies for Interpretation

What, in fact, are the stories we are telling? How can we interpret the messages
stories carry and send? No matter the selected text, addressing these questions is
possible but requires an active role for the reader. Children can learn to take active
roles as readers with guidance and modeling in order to explore questions within
and beyond the text. Children are already active meaning-makers, and with “close
attention to the aesthetic and material aspects of picture books” (Arizpe, 2021) as
well as a maturing sense of present society and history, they can meet the demands
138 M. M. Juchniewicz

of critical praxis, which is threefold and includes self-reflection, reflective action,

and collective reflective action.
It is not uncommon to use critical strategies to provide various approaches to
these ends. For example, a historical strategy considers the time period during
which the book was written and in what ways that influenced the book’s creation.
On the other hand, a new historicist strategy looks at a book through a present-day
framework often leading to a challenge of its suitability for present-day audiences.
Not surprisingly these two strategies can be at odds; a much-publicized example is
American Library Association’s name change of a prestigious award, from the
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, in response
to racial insensitivity regarding Native Americans and African Americans in
Wilder’s books. Wilder’s best-known book, Little House on the Prairie, chronicled
her life on the American prairie in the 1870s and was published in 1935. In this case,
and similar to a historical strategy, a biographical strategy considers the life of the
author and how those life experiences influenced the creation of the book, which is
another lens through which to look for meaning. Other strategies include psycho-
logical, which is concerned with the motives and impulses of the characters them-
selves, mythological, which discerns universal symbols and story patterns such as
the hero’s journey as defined in Joseph Campbell’s Hero with A Thousand Faces
(1949), and the formalist strategy, which considers the form and the craft of the
book’s composition; indeed, this was the primary way a book was evaluated until
the mid-twentieth century. Since then, critics are gradually finding more value using
lenses of class, gender, critical race theory (CRT), feminism, ecology, and other
methods to analyze, interpret, and qualify texts.

Children’s Rights as a Critical Strategy

Our charge now is to cultivate a wide familiarity with the Articles in the CRC, so
that teachers, librarians, parental figures, and community members understand how
to view children’s books through a lens of children’s rights and understand the
importance of doing so. Moreover, better understanding of the articles will promote
an examination of texts as vehicles for opening the door to an understanding of
children’s rights. In order to inspire the articulation of children’s rights as a critical
strategy for interpretation of texts, alongside well-established and recently emerg-
ing strategies for interpreting texts, it will be useful to demonstrate what this might
look like in practice. A small sampling of Caldecott-winning picture books from the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries can be used as examples; the Caldecott is one of
the top awards in children’s literature and is specific to picturebook art, so winners
will undoubtably be good picture books. In this way we might provide guidelines
for evaluating any book, whether it is selected by parents, teachers, community
members, school boards, church groups, or, most importantly, by children
themselves.
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 139

Book Selection

There has been much written about picturebook selection, and book lists of every
category abound in easy access with search engines, to find books that explicitly
feature topics of social justice and children’s rights. For example, the American
organization We Need Diverse Books stays current with lists which can be found at
https://diversebooks.org/resources-­f or-­r ace-­e quity-­a nd-­i nclusion/?mc_
cid=b9161d01bd&mc_eid=65681435e4. The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
provides carefully curated book lists about children’s rights and social justice at
https://bookcentre.ca/resources/themed-­book-­lists/books-­on-­human-­rights. Perhaps
the best example is the website of the Children’s Legal Rights Centre in Wales,
which features a page listing examples of children’s books and how they can be
used to learn the law: https://childrenslegalcentre.wales/reading-­my-­rights-­learn-
about-­the-­law-­through-­literature/.
In some settings, however, it is valuable to have techniques to use with a book
that has been selected by a child, rather than selecting a book for the child. Given
the opportunity, children often select books to read or listen to which are not adults’
first choices for them. This can be evidenced by the discrepancy between winners
for the many children’s choice awards and awards for books chosen by adult groups.
Therefore, adults should be prepared to use a lens of children’s rights when intro-
ducing or sharing any literature with children.

Critique in Practice

Below is a chart providing a model for ways to view books through different lenses.
For purposes of discerning what picture books can communicate about children’s
rights, we are considering them in non-emergency contexts, in other words, we are
not offering ideas about book use for children who have recently experienced
trauma. Arguably any book can have bibliotherapeutic uses when presented to a
traumatized child by a professional or caring adult. In addition, we are considering
story books rather than concept books. The selection here is limited to top award-­
winners to ensure quality books as deemed by experts. The books are not explicitly
intended to reference children’s rights. There are many ways to examine a book; the
range utilized here includes those that are among the most frequently used to do so.
These critiques are very brief – a full chapter-length discussion of each strategy
employed with each book could easily be developed – but for purposes of illustrat-
ing the critical strategies as examples of how a children’s rights lens can be employed
to determine the value of a book for this purpose, the descriptions are highly
abbreviated.
 140

Historical Biographical Psychological Marxist (class) Feminist Children’s Rights

Make Way for Great depression has Author worked in Story Background depicts Father deserts mother Ducklings depicted in
Ducklings ended; looking for a Boston as a muralist anthropomophises well-dressed people to seek the unknown a straight line behind
(1942) home and observed scene natural instincts to at ease, working while mother tends to mother, no choice in
protect family people active eggs decision of where to
live
The Snowy Civil rights European immigrant Child wants to Urban setting, older Mother stereotyped Child is free to explore
Day (1962) movement is criticized for preserve what he has boys depicted as as “mammy” in dress on his own,
underway, post-war depicting black found dangerous and caretaking imagination is depicted
prosperity receeding family positively
Owl Moon Reganism, Revered folklorist Child has to run to Isolated agrarian No female presence, Child has a voice of his
(1987) income-motivation, and folklore scholar, keep up with father in setting, antenna to child had been own, brief mention of
growth of electronic grew up in isolated the night: fear connect the outside waiting for adventure brothers, mirrors father
technology area world with father
The Hello Post- 9/11, gun Architect, academic, Child has strong bond Large house, parents Grandfather involved Strong message of
Goodbye violence, class early children’s lit. with grandparents, is working and leave in kitchen activities, protection in dangerous
Window divisions sharper Success in 1960s ambivalent about child in care of grandmother isn’t outside world
(2006) parents grandparents playful
Wolf in the Social media Lifelong artist, lived Child strongly Entire community Child’s instincts may Child has agency in
Snow (2017) predominant, simply, this is his motivated to protect aids in search for be interpreted as decision to face danger
populism and breakthrough book wolf despite danger child, rural setting, maternal then is found and
isolationist no diversity protected
ideologies
M. M. Juchniewicz
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 141

Picture Books for Teaching

The tension between picture books as entertainment and picture books as vehicles
for learning, harkening back to the “Golden Age” era, persisted. Moreover, there
was the divergence of learning explicit lessons, and learning values, the latter usu-
ally accomplished through anthropomorphized animal characters. Some picture
books allowed children to draw their own conclusions about a book’s purpose,
although in reality, parents and teachers usually prompted children to understand by
way of widely accepted themes or messages. For example, in Leo Lionni’s Swimmy,
a little fish is abandoned by its family, finds beauty in its world, and is rejected by
others, until it invents a way for the group to defeat the threatening big fish. In her
article “Fish Stories: Teaching Children’s Literature In A Postmodern World,”
Karen Coats (2001) sees this as an example of how children’s books can be as intel-
lectually demanding as writings for adult audiences, describing the problems with
providing children an acceptable message such as ‘the act of banding together is
heroic,’ whereas a clear message about the tragedy of forsaking individuality and
experiencing rejection can make this a heartbreaking book for some children.

Teaching Reading with Bias

In the 1930s a new way of teaching reading to children was initiated. Although the
focus in this chapter is on trade books, it is useful to look at the textbooks in the Dick
and Jane series. From 1930 to 1965, American children learned reading with these
books, as well as other series patterned after them. The reading theory with these
books was whole-word, which is still widely considered the best method, but it was
the illustrations that were troublesome as the century progressed. The white, middle-­
class, suburban family was not reflective of many children’s families, theoretically
dismissing a child’s culture, homelife, language, beliefs, traditions, and community
as outside of the “typical” American dream. In addition, the books featured both
Dick and Jane emulating the parent of their sex, and Dick was portrayed as more
active, adventurous, and decisive than Jane, reinforcing gender stereotypes. Use of
authentic literature, or trade books, is the preferred method of teaching reading
today, but basal systems still exist. Basal systems such as Dick and Jane have been
called a “classroom in a box” because they contain not only the books but also
workbooks, tests, displays, and activities based on the books, with no differentiation
to recognize the individual child.
This homogenized learning system was successful for learning to read; it was not
concerned with learning to think. Reader-response theory, first introduced in the
1930s by Louise Rosenblatt (though not widely recognized until the 1960s) essen-
tially suggests that meaning in text is an interaction between the reader and the text.
The theory indicates that a reader’s schema determines the reader’s understanding,
and schema can be expanded through both experiences and wide reading.
142 M. M. Juchniewicz

Connections are required for any learning or understanding to take place, and con-
nections can be established with text that is encountered, as well as with life events.
Experiences, in terms of life events and experience with texts, can lead readers to
individualized interpretations of meaning, and an imposition of theme or meaning
by parent or teacher deprives children of the active reading required to learn about
values, rights, and responsibilities. Numerous learning theories have validated the
efficacy of children constructing their own knowledge, over knowledge being
imposed upon them, for deep learning to take place.

Teaching About Childhood and Culture

By mid-century, creating picture books was becoming a goal, rather than an avoca-
tion, for writers and artists to display their artistic talents, and sometimes to express
their own ideas about society. Children’s literature was now frequently a reflection
on society, and sometimes a means to inaugurate new ideas, sending strong mes-
sages, positive and negative, about children and childhood. The 1940s through
1960s have been considered a second golden age of children’s literature because so
many classics – those books that have stood the test of time – come from that period.
These classic books, in particular, require a critical and objective eye for messages
about children’s rights, as they are widely foundational. If negative or absent mes-
sages about children’s rights are discerned, these books should not be rejected, they
should be springboards for discussion with children about what their rights are.
However, in the absence of that parent, teacher, librarian, or other caring adult
engaging a reader or listener, a limited schema could persist. If ideas are not intro-
duced through picture books, children may never have access to some ideas. The
“reward and punish” system of learning, which includes prizes, grades, and penal-
izing, is perhaps the most common practice in teaching, discouraging a child from
understanding their rights. It implies that children are “incapable of self-motivation
and in need of help from a more powerful ‘other’” (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 1995)
which can also diminish curiosity, initiation of thought and behavior, and making
meaning from experience.
One of the most consequential voices in advocacy of children was Bruno
Bettelheim. Bettelheim advocated treating children with respect and perceived chil-
dren as individuals who do things for a reason and deserve to be heard. Released
from Dachau in the 1940s, Bettelheim suggested that there is a door between chil-
dren and adults: from the outside, anybody who wants to can get in, but from the
inside, the door is never open and the children can never run out. He insisted chil-
dren need a safe place and pointed out where society had failed children. His hall-
mark work, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales
(1976), defended fairy tales and other traditional literature for children that was
coming under fire by some groups who considered it damaging to children (just as
adults did for 200 years), by positing that children benefit from being led into fright-
ening and disturbing places with the knowledge that all will end “happily ever after”
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 143

and that they will return to safety; in this way, Bettelheim said, children can rehearse
emotions such as fear and loss in a safe place, and thus be better prepared for these
experiences in adulthood.

Trends

As scholarship of children’s literature progressed, the civil rights movement and

other social movements were gaining ground, and good picture books often reflected
the society by which they were produced, and changes were occurring continually
in that period of the 1950s and 1960s. With the best intentions, trends in children’s
literature have sometimes been rejected soon after they emerged. Other trends have
been developed and built upon, and still other trends are responses to consequential
world events. Until 1960s picture books mostly perpetuated the status quo, includ-
ing the myth of the melting pot. Recognizing the problems with that metaphor, such
as new citizens not wanting to lose their culture, and, in particular, the uselessness
of the metaphor for Black Americans, new ways of thinking surfaced about how to
best transmit values to children through literature.

Colorblindness

From the 1960s, and in some settings even to this day, colorblindness was consid-
ered a positive way to view the world, and children’s books promoted the idea.
Essentially, colorblindness said that “we are all the same” and that we should see
beyond skin color. This metaphor was problematic in many ways, not the least of
which was the truth that young children do indeed recognize differences and are
curious about them. From there a straight line can be drawn to the insincerity of the
idea. Not only was it insincere on the part of mostly white people who were saying
they could not see differences, but it was offensive to Black people who perceived
the fundamentally dismissive nature of the idea.

Power Movements

Although society in America and elsewhere was experiencing more robust calls for
social justice, children’s literature in some ways ignored these movements. Books
suggesting Martin Luther King’s civil disobedience were mostly representational,
and little explicit attention was given to the Black Power movement and other social
movements that were patterned after both of these avenues toward equality, such as
for Native Americans, Chicano and Hispanic Americans, and gay people, although
coded messages could be found in some children’s books, such as Fitzhugh’s
144 M. M. Juchniewicz

Harriet the Spy. Still, children were not considered an oppressed group that needed
voice just as other groups did. Children’s literature overwhelmingly did not acknowl-
edge Power movements, for example, the 1968 book Corduroy featured a black
mother and child, Lisa, who were in no other way different from a white mother and
child shopping in a toy store might be, with no acknowledgement of the civil unrest
in the world surrounding the book’s publication that year. However, in the subse-
quent book A Pocket for Corduroy published in 1978, Lisa’s mother has transformed
into a strong, stylish woman with natural hair, big earrings, and chic clothing, better
reflective of the time. In the 1970s as the women’s movement, or second wave femi-
nist movement, was demanding change, some children’s books such as this were
beginning to respond in illustrations and story.

Salad Bowl

By the 1980s, the trend was not just to acknowledge differences but to celebrate
differences. “America the great salad bowl” was a nod to the old “melting pot” ver-
sion of society. This metaphor was mainly used with children’s literature, and the
decade saw a sharp rise in books that featured this celebration of differences. There
were new kinds of books with better representation of all readers, and new authors
were invited into the field via awards such as the Coretta Scott King awards.
Problems persisted, such as the percentage of picture books with white main char-
acters still being extremely lopsided (and it still is). Libraries and bookstores were
designating certain shelves and areas for such “salad bowl” books, segregating
them, and defeating the purpose.

Protection

In response to school shootings and 9/11, the late 1990s saw books with themes of
protection. Bullying was seen as the root cause of school violence and other social
ills, and many books emerged on the topic of bullying. Some were not useful for
communicating realistic situations to children, such as books that showed victim
and bully becoming friends or victim overcoming bully by fighting fire with fire.
These two trends were aspirational on the part of adults, as they portrayed the prob-
lem being solved without adult protection, in opposition to the CRC’s articles advo-
cating protection. The books that are now viewed as most useful on the topic are
those that portray the victim character as finding and asserting their own strength
and self-esteem, and also those books featuring children as bystanders responsibly
disrupting the situation.
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 145

Activism

Moving into the twenty-first century, children’s books continue to inspire children
to discover their own agency. Ultimately, they convey the message to children hat
they are the architects of their own futures, individually and collectively. Picture
books are increasingly aesthetically beautiful, as technology for tactile qualities and
color reproduction improve, and they still must meet the challenge of competing
with electronic media. Non-fiction picture books are trending in the twenty-first
century, generally in the form of biographies. The majority of the biographies por-
tray the subject of the biography in their childhood, modeling the kinds of behaviors
that are more recently considered valuable, such as following a curiosity or assert-
ing individuality. These are steps toward more visible examples of children having
and knowing their rights.

Qualifying Picture Books

Criteria for Evaluation

A reference to what is deemed “good” children’s literature may seem highly subjec-
tive; however, there are widely accepted criteria for this designation. The three basic
criteria, in the order in which a book is encountered, are its format, illustrations, and
finally content. A good picture book is the fulfillment of an artistic vision, which is
often shared among those who create it and those who market it. Rather than using
two words, “picture” and “book”, the term “picture book” is growing in usage, to
signal the interdependence of picture and story in a good book (Nikolajeva & Scott,
2000). Those who share the artistic vision show concern for every decision and each
minute detail, in the interest of advancing the purpose of the book.
The format, for instance, refers not only to size and shape, but also paper quality,
tactile elements, and, importantly, the endpapers. Endpapers, the paper glued to the
inside of the book cover and its facing page, may feature art that sets the mood for
the story, but even in the absence of art, just as the absence of an explicit message
can be the message itself, the selected plain color is an important consideration in
the fulfillment of the artistic vision. This is an example of the intentionality of every
aspect of the picture book as an object.
With regards to illustration, unlike books intended for older readers, illustrations
in a picture book are not decorative; they are essential to the intent of the book
through choices about what they depict, colors and media, as well as their capacity
to lead to the turn of page. In addition, they must be integral to the book’s purpose.
The content of a picture book may be a story, which is identified when there is a
conflict that is resolved; or a concept book, which does not have the basic literary
structure of situation-conflict-resolution but presents a concept clearly and unam-
biguously. Though it is rare, some good picture books do both these things; an
146 M. M. Juchniewicz

example is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969), which is also praised
for its collage medium as a brilliant aspect and reflection of the storytelling while at
the same time clearly messaging the promise of beauty within. Most books, how-
ever, do one or the other, tell a story or provide a concept clearly and unambigu-
ously. Books with intended and direct messaging about a topic such as children’s
rights are frequently concept books. Two outstanding examples of books that intro-
duce children to the articles of the CRC are I Have the Right to Be a Child by Alain
Serres and Aureila Fronty (2009, English translation 2012) and For Every Child:
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in Words and Pictures, with text
adapted by Caroline Castle (2001), both of which specifically reference the Articles
of the UNCRC. Storybooks, on the other hand, would be more likely to provide
implicit messaging, often requiring conversation with adults to look below the sur-
face. An example of this would be After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back
Up Again by Dan Santat (2017). All of these meet the expectations of a good picture
book as defined.

Proactivity and Further Study

A sense of history is valuable in the analysis of children’s literature. We have come

to where we are through many obstacles, and it is worth knowing something about
that journey to appreciate the power of sharing a book with a child. We can reimag-
ine “classics” even if their message is in conflict with efforts to introduce children
to the law about their rights, by looking for messages beyond the surface. Criteria
for good picture books has evolved; the expectation is not only that illustrations are
aesthetically beautiful and integral to the storytelling, but also that pictures and
content convey a message that will be useful to the child. We can also reimagine
books and stories that came before, to promote good discussion and new ways of
looking at things. There are also ways to initiate changes right now.
For example, a comprehensive book list can be devised, with recommendations
for books that will be useful to promote an understanding of children’s rights.
Several excellent lists exist, and we have the technology to create a compilation in
a database for open use. In addition, some picture books currently feature endpages
with ideas for use in the classroom; along with or instead of this could be ideas for
use with an introduction to or discussion of children’s rights. Marketers who create
books could require or create backmatter to share ideas and resources. In reprints of
classic books with blatant flouting of children’s rights, backmatter could feature an
index of code words, and “disclaimers” could be included with classic books, trans-
lating coded illustrations, and explaining mismatch of text and pictures. Although
there will be objections this, as making changes to classic books could be consid-
ered censorship, this practice has precedent in classic books with racist or objection-
able content.
A book may exclude a group or use stereotypes to represent a group. It may pro-
mote the “single story” bias by presenting only one interpretation of an issue or by
7 Discovering Unintentional Messaging About Children’s Rights in Children’s… 147

glossing over unpleasant aspects. We can look at what is in books that may be coun-
terproductive or confusing, and have discussions with children about their rights. If
children are asked to point out such elements, they will begin to be active readers
with the means to evaluate books on their own for messages about their rights. We
can look at a book and see what is there to explicitly introduce children to the law
about their rights. We can look at what is not there, and learn from that, too. We can
also challenge messages in books children might select on their own, or books that
have been selected for them by schools or organizations whose ideas are not in
accord with the articles of the CRC. What is there, in the content and in illustration,
can stimulate conversation; what is not there can do the same, and just as effectively.
“Why didn’t the character ask for what they wanted?” or “Are the adults in the story
listening to the children in the story?” are examples of questions that can elicit
important discussions.
Many children do not have a caring adult, such as a parental figure, teacher, or
librarian, available to them for discussion; other children have adults who care but
don’t have the skills or the time for discussion, and other children’s situations may
altogether preclude opportunities for discussion. Still, all readers and listeners are
receiving messages from books about their rights, whether those messages are
explicit or not, and children are capable of being active in their interpretation of
messages, both intentional and unintentional. Longitudinal analysis of children’s
literature from a cross-cultural perspective is recommended for future study to
determine how human rights are portrayed. In the creation of a global world of
peace and justice, children’s picture books play a vital, even if traditionally unrec-
ognized role.

Conclusion

As the world has become globalized, with demographic trends increasing bi-racial,
multi-cultural children, immigration, travel, and media that shows what’s going on
in other parts of the world in real-time, children’s realities have changed from the
early twentieth century. Picture books are changing as well. Racist, sexist, and cul-
turally biased children’s books are no longer deemed acceptable. Gone are the days
of Little Black Sambo or Dick, Jane and Sally being considered mainstream chil-
dren’s literature. The pictures selected, the words chosen, and the scrutiny by pub-
lishers and children’s literary organizations have shifted towards the creation of
books that are much more honorable towards the dissemination of rights-respecting
messages. Children’s books can be voices. Children may not yet have the words
they need to express their feelings, ask questions, seek explanation, or describe their
discoveries. Thus, a child can think they are the only one who has these feelings,
questions, confusion, or new understandings. Books can not only give voice to such
things but can also demonstrate that the child is not alone in experiencing them. An
important prevailing metaphor regarding children’s literature is the idea of “books
as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” (Bishop, 1990). Indeed, books can be
148 M. M. Juchniewicz

windows into cultural settings different from the reader’s or listener’s, as well as
“sliding glass doors” to enter into such settings. Books can also be mirrors in which
readers can see themselves. A book that is provided to or selected by a child can in
this way plant seeds of understanding regarding their rights and generate a sense of
self-esteem; it can also support or challenge prevailing beliefs and attitudes.
However, if children see no reflection of themselves in books, this can lead to the
opposite of self-esteem. Books can interfere with open-mindedness and curiosity.
They can promote faulty ideas and perpetuate negativity. An adult with knowledge
about using books to initiate conversations about children’s rights can do so with
any book, whether that book is promoted by another adult or group or selected by
the child.

References

Arizpe, E. (2021). The state of the art in picture ebook research from 2010 to 2020. Language Arts,
98(5), 260–272.
Baum, L. (1902). Life and adventures of Santa Claus (1902). Reprinted in 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Adventures-Santa-Claus-literature/dp/171730978X
Bettelheim, B. (1976). The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales. Knopf.
Bishop, R. S. (1990). Walk tall in the world: African American literature for today’s children. The
Journal of Negro Education. Retrieved https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?q=Bishop+(199
0)+children+literature&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholartfrom
Campbell, J. (1949). The hero with a thousand faces. Pantheon Books.
Coates, K. (2001). Fish stories: Teaching children’s literature in a post-modern world. Pedagogy,
1(2), 405–409. Nikolajeva, M. (2000). How picture books work. Routledge.
Nikolajeva, M., & Scott, C. (2000). The dynamics of picturebook communication. Children’s
Literature in Education, 31, 225–239.
Todres, J., & Higinbotham, S. (2016). Human rights in children’s literature: Imagination and the
narrative of law. Oxford University Press.
Wlodkowski, R. J., & Ginsberg, M. B. (1995). Diversity and motivation: Culturally responsive
teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Children’s Books Cited

Carle, E. (1969). The very hungry caterpillar. World Publishing Company.

Santat, D. (2017). After the fall: How humpty dumpty got back up again. Roaring Brook Press.
Serres, S., & Fronty, A. (2009). I have the right to be a child. Groundwood Books.
UNICEF. (2001). For every child. Phyllis Fogelman Books.
Chapter 8
The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary,
and International Global Policy Outlook
of the Optional Protocol on the Sale
of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography

Tanya Herring

 hat Role Does the General Comments of Human Rights

W
Instruments Have in the Community Structure
of the Asylum-­Seeking Refugee Child?: Introduction

The Asylum-Seeking Child in Vulnerable Situations

Child law, in the international context, provides provisions for children displaced
across borders that unquestionably is designed to protect children in vulnerable situ-
ations. International research supports the premise that policy and practice on relo-
cation encounters a phenomena of precarious child detention, abduction,
trafficking-in-persons (Palermo Trafficking Protocol, article 3),1 and a myriad of
child-specific exploitations2 (Save the Children, 2006; UN General Assembly
Report, 2019). The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration links the
trafficking of children to both in-country and cross-border migrations (Gil Loescher,

1
For a comprehensive and legally accurate definition of trafficking please see Art. 3 of the Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children (Trafficking
in Persons Protocol), which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (A/RES/55/25 of 15 Nov 2000).
2
Children are often trafficked for child-specific forms of exploitation, such as illegal adoption,
child labour, child prostitution, child pornography, and forced recruitment into armed forces or
groups. Other forms of exploitation to which children are often exposed include domestic service,
agricultural work, mining, forced and early marriage, and begging. It is important to note that any
recruitment, transfer, harbouring or receipt of children for the purpose of exploitation is considered
a form of trafficking regardless of the means used.

T. Herring (*)
International Communities Organisation (ICO) of London, Bangor, UK

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 149

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_8
150 T. Herring

2014). A host of global literature expands the discourse of migration to examine the
long-term physical and psychological outcomes of cross border and internally dis-
placed children’s (IDP) adverse childhood experiences (ACE) from detention and
trafficking, as well as the proffered remedies to address social structures that impact
and target ethnic groups (Jeremiah et al., 2017; National Work Group for Sexually
Exploited Children, 2008). This research investigates the seldom studied role of
General Comments across human rights instruments and State obligations. It pro-
poses furtherance of a State’s positive obligation to the Committee on the Protection
of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), and
the UNCRC Committee’s Joint General Comment 4 (2017) and 23 (2017); and
UNCRC Committee General Comments 6 (2005) and 14 (2013) to close protection
gaps in international community structures for the accompanied and unaccompa-
nied asylum-seeking refugee child.

Human Rights Instruments and the General Comments

General comments are also referenced as ‘general recommendations’ expand over a

large spectrum of human rights themes constituting a cover a range of topics that
constitute explanations, clarity, or interpretations of substantive as clarification or
an interpretation of substantive provisions of the respective treaty. The focal prin-
ciples of general comments center on the right to life. The general comments outline
the treaty interpretation on the basic subsistence such as food, shelter, and is inclu-
sive of issues surrounding violence against vulnerable persons, the rights of minori-
ties and the disabled, and the continuing emergence of the general comments focus
on the right to life, food, and encompasses a range of evolving issues of violence
against vulnerable persons, rights of the disabled and minorities, among other
emerging human rights matters (International Human Rights Instruments, 2008;
OHCHR Human Rights Treaty Bodies – General Comments, 2021).
The CRC Committee expound its general comments with the intent to provide
clarity on the normative context and content of the specific rights as indicated under
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the thematic content pertinent to the
CRC, which is also inclusive of implementation guidance and measures for compli-
ance. Unlike other human rights instruments’ general comments, the CRC
Committee General comments provide an authoritative interpretation to States
Parties on expectations for implementation and the carrying out of obligations.3 The
full and consolidated listing of the CRC Committee’s general comments has been
published on the Office of the High Commissioner United Nations Human Rights
(OHCHR.org) or on the Child Rights International Network (CRIN) at: http://www.
crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=8043&flag=report. The CRIN’s report also

3
Child Rights net provides a fact sheet in English, French, and Spanish at: Child Rights Net –
Legal Updates on Child Rights Law.
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 151

includes General comment No. 16 (2013) on States Parties obligation regarding

business sector on children’s rights. Article 43 of the CRC sets out the authority and
provisions of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Collectively with arts 44
and 45, art 43 are part of the provisions for international monitoring:
CRC Committee, Treaty-specific guidelines regarding the form and content of periodic
reports to be submitted by States Parties under article 44, para 1(b), of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (3 March 2015) CRC/C/58/Rev.3 Rule 77; CRC Committee,
General guidelines regarding the form and content of initial reports to be submitted by
State Parties under article 44, para 1(a) of the Convention (30 October 1991) CRC/C/5.
CRC Committee, Revised guidelines regarding initial reports to be submitted by States
Parties under article 12, para 1, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (3
November 2006) CRC/C/OPSC/2; CRC Committee, Revised guidelines regarding ini-
tial reports to be submitted by States Parties under article 8, para 1, of the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Involvement of children in
armed conflict (19 October 2007) CRC/C/OPAC/2.
The reporting structure is detailed under Art 44 in the form of eight clusters
under four themes, ‘factors and difficulties encountered’, ‘progress achieved’,
‘implementation priorities’, and ‘specific goals’. The standard reporting procedures
for periodic reports, the States Parties have a requirement to submit a report and
written replies to what is identified as a ‘list of issues’ (CRC art 44).4

Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 22

CRC art 22 affirms the States’ obligation for the best interest principle, under CRC
art 3, affirms protection and care of refugee children by providing implementation
guidance with CRC Committee General comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of
Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin. CRC
Committee General comment 14 adds further clarity to member State protection
responsibilities as it explains that a child in circumstances and situations of vulner-
ability may not be the same from one child to the other.5 Author Kristen Sandberg
(2015, 2018) explains that one child’s situation may not be the same as another
child’s vulnerable situation – ‘each child is unique, and each situation must be
assessed according to the child’s uniqueness’. The CRC further obliges State parties
to identify particular groups/subgroups of children as vulnerable for the purposes of
implementing special measures for these groups, CRC Committee General
comment 14.

4
CRC Committee, Working methods for the participation of children in the reporting process of
the Committee on the Rights of the Child (16 October 2014) CRC/C/66/2 para 8 and 15–28.
5
UNCRC, General comment No 14 on the Right of the Child to Have His or Her Best Interests
Taken as a Primary Consideration (art 3, para 1), 62nd session, UN Doc CRC/C/GC/14 (2013)
(‘General comment No 14’) [76].
152 T. Herring

CRC art 22 outlines the State obligation to child refugees or children, who are
seeking refugee status in their respective territory under the positive obligations
under international human rights and humanitarian law. The three primary elements
of art 22:
1. adequate protection and humanitarian assistance
2. cooperation with organisations linked to the UN when providing protection and
assistance;
3. and, the establishment of an adequate environment of care for children, either by reuni-
fication with their family or by finding alternative state protection.
The child protection and assistance declaration are required to take place accord-
ing to the relative domestic and international law. Accordingly, art 22 refers to the
2018 Global Compact for Migration6 as being guided by art 1, the best interest
principle as an international protection for asylum seeking and refugee children to
all children in the jurisdiction of a State Party that lack citizenship or migration
status (Pobjoy, 2015). Following art 3.1’s guidance Global Compact for Migration
(2018) states are called on to provide:
accurate, timely, accessible, and transparent information on migration-related aspects for
and between states, communities and migrants at all stages of migration’… ‘child-sensitive
and gender-responsive support and counseling’ and information (para 19, c, d)

Gaps in the State obligations to international protection of an asylum-seeking

child has judicial references discussed further within the text, I.A.M. v Denmark, No
3/2016, 25 January 2018. The case and others related under Art 22.1 does not draw
a distinction between accompanied and unaccompanied children, therefore, the pro-
visions of assistance and rendering of protection does not vary. However, there is an
exception, whereas para 2 avers accommodation for the unaccompanied child and
children separated from family. The CRC Committee recognizes the heightened
vulnerability of the unaccompanied child and includes legal empowerment/access
to justice in processing of decisions in its General comment 6; whereas states are
obliged to provide an adequate standard of living as well as material assistance and
support ‘with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing’.7
CRC Art 22 provides a definition of a refugee. CRC Committee GC 6 refers to
the 1951 Refugee Convention but indicates that the refugee status may be based
upon child-specific forms of persecution that incorporates the CRC ruling of
I.A.M. v Denmark where the assessment includes persecution of kin, under-age
recruitment; tracking of children for prostitution; and sexual exploitation or subjec-
tion to female genital mutilation’.8 Non-refoulment is addressed under CRC art
22.1, which refers to the enjoyment of rights not only in the CRC but also in other

6
Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (2018) Global Compact for Safe,
Orderly and Regular Migration para 19(c) and (d).
7
CRC General comment 6: Treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their
country-of-origin para 68.
8
CRC Committee, General comment 6: Treatment of unaccompanied and separated children out-
side their country of origin, para 74.
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 153

international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the states are par-
ties. Embraced within art 22 are substantive references to the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Non-refoulment is a central
tenet of international law content and the Refugee Convention prohibits States
Parties from expelling or returning:
a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom
would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of particular
social group or political opinion.

Prominently used as an authoritative interpretation under CRC Committee’s GC

22, which provides States Parties guidance in the application of the fundamental
children’s rights principles, or often referred to as general principles of non-­
discrimination, best interests, participation, and the right to life, survival, and devel-
opment (CMW and CRC Committee Joint General Comment 4/23, para 45–46).
Each are also designating of non-refoulment to be a fundamental principle of the
human rights of children in the context of migration (CRC Committee General
comment 6).
The content of protection and assistance for asylum-seeking and refugee chil-
dren have been litigated in regional human rights systems and added clarity to the
obligatory protection and assistance. Precedent setting cases at the EctHR has refer-
enced CRC art 22 on State obligations for humanitarian assistance and protections
whether a child is alone or accompanied by his or her parents (Popov v France 2012).9

J oint Stakeholders: Human Rights Committees

and Treaty Bodies

The global community, as responsible stakeholders, has a bottom-up and top-down

tenet role in forming structures that protect the human rights of unaccompanied
asylum-seeking children. On the international human rights platform, Human
Rights Committees are comprised of global representatives, who serve as appointed
independent experts guiding the monitoring and implementation of the ten human
rights treaty bodies10 that bind State parties. The Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) described these treaty bodies as:

9
Popov v France (Application nos. 39,472/07 and 39,474/07) Judgment (European Court of
Human Rights (EctHR) 2012 para 91.
10
According to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, as of 2021,
there are ten human rights treaty bodies that monitor implementation of the core international
human rights treaties:
• Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
• Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
154 T. Herring

…nine of these treaty bodies monitor implementation of the core international human rights
treaties while the tenth treaty body, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, established
under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, monitors places of detention
in States parties to the Optional Protocol (OHCHR, 2021).

Simply stated, these appointed independent experts emerge from a host of pro-
fessions that reflect the State parties and serve as vital stakeholders of their com-
munity. These experts are keenly aware of critical human rights issues and render
their expertise within the scope, functions, and implementation of core international
human rights treaties. Hence, the effete of these treaties is highly contingent upon
implementation goals and expectations set by State leadership from the top for
social change across both natural and human endogenous factors. Analogously, the
bottom up is indicative of the treaty implementation and its application in contrast
of endogenous to exogenous factors, which include migration (the shifting flow of
people), economic shifts pushed by migration, and the government rules and deci-
sions imposed by the treaty at the State level (Kaufman, 2004). Sociological schol-
ars working in endogenous and exogenous factors argue that there are a multitude
of thresholds that influence outcomes, change, and adaptation of government poli-
cies to control, anchor, or organize the implementation of human rights instruments
(Swidler, 1986, 2001).
At the international top-level, the Human Rights Council operates as a separate
entity from the OHCHR. The Human Rights Council has separate mandates derived
by the General Assembly,11 a principal organ of the United Nations (UN),12 whose
powers, functions, and composition are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations
Charter.13 Nonetheless, the OHCHR renders the substantive support for the Human
Rights Council sessions and the subsequent follow-up deliberations. In summary,
the Human Rights Council forum’s principal mandate is ‘to prevent abuses,

• Committee against Torture (CAT)

• Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)
• Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)
• Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
11
The only body in which all UN members are represented, the General Assembly exercises delib-
erative, supervisory, financial, and elective functions relating to any matter within the scope of the
UN Charter.
12
The United Nations has six principal organs: The General Assembly, the Security Council, the
Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the
Secretariat.
13
United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI; The Charter was
signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945. The amendments included here are: Amendments to
Articles 23, 27 and 61, 557 UNTS 143, adopted by the General Assembly Resolutions 1991A and
B (XVIII) of 17 December 1963, entered into force on 31August 1965 for all Members; −
Amendment to Article 109, 638 UNTS 308, adopted by the General Assembly Resolution 2101
(XX) of 20 December 1965, entered into force on 12 June 1968 for all Members; Amendment to
Article 61, 892 UNTS 119, adopted by the General Assembly Resolution 2847 (XXVI) of 20
December 1971, entered into force on 24 September 1973 for all Members.
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 155

inequity, and discrimination, protecting the most vulnerable, while exposing perpe-
trators’ (UNHR, 2021). Hence, Special Procedures is characterized as an estab-
lished mechanism of the Human Rights Council and can take the shape of a
workgroup or a special rapporteur (an individual) (UNHR, 2021). The outcomes of
Special Procedures result in the examination, monitoring, advising, and submission
of public reports that focus on human rights situations in identified territories, coun-
tries, and concern worldwide thematic mandates. As of 1 August 2017, there are 44
thematic mandates with 12 country mandates, which includes a mandate for ‘Ending
immigration detention of children and providing adequate care and reception of
them’ (UNHR, 2021; UN General Assembly 20 July, 2020, A/75/183).
This chapter links the international community structure with endogenous and
exogenous factors to explain the State obligation, compliance, roles, or gaps in the
roles of protecting accompanied and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Communities are people, functioning amongst a problem of social changes, which
is a constant in the central foci of sociological ‘why’ inquiries and ‘how can the
behaviors change (Maheshwari, 2016). The consensus of literature is expressed to
describe social change, where change is law and places great emphasis on founda-
tions to migratory resistance of anyone, including children, due to geographical
conditions, the composition of ideologies and diffusions of communities. The con-
tent then conducts an analogy of community structures through the lens of interna-
tional law. Beginning with State obligations to the Children’s Rights Convention
(CRC),14 article 22, precedent setting children’s rights’ case law, and binding instru-
ments to include:
(a) the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members
of their Families (CMW) and the UNCRC Committee’s Joint General Comment 4
(2017) and 23 (2017)15;
• (Joint General comment No 4 and 23: State obligations regarding the human rights
of children in the context of international migration in countries of origin, transit,
destination, and return);

14
UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United
Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3; The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and
opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20
November 1989. It entered into force on 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49.
15
UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families (CMW), Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of children in the con-
text of international migration in countries of origin, transit, destination and return, 16 November
2017, CMW/C/GC/4-CRC/C/GC/23.
156 T. Herring

(b) UNCRC Committee General Comments 6 (2005)16

• (General comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated
Children Outside their Country of Origin) and 14 (2013)17 (General comment No.
14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a pri-
mary consideration); and,
(c) the 20 July 2020 A/75/183 mandate focused on the immigration detention of children.

The Obligation

The commitment to fulfil the positive obligations set out in treaties is underpinned
by the 1965 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.18 Around the world, com-
munity structures and processes rely heavily upon the preventions and protections
for the refugee child and the respective States compliance, where article 1(b) VCLT
provides the defining role of ratification and accession as an international act of
being bound by a treaty, articles 11–17.19 To guide the implementation and ­contextual
interpretation of a treaty, VCLT article 3(3) further sets out the highly authoritative

16
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of
Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin, 1 September 2005, CRC/
GC/2005/6.
17
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 14 (2013) on the right
of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1), 29
May 2013, CRC/C/GC/14.
18
Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, Application no. 25965/04, Council of Europe: European Court of
Human Rights, 7 January 2010.
19
VCLT, article 11–17:
• Article 11
Means of expressing consent to be bound by a treaty
The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty may be expressed by signature, exchange of
instruments constituting a treaty, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, or by any other
means if so agreed.
• Article 12
Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by signature
1. The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty is expressed by the signature of its representative
when: the treaty provides that signature shall have that effect; it is otherwise established that the
negotiating States were agreed that signature should have that effect; or the intention of the
State to give that effect to the signature appears from the full powers of its representative or was
expressed during the negotiation.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1: the initialling of a text constitutes a signature of the treaty
when it is established that the negotiating States so agreed; the signature ad referendum of a
treaty by a representative, if confirmed by his State, constitutes a full signature of the treaty.

• Article 13
Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by an exchange of instruments constituting a treaty
The consent of States to be bound by a treaty constituted by instruments exchanged between them
is expressed by that exchange when: the instruments provide that their exchange shall have that
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 157

character of General Comments/recommendations where it notes that the treaty

needs continuous contextual interpretation. The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of a Child (CRC),20 article 43, establishes the role and authority of the
Committee to set out the rules of procedure, the continuous, and contextual interpre-
tation of the CRC. Whereas Article 45 clarifies that the UNCRC is a treaty amongst
states, and that 45(c)(d) obliges States parties to grant the Committee the power to
make suggestions, general recommendations, establish reporting obligations, and
the implementation of the CRC.
The CRC’s thematic areas in health, migration, and best interest continue to be
globally remarkable issues of human rights committee’s General Comments and
State party implementation guidance, specifically General Comment 4,21 6,22 and

effect; or it is otherwise established that those States were agreed that the exchange of instruments
should have that effect.
• Article 14
Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by ratification, acceptance or approval
1. The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty is expressed by ratification when the treaty pro-
vides for such consent to be expressed by means of ratification; it is otherwise established that
the negotiating States were agreed that ratification should be required; the representative of the
State has signed the treaty subject to ratification; or the intention of the State to sign the treaty
subject to ratification appears from the full powers of its representative or was expressed during
the negotiation.
2. The consent of a State to be bound by a treaty is expressed by acceptance or approval under
conditions similar to those which apply to ratification.
• Article 15
Consent to be bound by a treaty expressed by accession The consent of a State to be bound by
a treaty is expressed by accession when: the treaty provides that such consent may be expressed by
that State by means of accession; it is otherwise established that the negotiating States were agreed
that such consent may be expressed by that State by means of accession; or all the parties have
subsequently agreed that such consent may be expressed by that State by means of accession.
• Article 16
Exchange or deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession Unless
the treaty otherwise provides, instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession estab-
lish the consent of a State to be bound by a treaty upon: their exchange between the contracting
States; their deposit with the depositary; or their notification to the contracting States or to the
depositary, if so agreed.
• Article 17
Consent to be bound by part of a treaty and choice of differing provisions
1. Without prejudice to articles 19 to 23, the consent of a State to be bound by part of a treaty is
effective only if the treaty so permits or the other contracting States so agree.
20
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and
accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989. It entered into force on 2
September 1990, in accordance with article 49.
21
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 4 (2003): Adolescent
Health and Development in the Context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 July 2003,
CRC/GC/2003/4.
22
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 4 (2003): Adolescent
Health and Development in the Context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 July 2003,
158 T. Herring

23, each detailed further in the chapter to exclaim the critical survival issues of
health, migration, and best interest. Whether State parties heed their respective posi-
tive obligations by respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of the CRC, inclu-
sive of the adjoined General comments, is contingent upon the shall endeavor
spectrum of the positive obligation. Response to the shall endeavor may have
adverse impact upon the unaccompanied or accompanied asylum-seeking refugee
child. The chapter’s investigation evaluates divergence in the varying layers of the
community’s application of the CRC Committee general comments and the CRC
Article 22 in relation to an asylum-seeking child, the case of I.A.M. v Denmark
(2018),23 to include the standards set by Rantsev v Cyprus’ 201024 European Court
of Human Rights case to guide future strategies for actionable change. Both cases
will be discussed in more detail further in the text.

The Dichotomy of the Positive Obligation, Shall Endeavor

Compliance with human rights treaty obligations is troublesome in that the lan-
guage translates into questionable compliance (O’Flaherty & O’Brien, 2007; Oette,
2018). Could treaty language and interpretation be the root cause? International
communities are consistently competing with cultural challenges, social structures,
and social equalities within the scope of natural and human endogenous factors
(Kaufman, 2004). A potential root-case influencing component is the language of
‘shall endeavor’ in treaty interpretation. Legal theorist Richard Gardiner (2008) and
Serge Sur (1974), among others, support the concept that there is not any compo-
nent of the law of treaties where the text-writer approaches more vicariously than
the interpretation25 (ILC, 1966).
To gain a better understanding of endeavor, a review of the Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties is silent on the interpretation of endeavor, but commercial
contract case law serves as a guide (Fachiri, 1929). Actions of State parties in
response to their human rights obligations can be compared to commercial contract
law, which inserts a qualification that parties are concurring to ‘try’ to achieve the
particular obligation. However, this brings into question the lengths a party, or in
this case the member-States to the CRC Convention and its instruments, will pursue
in ‘trying’ to achieve the obligation, refer to Fig. 8.1. It is clear from the commercial
contract case law that there is a spectrum of endeavors, with ‘best endeavors at one

CRC/GC/2003/4.
23
I.A.M. (on behalf of K.Y.M.) v Denmark, communication No. 3/2016, CRC/C/77/D/3/2016, UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 25 January 2018.
24
Rantsev v. Cyprus and Russia, Application no. 25965/04, Council of Europe: European Court of
Human Rights, 7 January 2010.
25
Report of the ILC on the Work of its 18th -Session: Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties with
Commentaries (A/6309/Rev1), vol. II. Extract from the Yearbook of the International Law
Commission.
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 159

Fig. 8.1 Spectrum of reasonable endeavors

end and ‘nothing’ at the other. An example can be found in the civil law case of Jet2.
com v Blackpool Airports, 2012,26 where best endeavors had to be used even if the
airport endured a commercial loss.
A further interpretation can be made those circumstances have a key role when
the issue of enforceability arises in determining a breach, as illustrated in the civil
case of Astor Management AG and others v Atalaya Mining PLC.27 Similarly, in
Phillips Petroleum Co UK Ltd v Enron Europe Limited, Court of Appeal (Civil
Division),28 where the court raised the question on the lengths a party must exercise
in ‘trying to achieve that obligation’. When placed in juxtaposition to the States’
obligation further clarity can be obtained from the European Court of Human Rights
ruling in Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, paras 64–65; paras. 264–268, where State
positive obligations denote:

26
Jet2.com Limited w Blackpool Airport Limited [2012] EWCA Civ 417, The Court of Appeal has
ruled in favour of Jet2.com in a case concerning the construction of a 15 year old agreement relat-
ing to the use of Blackpool Airport by a low cost carrier; Blackpool Airport Limited (‘BAL’), 95%
owned by Balfour Beatty plc, had argued unsuccessfully before HHJ Mackie QC at trial that it was
not obliged to keep Blackpool Airport open to accommodate Jet2.com’s schedules beyond its pro-
mulgated opening hours. BAL had contended that the provisions of the agreement that obliged it
to cooperate and use best endeavours to promote Jet2.com’s low-cost services from Blackpool
Airport and use all reasonable endeavours to provide a cost base that would facilitate Jet2.com’s
low-cost pricing did not require it to sacrifice its own commercial interests. BAL renewed that
argument on appeal, namely that best and all reasonable endeavours entitled it to consider its own
commercial interests before those of Jet2.com
27
Astor Management Ag and Another V Atalaya Mining Plc and Others, [2017] 1 Lloyd’s Rep. 476.
28
Phillips Petroleum Co UK Ltd v Enron Europe Limited, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), [1997]
CLC 329.
160 T. Herring

(a) Enactment of appropriate legislation,

(b) Introduction of review procedures for the operation of certain businesses known
to be a cover for human trafficking,
(c) Establishment of punishments commensurate to the nature of the crime of
trafficking,
(d) Introduction of measures to discourage demand,
(e) Assurance of the training of law enforcement for the identification of trafficking
victims and for building trust amongst victims and law enforcement,
(f) Encouragement of research, information campaigns, awareness law enforce-
ment, and
(g) Vigorous investigation of allegations of human trafficking.
Plotting an obligator’s endeavor spectrum on the graph, Fig. 8.1 reflects the cat-
egorical performance of the endeavor clause of the positive obligation.
Note, Fig. 8.1, The spectrum of ‘shall endeavors’ is charted on the graph to
assess the State’s actions and omissions of its treaty obligations.29

Absolute/Best Endeavors to the Positive Obligation

Absolute obligation entails the State’s complete fulfilment of the obligation. An

example of absolute can be found in two court rulings.30 First, in referring to Siliadin
v France,31 where States are under an obligation to ‘adopt laws to combat trafficking
and to strengthen policies and programmes to combat trafficking’, where the ques-
tion could arise of ‘shall endeavor’, Siliadin v France. The second tier would
encompass the courts’ ruling of Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia where a States’ obli-
gation for absolute compliance would be met.
However, the term ‘best endeavors’ has been highly judicially scrutinized, as in
the case of IBM United Kingdom Ltd v Rockware Glass Ltd32 where it is judged by

29
Graphic adopted from Ashurst Business Services LLC for educational purposes only.
30
‘States are required to’ are used, the reference is to a mandatory provision. Otherwise, the lan-
guage used in the legislative guide is ‘required to consider’, which means that States are strongly
asked to seriously consider adopting a certain measure and make a genuine effort to see whether it
would be compatible with their legal system.
31
Siliadin v. France, 73,316/01, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 26 July 2005
32
This case is cited by: Cited – Overseas Buyers v Granadex ([1980] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 608); The court
considered the meaning of a promise by one party to use its best endeavours. Held: Mustill J said:
‘it was argued that the arbitrators can be seen to have misdirected themselves as to the law to be
applied. Cited – Rhodia International Holdings Ltd. Rhodia UK Ltd. v Huntsman International Llc
ComC (Bailii, [2007] EWHC 292 (Comm), Times 06-Apr-07, [2007] 2 Lloyds’ Reports 325); The
parties contracted for the sale of a chemical surfactants business. The claimant had contracted to
use reasonable endeavours to obtain the consent of a third party for the assignment of a contract to
supply energy to the business. The defendant. Cited – EDI Central Ltd. v National Car Parks Ltd.
SCS (Bailii, [2010] ScotCS CSOH – 141). Cited – R and D Construction Group Ltd. v Hallam
Land Management Ltd. SCS (Bailii, [2010] ScotCS CSIH – 96, 2011 GWD 2-85, 2011 SLT 326).
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 161

standards of reasonableness. Wherein, the ruling conveys that the term ‘best endeav-
ors’ has the most tangible of the ‘endeavors’ formulations. Usually, the best endeavor
obligation, in contract law, is demonstrated through the obligor taking all reason-
able steps, or steps that are within their power to take. ‘Best endeavors’ obligation
and ‘absolute’ appear to align with the mandatory measures and are reflected at the
far-right peak of the spectrum as illustrated in Fig. 8.1 (reading right to left – abso-
lute red sections through to all reasonable endeavors, orange lined sections of the
spectrum).

 est Reasonable Endeavors/All Reasonable Endeavors/

B
Reasonable Endeavors to the Obligation

The endeavor is ‘less stringent’ than the application of best endeavors where the
party takes on one reasonable course of action, but not all courses of action available
to meet the obligation.33 Referring to the realm of contract law again, all reasonable
endeavors is frequently adopted as a compromise between best endeavors and rea-
sonable endeavors. In the case of Rhodia International Holdings Ltd and another v
Huntsman International LLC, the court ruled that ‘an obligation to use reasonable
endeavors was less stringent than one to use best endeavors. The commercial
court held:
‘There might be a number of reasonable courses which could be taken in a given situation
to achieve a particular aim. An obligation to use reasonable endeavors to achieve the aim
probably only required a party to take one reasonable course, whereas an obligation to use
best endeavors probably required a party to take all the reasonable courses she could. In that
context, it might well be that an obligation to use all reasonable endeavors’ (Rhodia
International Holdings Ltd and another v Huntsman International LLC [2007] EWHC 292].

In that context, an interpretation can be made that an obligation to use ‘all rea-
sonable endeavors’ equates with using ‘best endeavors’. In contrast, if the same
obligation instrument uses ‘both expressions’, which is often seen in treaty instru-
ments, for different obligations, then based upon Rhodia International Holdings Ltd
and another v Huntsman International LLC’s ruling, it could be presumed an inten-
tion was to impose a different standard. The reasonable endeavor aligns with mea-
sures that indicate States have the latitude to consider absolute compliance or

Cited – Dhanani v Crasnianski ComC (Bailii, [2011] EWHC 926 (Comm)) The parties disputed
the terms of a contract between them under which the defendant was to provide substantial sums
for the claimant to invest.
33
Rhodia International Holdings Ltd. Rhodia UK Ltd v Huntsman International Llc: ComC 21 Feb
2007. References: [2007] EWHC 292 (Comm); where the court summarised by a judge in Rhodia
International v Huntsman summarised it nicely when he explained that an obligation to use reason-
able endeavours probably only requires a party to take one reasonable course, not all of them,
whereas an obligation to use best endeavours probably requires a party to take all the reasonable
courses he can.
162 T. Herring

‘endeavor’ to comply287. In the case of Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia the court
ruled that Cyprus’ legislation had prohibited trafficking and sexual exploitation.
However, the Ombudsman criticized Cyprus’ implementation in prohibiting traf-
ficking and sexual exploitation of a child, but ruled the laws were satisfactory.
Moreover, the Council of Europe Commissioner found Cyprus’ laws as ‘suitable’.
On Figure 1’s graph, and the concerns expressed regarding implementation in
Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, Cyprus would likely fit on the graph between ‘best
reasonable endeavors’ and ‘reasonable endeavors’.

‘I’ll Try’ to ‘Nothing’ Obligation

The ‘I’ll try’ endeavors present the most difficult posture of the three categories.
There is a high degree of disagreement and uncertainty as to where reasonable
endeavors is plotted on the graph and ‘I’ll try’. Circumstances and the difference of
opinion weigh heavily in the determination between ‘reasonable endeavors’, ‘I’ll
try’, and ‘nothing’. An example could easily be the Cyprus legislation situation. On
one hand, Cyprus was criticised, but in totality, Cyprus did fulfil the ‘reasonable
endeavors’ of the obligation.
Yet, the AIRE Centre voiced extreme concern as to what can be best described as
the ‘reasonable endeavors’ by Cyprus was insufficient. The case notations reflect
that AIRE Centre cited the wording to ‘consider’ or ‘endeavors’ to introduce certain
measures was hortatory and often lacked practical and effective rights for the pro-
tection of victims. AIRE Centre’s posture would place the States’ ‘reasonable
endeavors’ closer to the ‘I’ll try’ or possibly to ‘nothing’ plot on the graph and
viewed as non-compliant by the court with the treaty obligation. Consequently,
determining whether a State breached an obligation is contingent upon the circum-
stances, situation, and case law.

The Due Diligence Obligation Standard

Examining the case of Rantsev c Cyprus and Russia as it cites Larissis et al v

Greece,34 international law makes clear that States are under a legal obligation to
investigate and prosecute trafficking with due diligence, imposing a positive duty as
in the case of Larissis et al v Greece and Rantsev c Cyprus and Russia. Due dili-
gence obligations are obligations that are one of conduct or means, thus leaving
some discretion for the state in practice (ILA, 2014). This discretion explains why
the record of compliance with these obligations is not highly satisfactory. For many

Larissis et al v Greece, Apps nos140/1996/759/958–960 Council of Europe: European Court of

34

Human Rights, 24 February 1998.

8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 163

years, international human rights law has been thought to not be serious and is often
referred to as ‘soft law’ (Guzman, 2010).35
Considering trafficking of children, the state’s duty is to combat not only traf-
ficking, but also the demand for the services of human trafficking. States are obliged
to combat child human trafficking and exploitation that hinder human rights within
its jurisdiction through the States’ criminal laws.36 There are a range and latitude of
measures that states can adopt to combat human trafficking of asylum-seeking chil-
dren, accompanied or unaccompanied. The international obligations on states are
frequently stated in general terms. Subsequently, parties to a legal instrument are
permitted to adopt measures that are best suited to their respective national legal
systems.
In contradiction, multiple cases before the Inter-American Court of Human
Rights, European Court of Human Rights, and the UN Human Rights Committee
shine a different light on how States are being held in violation of their international
legal obligations to human rights.37 In Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, in relation to
trafficking, the European Court of Human Rights identified an obligation on State
parties to investigate cases of trafficking. The Court placed emphasis on the require-
ments for investigations to entail the full spectrum of the trafficking allegation
through to the recruitment and exploitation (Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia). The
court’s ruling for the States’ positive obligation for investigation was to be ‘full and
effective’ (Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, para 307, p 76).
The positive obligation extended to the various States potentially involved in
human trafficking—States of destination, States of transit, and States of origin
(Rantsev v Cyprus and Russia, para 389, p. 71). The same court ruling obliged
States to ‘take such steps as are necessary and available in order to secure relevant
evidence’ regardless of where the investigation leads in or outside of the territory.
The court ruled that:

35
International agreements come in a multitude of forms. Some have dispute resolution while oth-
ers do not, monitoring provisions vary from significant to nonexistent, and some are highly detailed
while others are frustratingly vague; For example, the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) provides for the submission of reports by the parties when so requested by the
Human Rights Committee (‘the Committee’), and the Committee is authorized to review and com-
ment on these reports. See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art 40(1)(b)(4),
Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171. The Genocide Convention, on the other hand, does not provide
for any formal monitoring system. See Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide, Jan. 12, 1951, 78 U.N.T.S. 277.
36
The prohibition against exploitation of children is a general prohibition under human rights law:
The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1577 UNTS 3, arts 34–37(a); the 2000 UN
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child pros-
titution and child pornography, G.A. Res. 54/263, Annex II, 54 U.N. GAOR supp (no 49) at 6,
U.N. Doc. A/54/49, vol III (2000), arts 3(1)(b) and (2).
37
For state-party compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, see Christian
Tomuschat, Quo Vadis, ‘Argentoratum? The Success Story of the European Convention on Human
Rights - and a Few Dark Stains’ (1992) 13 Hum. RTS. L. J. 401; For state-party compliance with
the American Convention on Human Rights, see Annual Reports of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights.
164 T. Herring

…in addition to the obligation to conduct a domestic investigation within the respective
territory, member States are also subjected to a duty in cross-border trafficking cases to
cooperate effectively with the relevant authorities of other States concerned in the investiga-
tion of events which occurred outside their territories’ (Velásquez Rodríguez v
Honduras 1988).38

The European Union was integrally involved in the decision on Velásquez-­

Rodriquez,39 in 1988, which brought the due diligence doctrine to the forefront for
acts by private entities. States responsibility to prevent breaches of international
obligations has been discussed in several legal decisions. In Chile, Question of the
Fate of Missing and Disappeared Persons, led by Judge Abdoulaye Dieye in
Senegal, 1979, was the actual pioneer due diligence case (UN Doc A/34/583/Add.1
(1979), paras 172–175). Yet, the Velásquez-Rodriquez, the most memorable case,
paved legal ground, and the case is often referenced as the Commission alleged that
Honduras, violated ‘art 4 —Right to Life, art 5 —Right to Humane Treatment, and
art 7 —Right to Personal Liberty, and in relation to art 1(1) — Obligation to Respect
Rights. The monumental impact to States’ responsibility to due diligence can be
attributed to the outcomes of Velásquez-Rodriquez (1988)40 case where the
court ruled:
…the state’s failure to prevent the disappearance, to investigate it, and to punish the perpe-
trators was a violation of the obligation in the Inter-American Convention to “ensure” the
full exercise of rights and freedoms in the Convention, including the right to life’.41

38
Velásquez Rodríguez v Honduras, Merits, Judgment, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) no 4, 147(g)(i)
(July 29, 1988); the first case decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Velásquez
Rodríguez case, together with the Godínez Cruz, Fairén Garbi, and Solís Corrales cases, all con-
sidered by the Court around the same time, form a trio of landmark cases targeting forced disap-
pearance practices by the Honduran government during the early 1980s.
39
Velásquez Rodríguez v Honduras, Merits, Judgment, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) no 4, 147(g)(i)
(July 29, 1988); the first case decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Velásquez
Rodríguez case, together with the Godínez Cruz, Fairén Garbi, and Solís Corrales cases, all con-
sidered by the Court around the same time, form a trio of landmark cases targeting forced disap-
pearance practices by the Honduran government during the early 1980s
40
Velásquez Rodríguez v Honduras, Velásquez Rodríguez Case, Inter-Am.Ct.H.R. (Ser. C) no 4
(1988), Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACrtHR), 29 July 1988.
41 .
American Court of Human Rights (IACrtHR), 29 July 1988; Loy. L.A. Int’l & Comp. L. Rev.
[vol 36:1913]; Inter-American Court decision of Velasquez Rodríguez, in 1988; The case notes:
‘The judgment on compensatory damages delivered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
(hereinafter ‘the Inter-American Court’ or ‘the Court’) on July 21, 1989 in the Velásquez Rodríguez
Case, in which it established at seven hundred and fifty thousand lempiras the compensatory dam-
ages that the State of Honduras (hereinafter ‘Honduras’) must pay to the next of kin of Mr. Angel
Manfredo Velásquez-Rodríguez and decided that the Court would supervise ‘execution of payment
of [this] compensation … and that only after it was settled [would] the case be closed.’; No
Pecuniary damages; The Court ordered the State to pay $93,750 to Ms. Emma Guzmán Urbina de
Velásquez, the wife of Mr. Velásquez Rodríguez, for psychological damage and loss of income
from losing her husband; The Court ordered the State to pay $281,250 dollars to the three children
of Mr. Velásquez Rodríguez: Héctor Ricardo, Herling Lizzett, and Nadia Waleska Velásquez, for
psychological harm due to the forced disappearance of their father, and for loss of income from
8 The Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and International Global Policy Outlook… 165

A comparison of the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be made to the
General comment on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’
(ICCPR)42 torture prohibition, where it states:
It is the duty of the State Party to afford everyone protection through legislative and other
measures as may be necessary against the acts prohibited by art 7, whether inflicted by
people acting in their official capacity, outside their official capacity or in a private capacity
(UNHRC, 2021, CPR GC 20).

Research findings imply that asylum-seeking children are forced to engage in a

multitude of low-range remunerative activities as well as petty crime, substance
abuse, and prostitution. The UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) also indicates
that whether the trafficking is internal or cross-border, the crime is inextricably con-
nected to the involuntary or deceitful movement of people to achieve the end-object
sexual, labor, child marriage, organ removal, or a multitude of other forms of exploi-
tation (CCPR General comment no. 20).43 Guidance for States can also be found in
the UN Doc. A/RES/63/156, GA Res. 63/156, ‘Trafficking in Women and Girls’,
where it outlines:
States have an obligation to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, and punish per-
petrators of trafficking in persons, and to rescue victims as well as provide for their protec-
tion, and that not doing so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of the human
rights and fundamental freedoms of the victims.44

There have been minimal cases to address where the State has been responsible
for failure to provide due diligence. Also, there are two cases in Austria that have a
correlation to the Rohingya critical case where the court emphasizes the ‘State
should have known’ but failed to exercise due diligence. The first is in the case of
Goekce v Austria,45 where the State was found accountable for failure to provide

losing their father as a provider; $375,000 in costs and expenses; each cost by the State was
directed to commence within 90-days and five consecutive months thereafter’.
42
The aim of the provisions of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
is to protect both the dignity and the physical and mental integrity of the individual.
43
UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), CCPR General comment no 20; art 7 (Prohibition of
Torture, or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment), 10 March 1992
44
UN Doc. A/RES/63/156, ‘Trafficking in Women and Girls’ GA Res. 63/156 (30 January 2009).
45
Goekce v Austria, Sahide Goekce (deceased) v Austria, Comm. 5/2005, U.N. Doc. A/62/38, at
432 (2007), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 2007, CEDAW,
domestic and intimate partner violence, international law; Sahide Goekce’s husband shot and
killed her in front of their two daughters in 2002. Police reports show that the law enforcement
failed to respond in a timely fashion to the dispute that resulted in Ms. Goekce’s death. The com-
plaint to the Committee on behalf of the decedent stated that Austria’s Federal Act for the Protection
against Violence within the Family provides ineffective protection for victims of repeated, severe
spousal abuse and that women are disproportionately affected by the State’s failure to prosecute
and take seriously reports of domestic violence. The Committee found that although Austria has
established a comprehensive model to address domestic violence, it is necessary for State actors to
investigate reports of this crime with due diligence to effectively provide redress and protection.
The Committee concluded that the police knew or should have known that Ms. Goekce was in
serious danger and were therefore accountable for failing to exercise due diligence in protecting her.
166 T. Herring

protection and exercise due diligence by actions of its organs (the police department
and State prosecutor) in the instances of domestic violence and diminishing the
importance of violence against women. Notably, in each application of the theory of
a States’ responsibility for vicarious liability, three principles are consistent: a)
respondent superior (let the principal be liable), b) Quifacit per alium facit per se
(he who acts through another does it himself), and c) socialization of compensa-
tion.46 In the Optional Protocol for the sale of children, art 9(3), States ‘shall’ ‘ensure
that all child victims of the offences described in the present Protocol have access to
adequate procedures to seek, without discrimination, compensation for damages
from those legally responsible.

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Chapter 9
Social Progress, Globalization,
and the Development of Mental Health:
A Human Right Perspective

Christopher G. Hudson

 ocial Progress, Globalization, and the Development

S
of Mental Health as a Human Right: Introduction

Mental health as a human right has emerged out a fundamentally transformed

understanding of mental illness. It is one that departs from traditional deficit models
in which service needs are seen as discretionary, and is instead based on the values
of interdependency, human dignity, and entitlement. Central to it is the recognition
that mental health requires the shared responsibilities of communities, and as such
is most effectively addressed by a community mental health service strategy that is
undergirded by the guarantee of human rights. Mental health is not a right that, as
of yet, is widely recognized, but is one that has been developing alongside a range
of other human rights, particularly the right to health care. It is one of several rights
that have emerged as a part of several long-term societal changes involving social
progress, globalization, and social development initiatives, including the global
mental health movement. This chapter will, therefore, explore what such rights
practically mean, and explore their roots in the context of globalization and the
global mental health movement.

Social Progress

Central to globalization and the development of mental health rights is the notion of
social progress (Hudson, 2020). This is an idea that has for many years been both
extolled and demeaned, and in both cases it has served as an organizing ideal. The

C. G. Hudson (*)
School of Social Work, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 169

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_9
170 C. G. Hudson

sociologist Robert Nesbit concluded that, ‘No single idea has been more important
than … the Idea of Progress in Western civilization for three thousand years’ (1980).
It represents one of several competing perspectives on history and social change.
These can be broadly categorized as involving (i) a continuous period of stasis or the
variant of cyclical change; (ii) degeneration from a golden age; (iii) random pro-
cesses involving both degeneration and development; or (iv) sustained and continu-
ous social development. While ideas of social progress were once rarely held, since
the Enlightenment they have come to dominate, and at that time, they were idealized
and seen to include a range of social changes. The term progress is believed to have
originated from the Latin term progressus, derived from progrědi, meaning “to walk
forth, to advance” (Coccia & Belleto, 2018). Teodor Shanin (1997) epitomizes the
concept as consisting of “a movement from badness to goodness and from mind-
lessness to knowledge, which gave this message its ethical promise, its optimism
and its reformist ‘punch’” (Shanin, 1997).
An alternative definition, which eschews the use of concepts of happiness, men-
tal health, and quality of life is that of Gunther Stent (1978) who argues for a notion
that highlights the ‘will to power’, or progress as the achievement of control of
external events and the environment. Those who seek to characterize its breadth
typically list its essential dimensions as advancements in science, technology, eco-
nomic growth, energy, and democratization” (Coccia & Bellitto, 2018). Alternatively,
Nathaniel Keohane (1982) breaks social progress down into four components:
increased human knowledge about the world, increased human power over the
world, increased human virtue deriving from this knowledge, and sometimes
increased happiness as a consequence of the preceding. Often it has not been seen
as involving human flourishing, and particularly, the enhancement of mental health.
As pervasive as the belief in social progress had become by the start of the twen-
tieth century, a range of events in the first half of the century, most notably the two
world wars, led to a widespread questioning and rejection of the progress narrative.
Many critics have questioned the reality of social progress, but more often they have
cast doubt on its effects on broadly improving the human condition. Specifically,
many have wondered whether a narrow technological conception of progress could
translate into greater human happiness and mental well-being. Other critics have
focused on unintended effects, for example, social fragmentation and higher suicide
rates in developed societies. The environmental movement highlighted issues of
sustainability, whether economic growth can continue in the face of finite natural
resources. Others have emphasized the amorality of its inherent materialism and a
weakening of the individual (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1947). Still others have argued
that the progress narrative is too often used by repressive regimes and social classes
for their legitimization and perpetuation (Nisbet, 1980). Finally, some have com-
plained about its linearity and assumed inevitability (Farrenkopf, 1993).
In recent decades, particularly since the early 1990s, there has developed a wide-
spread reexamination and questioning of what many have concluded has been an
excessively pessimistic assessment of social progress as reflected in the various
critiques advanced over much of the twentieth Century. This trend has attributed to
the publication of Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History and the Last Man (1992)
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 171

which argued that with the demise of communism, history may have entered its final
phase. Others have more optimistically seen the end of communism as the end of
ideological deadlock, freeing both private and public resources for social develop-
ment. In recent decades the United Nations has formulated and monitored the
world’s accomplishment of a variety of millennium social development goals, such
as the worldwide reduction of extreme poverty and progress with enhancing mental
health. The increasing availability of both data pertinent to international social
development, as well as advances in computational hardware and analytical soft-
ware involving techniques such as ‘data mining’, has fueled an expanded popular,
theoretical, and empirical literature that has reexamined and sought to resurrect
social progress, both current and past.
As a result there have been proliferations of books that count the many ways that
progress has been occurring. Each of these focus on somewhat different trends, with
a range of explanatory frameworks used. For example, Richard Baldwin (2016)
focuses on the dramatic economic catchup that the developing nations have achieved
in recent years relative to those considered to be developed, a phenomenon now
known as the ‘great convergence’. Close to twenty such books have appeared in
English since the publication in 2000 of It’s Getting Better All the Time: 100
Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years by Stephen Moore and Julian Simon (2000).
These include books by Nobel laureates which highlight the positive developments
featured in their titles – Progress (Norberg, 2017), The Progress Paradox
(Easterbrook, 2004), Infinite Progress (Reese 2013), The Infinite Resource (Ramez,
2013), The Rational Optimist (Ridley, 2010), The Case for Rational Optimism
(Robinson, 2017), Utopia for Realists (Bregman, 2017), Mass Flourishing (Phelps
2013), Abundance (Diamandis & Kotler, 2012), The Improving State of the World
(Goklany, 2007), Getting Better (Kenny, 2012), The End of Doom (Bailey, 2015),
The Moral Arc (Shermer, 2015), The Big Ratchet (DeFries, 2014), The Great Escape
lain (Deaton, 2013), The Great Surge (Radelet, 2015), The Great Convergence
(Baldwin, 2016). Two of the most significant such works are Hans Rosling’s
Factfulness. Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are
Better Than You Think (2018) and Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case
for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018). Both of these works provide
details on scores of trends ranging from poverty reduction, birth control, education,
political organization, violence, culture, and health and mental health, much of
which is derived from United Nations statistical sources. In both cases, the authors
document their conclusions that social progress has been dramatic and pervasive,
encompassing most fields of interest over extended time spans, though not without
select gaps.
The constellation of trends that have been cited by Pinker, Rosling, and other
researchers represents a substantial body of evidence that the world continues to see
ongoing social development, but with some important exceptions. Most notable are
the inadequate responses to climate change and to evidence of rising economic
inequality, both of which could, when extrapolated decades into the future, undo
many of the positive trends covered. In addition, both the critics and promoters of
the social progress narrative, have paid scant attention to its quality of life,
172 C. G. Hudson

subjective well-being, and mental health dimensions, however, this also has been
changing in recent years. Furthermore, the new embrace of the social progress nar-
rative has largely ignored the complexities introduced by globalization, an essential
context for the development of mental health rights, two subjects to which we will
now turn.

Globalization

The term globalization refers to a set of loosely linked international trends, all of
which have involved the development of increasing interdependencies among soci-
eties; both economic and social (see Hudson, 2010; Zajda & Vissing, 2021; Zajda,
2021). Globalization is not new as there have been several earlier versions of it, for
example, during the onset of the industrial revolution and during the progressive era
(Baldwin, 2016). According to the Oxford dictionary, the word ‘globalisation’ was
first employed in 1930. It was widely used by economists, sociologists and policy
analysts in the 1960s. Furthermore, Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian professor of
English at the University of Toronto, who analysed the media and used the term ‘the
medium is the message’ in his cutting-edge book Understanding Media: The
Extensions of Man, published in 1964. He also coined the term ‘global village’
(Zajda & Majhanovich, 2021).
However, its newest rendition since the demise of the Cold War, at the beginning
of the 1990s, has been one of the most dramatic. The earlier trends involving dein-
dustrialization, servicetization, and the development of the information economy
have increasingly come to be thought of as a part of globalization. Globalization is
a broad and controversial set of trends. Specifically, it is regarded as including one
or more of the developments that are outlined in Table 9.1.
A variety of driving forces behind globalization have been cited, with the most
common being technological innovation, democratization, and the spread of neo-­
liberal trade ideologies, leading to deregulation, including lowered costs of manu-
facturing and trade due to increasing automation, ease of travel, communication,
and shipping. Numerous theories have been advanced as to how such conditions
have operated. Perhaps most notable is that of Richard Baldwin (2016) who sug-
gests that globalization has been driven by the progressive separation of production
and consumption, which has been enabled by the falling costs of moving goods,
people, and ideas brought about by deregulation and advancing technology. This
has led to greater economic specialization across geographic regions, not only mov-
ing production of goods to developing nations, but concentration of research, devel-
opment, and high-end professional activities in select cities in the developed world,
in what has come to be referred to as “spiky globalization” (2008).
Deindustrialization has come to be supplemented with servicetization, the devel-
opment of the service economy, mainly in developed nations, but increasingly man-
ifested as growing middle classes in developing nations such as India and China
(see Hudson, 1998). Technology, especially computerization and automation, has
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 173

Table 9.1 The globalization mega-trend: major themes and sub-trends

Growing economic and social interdependency: The once largely independent economies of
the various nations have grown increasingly interdependent due to the increasing ease of free
trade, brought about by laissez-faire trade treaties, deregulation, improved transportation and
communications, and new finance mechanisms
Increased economic specialization: Because of the enhanced interdependencies, the economies
of various nations and regions are becoming more specialized. With a wider and more
competitive economies, corporate survival has forced many companies to narrow their focus,
and to outsource many tasks to other localities, companies, or individuals
Proliferation of multinational and transnational corporations: Although most organizations
are still rooted in particular nations, this is increasingly less so. As of 2018, there were estimated
to be 60,000 multinational corporations, with nearly one-half million affiliates (CIA)
Reduction of trade barriers and deregulation: For several decades now, a major trend has
been to encourage trade and free market competition through the minimization of trade barriers,
such as duties and tariffs, often through the use of regional trade agreements, as well as
deregulation in other sectors, such as environmental protection
Resource fluidity: The above trends have been associated with an increased fluidity of capital
investments, as well as other resources, including labor. It has been noted that “the elements of
globalization—greater and freer flow of information, capital, goods, services, people, and the
diffusion of power to non-state actors of all kinds—will challenge the authority of virtually all
governments. At the same time, globalization creates demands for increased international
cooperation on transnational issues.” While this his made economies more responsive to
changing local conditions, it has introduced a new dimension of social instability
Privatization and outsourcing: Whereas national governments have increasingly sought to
delegate, often through contracting, a variety of responsibilities to private companies, private
companies in turn have sought to outsource their work to other organizations and individuals,
often to gain greater control over the performance of this work, as well as for minimizing
overhead and fringe benefit social costs. Outsourcing has been both local, but increasingly it is
international, for example, many customer service jobs in information technology are being
outsourced to South Asia. Both these trends have manifested through commodification,
marketization, and the corporatization of much economic activity. In health care and the human
services, there have been recurrent efforts to redefine many services as commodities to be
aggressively marketed
Deterritorialization: Given the increasing interdependencies and the enhanced role of both
market forces, as well as international regulatory bodies, many observers have noted a reduction
in the power of national governments
Westernization and cultural homogenization: Some commentators argue that increasing
economic interdependencies, as well as western imperialistic tendencies, have brought with it
the indiscriminate spread of western culture. However, there has been considerable debate
about the extent of this process, with many in second and third world nations insisting that
social development, linked with globalization, need and should not mean westernization and
the eclipse of local culture
Source: Adapted from: Hudson (2010). Complex Systems and Human Behavior, Lyceum Books

led to considerable pressures placed on employment opportunities for working

classes, particularly those minimally educated, contributing to homelessness.
Globalization has elicited much controversy given its breadth and multiple out-
comes, both positive and negative. It has been pointed out that the same time global-
ization has lifted billions out of the most extreme forms of poverty in the developing
world, the lower middle classes in developed nations have suffered considerable
174 C. G. Hudson

economic and social hardship, including unemployment, demoralization, substance

abuse, and increased suicide rates. This phenomenon has been identified by the
economist Branko Milanović (2016) who introduced an “elephant graph” of chang-
ing economic inequality, that shows the bulk of humanity gaining (the elephant’s
body), as well as the richest of the rich (the raised tip of the trunk), a smaller group
of working classes in developed nations facing substantial economic stress (the
trunk). At the same time that there has been improving economic conditions, there
has been rising inequality with many adversely affected populations.
Globalization, thus, has represented some of the complex and diverse outcomes
of the most recent generation of social progress, modernization, and specifically
social development. The array of ongoing changes represents a mixture of those that
are naturally occurring as a result of minimally regulated competition, as well as
some intentional and planned policies aimed at facilitating social and economic
development. Several of these have originated from the policies of multi-national
organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the
European Union.
While the notion of social development has been in use since the 1920s when it
was first introduced in Africa as a literacy campaign, in subsequent years it had been
promoted by U.N. agencies that worked in close cooperation with centralized gov-
ernmental agencies in the developing world that implemented a statist approach,
one that fell by the wayside by the 1970s (Mia, 2008). As these governments faced
massive cutbacks, social development came to be pursued more so through bottom-
­up community organization and entrepreneurial strategies by non-government orga-
nizations (NGOs). However, since the turn of the century, there have been efforts to
integrate the traditional statist with the community and entrepreneurial strategies.
For example, James Midgely (1997) has advocated for a balanced integration of the
three approaches in what he termed an “institutional strategy”. Such commentators
on social development have focused on moving the field to be less reliant on eco-
nomic and infrastructure development – whether planned or laissez-faire – however,
they have only gradually come to advocate for a more balanced inclusion of quality
of life initiatives, including the development of health and mental health care.

Emergence of Global Mental Health

In parallel with social development initiatives, developments in mental health have

only gradually become a global movement. Beginning in the 1950s in the U.S. and
later in Europe, the spread of psychiatric deinstitutionalization has increasingly
been supplemented with the development of community mental health services.
Over the last 20 years, upwards of 45.1% of the world’s nations have come to par-
ticipate in these trends (Hudson, 2016). At the same time the World Health
Organization (WHO) has developed its mental health program, focusing on global
research, consultation, advocacy, and training. Its efforts have included the publica-
tion of the Mental Health Atlas (2001, 2005, 2014, 2017), dissemination of the
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 175

WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS), and the
launching of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), and the
Movement for Global Mental Health in 2008 (see WHO, 2010).
Since the dissemination of its Mental Health Atlas, WHO has continued to refine
its data collection instrument on national mental health systems, and this is now
known as the Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS 2.2).
It covers the six domains included in the Atlas – policy and legislative framework;
mental health services; mental health in primary care; human resources; education
of the public at large; and monitoring and research – and is designed to facilitate
cross-country comparisons. As much as this initiative represents an important
advance in the study of national mental health systems, critiques in the literature
have emphasized several limitations, most notably the neglect of the politics of
mental health policy development, underestimation of the role of culture in mental
health care utilization, and questionable measurement validity (Hamid et al., 2008).
The accumulating body of research on world mental health, both the epidemio-
logical data from the World Mental Health Initiative, as well as the Mental Health
Atlas and the WHO-AIMS instrument, have led to a decision by WHO, in October
of 2008, to launch an advocacy initiative, known as the Mental Health Gap Action
Programme (mhGAP). This effort, based on the idea that “There is no health with-
out mental health”, aims to recruit international donors to help scale up services for
mental, neurological, and substance use disorders, particularly in countries with low
and middle incomes (WHO, 2018). The program emphasizes that with proper care,
psychosocial assistance, and medication, many millions could be treated for depres-
sion, schizophrenia, and epilepsy, prevented from suicide, and led to lead normal
lives, even with minimal resources.
The global expansion of the community mental health movement, supported by
the various initiatives of WHO and other international organizations, has paralleled
other critical trends in mental health. A critical part of community mental health has
been the recovery movement, involving widespread advocacy on the part of mental
health consumers aimed at introducing a more realistic acceptance of the possibili-
ties of recovery and community integration into the approaches of mental health
providers. This has included a rejection of the notion of the chronicity of mental
illness and the associated marginalization of mental health patients and ex-patients,
sometimes referred to as ‘psychiatric survivors’. At the same time, the positive psy-
chology movement has spread and come to complement more traditional approaches
such as the cognitive, behavioral, and psychoanalytic psychology, as well as neuro-
psychology. Positive psychology specifically is concerned with enhancing high-end
levels of psychological functioning, including creativity, problem solving, wisdom,
and self-actualization. While work on improving services – whether inpatient or
community oriented – for the most severely mentally ill, suffering from conditions
such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, continue to be of critical importance,
increasing efforts are being made to develop such services within the context of a
balanced service system that includes needed services for those with lesser disabili-
ties. A key value informing these efforts has involved the normalization of services,
involving community integration that minimizes stigmatization. All of these efforts
176 C. G. Hudson

have increasingly sought to enhance the quality of life and subjective well-being,
based on the recognition that mental health is a shared characteristic of communi-
ties and not only one of discrete individuals.

Impact of Globalization on Mental Health

Globalization has typically been hypothesized as having an upstream, or early and

indirect effect on mental health, and as such, there is limited solid data on its spe-
cific impact. Most of the research results have stimulated somewhat speculative
interpretation of components of this possible relationship to make the required con-
nections. Based on research findings that globalization is associated with increased
economic inequality, some researchers have sought to link inequality with declining
mental health. Most notably, Pickett, James, and Wilkinson (2006) demonstrated a
strong linear associated between income inequality and rates of mental illness.
More recently, the author (Hudson & Doogan, 2019) demonstrated a moderately
strong correlation between inequality and the prevalence of mental disability in the
United States’ three thousand counties using two stage least squares regression with
instrumental variables. Nonetheless, this relationship is controversial (Bhavsar,
2008). While Subramanian and Kawachi (2004, p. 89) do report better health and
lower mortality in egalitarian societies, Deaton and Lubotsky (2003, p. 1147) found
no evidence to support such an association. It is believed that greater levels of rela-
tive inequality clearly aggravate the negative effects of absolute poverty, partly
through more insidious personal comparisons that characterize more unequal
societies.
A particularly pertinent line of research has investigated the impact of globaliza-
tion on labor markets, often using micro economic data. For instance, Autor et al.
(2013) explore the effect of growing Chinese import competition between 1990 and
2007 in the U.S. They report that rising imports led to higher unemployment, dimin-
ished labor force participation, and lower wages in affected local labor markets.
McManus and Schaur (2016) explore how the extent of international trade affects
occupational safety in US manufacturing companies. Using Chinese import growth
in 1996–2007 as a shock of competition, they reported that import competition
increased work place injuries, especially at small companies that are most affected
by foreign imports.
In an earlier national study in the U.S. of disparate rates of homelessness through-
out the nation’s counties, Hudson (1998) estimated a structural equation model – an
“interdependency model of homelessness” – that showed that both deindustrializa-
tion and servicetization had powerful impacts on such rates, mainly through their
impact on unemployment and the decreasing reliance on labor which disproportion-
ately has affected those with minimal levels of education.
Two well-known features of globalization – employment fluidity and migra-
tion – have been implicated in increasing rates of mental illness. Research in China
by Li (2006, pp. 5–13) has documented identifiable effects of globalization on the
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 177

mental health of migrants, this was based on qualitative interviews with internal
Chinese migrants in Beijing. Global migration has been associated with large
migrant populations, ones that face pressures to adapt to the culture of their host
community (Schwartz et al., 2010). The acculturation processes, particularly involv-
ing those in the first generation, are well known to be easily subverted and contribu-
tory to mental illness. Nonetheless, research on the impact of migration is
inconclusive, failing to show definitive impacts on income inequality in the U.S
(Putnam, 2020).
Several commentators have written about the potentially negative effects of the
global mental health movement, especially in the global south (Fermando, 2014;
Roberts, 2020; Sharma, 2016). The concern is that western medical models are
being indiscriminately promoted in developing nations, and indigenous healing
practices are being displaced. Part of this concern involves an over-reliance on psy-
chopharmacology. WHO research has documented remarkable low rates of com-
munity mental health services and mental health practitioners in most developing
nations (see WHO Mental Health Atlas, 2006–2017), and thus, there has been a
concerted initiative to focus on the training and support of primary medical practi-
tioners, typically through information and training on the use of psychotropics.
One of the few empirical studies that has specifically examined the impact of
globalization on rates of mental illness in a multi-national study is that conducted
by Maria Cervini and Vallacinencio (2019). Published as a working paper in
Economix, this study examined the various correlations between both economic and
social indices of globalization with rates of anxiety and depression, using data on
mental disability from the Global Burden of Disease project, for 67 nations for the
1990–2016 period. They found that, on the aggregate country level, that the rela-
tionship depended on the particular dimension of globalization examined.
Specifically, they reported that the results were driven by social globalization which
was strongly and positively related to mental distress, but unexpectedly, this was not
true for economic globalization. They also researched the differences between
emerging and advanced countries, and found that higher globalization is associated
with greater rates of mental problems in the advanced countries. This was not the
case in developing nations. In these nations, higher economic globalization is cor-
related with lower anxiety and depression, suppressing the negative impact of social
globalization. In the advanced countries, in turn, there is no effect of economic
globalization; we only observe that higher social globalization is associated with
greater mental problems. These results appear to be consistent with the ‘elephant
graph’ interpretation proposed by Milanović (2016) that emphasized by negative
impacts on economic inequality of the working classes in the developed world. This
study, however, should be considered as far from definitive, given the lack of statis-
tical controls, proper weighting for population, and in general, problems of poten-
tial endogeneity.
178 C. G. Hudson

Human Rights in Mental Health

The recognition of human rights has historically been a fragile one, dependent on its
endorsement by ruling powers, public consensus, and their enactment in national
and international laws. Although historically many rights have been rooted in reli-
gious beliefs, the development of most rights has been a function of an evolving
social consensus since the Enlightenment, essentially, a social contract among
increasingly widening groups with recognized societal standing. Many of the earli-
est declarations of human rights, such as the Magna Carta [1215], The English Bill
of Rights [1689], the French Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen [1789],
and the U.S. Bill of Rights [1791] were necessarily framed in very general terms to
enable their adoption. For instance, the U.S. Declaration of Independence [1776]
that promulgated “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” has left
considerable latitude for interpretation, yet has been a powerful source of derivative
rights, such as that of privacy. Because human rights are seen as social obligations
directed at individuals, resistance to their adoption has been considerable with many
exceptions and qualifications advanced for any possible right.
Many proposed rights, such as those involving health and mental health, have
frequently been rejected because such health issues are often seen as primarily indi-
vidual responsibilities rather than social obligations. Nonetheless, the adoption of
some rights, including those involving mental health, have been progressively but
slowly realized in limited instances and jurisdictions. Some rights of mental patients,
such as participation in decision making in matters of treatment, are much better
established, but still debated (see Szumkler & Bach, 2015). Yet others, such as the
right to treatment and the right to mental health itself (Trestman, 2018), remain
poorly defined and thus have infrequently been enacted into law. The remainder of
this chapter will explore the ongoing struggles in the development of mental health
rights, particularly those for mental health services and mental health itself, begin-
ning with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (United Nations,
1948), in the context of the global mental health movement alongside the broader
globalization developments.
The contemporary history of mental health as a human right begins with the
UDHR, enacted by 56 member states of the United Nations on Dec. 10, 1948. The
atrocities of two world wars and the subsequent rebuilding created an urgency for
the establishment and protection of fundamental rights that transcend national
boundaries. This document, sometimes referred to as the international Magna Carta,
established that how a government treats its citizens is a matter of international
concern, and not simply a domestic issue. It declares that, “All human beings are
born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and con-
science and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” (Article 1).
The declaration enumerates 30 rights, falling into five categories: Economic, social,
cultural, civil, and political. Under its Article 25, the UDHR establishes that:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of
himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 179

social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control
(Article 25).

Although the field of mental health has enjoyed little visibility during the imme-
diate post-war period, the recognition of the right for health care and social services
has provided the foundation of the subsequent recognition of mental health rights.
References to and further elaboration of health and mental health rights have been
included in a range of treaties and other documents since the passage of the
UDHR. As the United Nations and its constituent organizations, such as the World
Health Organization (WHO), have developed these rights, an increasing number of
nations have subsequently adopted some version of them. These include conven-
tions aimed at preventing and prohibiting abuses like torture and genocide and the
protection of vulnerable populations, such as refugees (Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees, 1951), women (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 1979), and children (Convention on the Rights of
the Child, 1989).
Of particular importance are two treaties designed for the goal of enforcing the
UDHR. These treaties were signed initially in 1966 by 74 signatories, and effective
as of 1976, and by 2021, 170 nations had adopted them. One of these is the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which focuses on the
right to life, freedom of speech, religion, and voting. The other one, more important
for health and mental health, is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that is concerned with rights to food, education, health,
and shelter. A common theme of both treaties is the prohibition of discrimination.
Part 3, Article 12, of the ICESCR establishes the right of everyone to the “enjoy-
ment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. It goes on to
enumerate several steps required for achieving the full realization of this right shall
that include:
(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the
healthy development of the child;
(b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;
(c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other
diseases;
(d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical
attention in the event of sickness.
These are considered “illustrative, non-exhaustive examples”, rather than a com-
plete statement of the parties’ obligations. The right to health is regarded an inclu-
sive right that applies not only to timely and appropriate health care, but also to the
underlying determinants of health, such as access to safe and potable water and
adequate sanitation, an adequate supply of safe food, nutrition and housing, healthy
occupational and environmental conditions.
Beginning in the 1990s, the right to health care was further defined and extended,
sometimes to include mental health. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1990) states that the parties to the convention recognize the right of the child to the
highest attainable standard of health. In the following year, the U.N. General
180 C. G. Hudson

Assembly adopted The Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness
and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care (MI Principles) which made explicit
the rights of persons with mental illness in 1991. And shortly thereafter, the General
Assembly also adopted Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for
Persons with Disabilities.
In 2000, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which over-
sees the ICESCR, published General Comment 14, a document that provides a
detailed interpretation of the ICESCR. It explains that “[t]he right to health is not to
be understood as a right to be healthy” and that [t]he right to health contains both
freedoms and entitlements.” The entitlements include the right to a system of health
protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest
attainable level of health. It mentions mental health several times, for instance, it
states that member states recognize “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
Comment 14 was followed up with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006. This convention affirmed the right to the highest
attainable standard of health, including access to habilitation and rehabilitation ser-
vices and inclusion in the community for persons with both physical and mental
disabilities. Given the continuing Conventions and their varying interpretations, it
was not unexpected that in 2013, the World Health Organization would include
mental health as a global health priority in its comprehensive mental health
action plan.
Since the early 1980s, several regional organizations have included health and
mental health rights in their founding documents, all of which serve to extend the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For instance, in 1981, the African Charter
on Human and People’s Rights declared that, “every individual shall have the right
to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health.” Similarly, Muslim
states created their own Charter of Human and People’s Rights (1981). Other
regional organizations in Europe, the Americas, and Asia have also incorporated the
right to health and mental health into key documents.
It is clear that a range of declarations, treaties, conventions, and statements of
principals have advanced the right to health care, and mental health care in interna-
tional law, progress with individual nations has also been continuing. A 2013 study
(Heymann et al., 2013) found that only a minority of U.N. member states guarantee
the rights to public health (14%), medical care (38%) and overall health (36%) in
their constitutions in 2011. Furthermore, free medical care was constitutionally pro-
tected in only 9% of the countries examined. Thirteen percent (13%) of nations’
constitutions guaranteed children’s right to health or medical care, 6% did so for
persons with disabilities, and 5% for the elderly and the same for the socio-­
economically disadvantaged. Examples of nations that have established a right to
health include Brazil and South Africa (Gable & Gostin, 2009).
Considerably less information is available on the extent that the world’s nations
specifically guarantee mental health care, often included as part of a nation’s health
care provisions. WHO reports, through its Mental Health Atlas (2017) that 43% of
countries do not have any mental health legislation. Legislation, itself, provides no
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 181

guarantees of such care. One of the few countries that has recently come to explic-
itly include guarantees of mental health care in its constitution is India (Kelly et al.,
2020). India commenced what is effectively the world’s largest experiment in rights-­
based health care with its Mental Healthcare Act of 2017, which took effect on May
29, 2018, granting a legally binding right to mental health care to the nation’s popu-
lation of over 1.3 billion people (Nagaraja & Math, 2008). Specifically, the legisla-
tion declares that, “every person shall have a right to access mental health care and
treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate Government.”
The legislation aims to eliminate all discrimination of any description in the imple-
mentation of this right.
In contrast, there are 86 countries whose constitutions do not guarantee its citi-
zens health protection, of which the United States is a noted example (UCLA,
2013). Although both health and mental health care in the United States is provided
to the majority of its population through its multi-payer system of healthcare, both
types of care remain largely and legally discretionary and subject to resource avail-
ability, with few exceptions. Rather than being understood as universal rights, health
and mental health care are instead regarded in the United States as entitlements,
dependent on a variety of conditions such as citizenship, age, poverty status, and
contributions to public or private insurance plans. The nation’s Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, enacted by the Obama Administration in 2012, provides
care for 89.1% of its population as of 2019 through its efforts to orchestrate a variety
of public a private insurance plans using its multi-payer strategy (Tolbert et al.,
2020). Exceptions to the largely discretionary provisions under this plan, include
those who are involuntarily psychiatrically committed and incarcerated for whom
health and mental health care is treated as a constitutional right rather than a discre-
tionary benefit or qualified entitlement. The right of committed mental patients to
treatment was established in the 1970s on the basis of the idea that it was unconsti-
tutional to restrict mental patient’s liberties unless an appropriate quid-pro-quo
involving needed services is offered when a person’s liberties are restricted (Wyatt
vs. Stickney, 1973, Ala.). In recent years, a range of legal cases have attempted, with
limited success, to extend such a right. One which has achieved limited success is
the Olmstead Act (1999) which seeks to guarantee mental health care in the com-
munity for voluntary patients on the basis of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990.

Discussion

Success in establishing mental health as a right has been slow and still incomplete,
lagging substantially behind general health care. Mental health has been described
by Paul Hunt, the former United Nationals Special Rapporteur on the Right to
Health, as “among the most grossly neglected elements of the right to health” (Gable
& Gostin, 2009). Reasons for this are many and these include common myths about
182 C. G. Hudson

mental illness, economic and political considerations, and insufficient development

of treatments and other interventions for mental illness.
Most myths regarding mental health revolve around the stigma of mental disor-
ders. One account cites the myth of incompetency, involving the false assumption
that persons with mental disabilities cannot competently make decisions or grant
consent. A common myth is that of the dangerousness of mentally ill persons, not-
withstanding data indicating that the vast majority of persons so afflicted are no
more dangerous than the general population. Many view mental illness through a
moral lens, believing that persons become mentally ill due to unwise and immoral
personal choices. Resistance to providing care for the mentally ill, or at least sub-
stantially limiting it more so than medical care, has arisen out of the view that men-
tal illness is often hopeless and represents an unfillable blackhole in respect to an
insatiable demand for services. And finally, both the pain invoked in people who
witness others suffering from mental disabilities is sometimes accompanied with
the attitude, ‘out of sight, out of mind’, involving the community exclusion of men-
tally ill and the isolation of many mentally ill patients in mental hospitals and more
recently, in nursing homes and jails.
Such myths serve to undermine the development of a shared understanding of
social responsibilities for the mentally ill, and thus a recognition of the rights of the
mentally ill. There are a variety of rights which have come to be accepted by many
providers, but these are highly qualified by the condition of any individual in ques-
tion. In institutions, these include discrete rights, such as the right to make calls, to
have visitors, to be treated with respect and dignity, for explanations of care pro-
vided, the right to uncensored private communication, informed consent, and pri-
vacy. In nations with mental health codes, patients often have the right to consent to
and refuse treatment unless strict criteria are present, such as dangerousness to self
or others, a substantial mental disorder, and the availability of a no less restrictive
alternative in the community. Depending on the nation, they may have the right to
due process and judicial review if any such right is declined. Unfortunately, too
often such review is in name only, given negative presumptions regarding the
decision-­ making capabilities of most individuals proposed for psychiatric
commitment.
Thus, the right to refuse mental health care remains a critical issue, one side of
the coin of mental health rights, the other side of the coin being the right to mental
health care, and even mental health itself (see Szmukler, 2019). Traditionally, the
right to mental health care has been viewed as contingent on the professional judg-
ment of providers regarding the need and availability of treatments, as well as the
prognosis and willingness of the potential patient to be engaged, and invest the
requisite time and resources into the treatment process, whether inpatient or outpa-
tient. Such conditions have generally obscured any considerations of a right to men-
tal health care.
Among calls for mental health rights, there is a hierarchy among these rights,
based on how they are understood and defined. At the most basic level are those
discrete rights of mental patients mentioned above, such as the right to be treated
with respect and dignity, privacy, to consult with an attorney, and the like. These
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 183

tend to be based on local statutes, and are variously interpreted by caretaking pro-
fessionals. In some countries they are also defined by case law, and professional
practices.
In some cases, such as in many western European nations and India, the right to
mental health care has been established, at least officially. This can, of course mean
many things, but on the whole, it refers to a basic standard of care involving permis-
sible selections from a menu or basket of services, that the professionals involved
can decide to offer and is subject to appeal if refused. A critical issue is cost reim-
bursement; unless there is some guarantee of reimbursement when the patient can-
not afford the services, any such declared right remains an empty one.
Mental health rights may also include the idea that people have a right to the
requisite conditions for mental health. One author suggests that “it could mean a
right to conditions that protect health in the population” such as civil and political
rights and access to population-based personal health care services (Kinney, 2001).
Another commentator, critical of any absolute right to mental health, argues that
mental health rights include rights of access to a range of “protective environmental
services, prevention and health promotion and therapeutic services as well as related
actions in sanitation, environmental engineering, housing and social welfare.”
(Leary, 1994). Such views emphasize the interdependency of the range of human
rights and services. The recent motto of the WHO mental health program, “No
health without mental health” (2018), echos this perspective.
A closely related conceptualization of the right to mental health involves the
notion that people have a right to the ‘highest attainable standard” of mental health.
This approach was first introduced in the preamble to Constitution of the World
Health Organization in 1946, and subsequently reaffirmed by the ICESCR in 1966
which declared “the right of everyone to the … highest attainable standard of physi-
cal and mental health.” This was followed by Comment 14, in 2020, which explained
that the entitlement to mental health “includes the right to a system of health protec-
tion which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest attain-
able level of health.” Whether this standard, as well as that involving the conditions
of mental health, is stronger or weaker than the right to mental health care is debat-
able, especially given its lack of definition. On one hand, it is more encompassing
and aspirational as it includes mental health care, as well as many related social
conditions requisite for well-being, but on the other hand, it is undefined, and thus,
hardly enforceable. While the right to mental health clearly requires not only the
right to services when need is demonstrated, but also a range of other conditions –
income, food, housing, medical care, sanitation, social justice – the challenges of
enforcing the guarantee of such conditions remains daunting.
The right to mental health itself, thus, is yet to be fully defined and realized. This
right was first introduced in 1978 when the Hague Academy of International Law
and the United Nations University organized a multi-disciplinary workshop on The
Right to Health as a Human Right with participants from the fields of law, medicine,
economics and international organizations. It established the phrase “right to health”
within the context of international human rights and drew attention to sources of the
right. This phrase is, at a minimum, regarded as a shorthand expression used to
184 C. G. Hudson

emphasize the link of health status to issues of dignity, non-discrimination, justice,

and participation. The expression has had its critics who complain that it is obvi-
ously absurd “to presume that government or international organizations or indi-
viduals must guarantee a person’s good health” (Leary, 1994). Likewise, the
ICESCR states that “[t]he right to health is not to be understood as a right to be
healthy.” For this reason, this interpretation is generally not used in respect to either
the right to health or mental health. Rather, most commentators regard the right to
health and mental health as established short-hand terms for some combination of
the right to mental health services, and the social conditions required for achieving
the highest attainable standard of mental health.
Continued development of a social consensus around the right to mental health
arguably requires further clarification of its meaning. As long as it remains nebu-
lous, especially if it includes a hint of absurdity, there are unlimited opportunities
for naysayers. If it does not literally refer to a guarantee of mental health, then by
this ‘shorthand expression’ do we mean the guarantee of some minimum level of
services? A level of services, along with an array of social protections for guarding
against the well-known threats to mental health such as lack of income, housing,
food, and social justice? Framing mental health in terms of individual rights is
clearly needed. It has been pointed out by Ronald Dworkin (1977) that rights essen-
tially trump the language of social goals, and as such, they immediately take priority
over various discretionary social goals, that is “a special importance, status, priority,
is implied in categorizing something as a right.” In fact, at the same time that the
language of mental health rights has been advanced, the promotion of mental health
and well-being as also achieved a new status. Mental health is increasingly referred
to as a type of “mental capital”, placing it on par with social and economic capital.
Furthermore, it has been included as one the goals under “ensuring healthy lives and
promotion of well-being for all at all ages’ in the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) (WHO, 2020). Despite the inclusion of mental health in the SDGs,
the single indicator that they use for evaluating a country’s progress is the suicide
mortality rate.
Partly because of their ambiguities, resistance to the rights of the mentally ill is
substantial. This are rooted, in large part, in discrimination and stigma, in those
myths cited earlier, particularly the notion that the mentally ill are especially dan-
gerous, that it is a moral rather than a public health issues, and that service demand
is regarded as a blackhole requiring special restrictions moreso than those that ordi-
nary medical care is subject to. Resistance to mental health service provision, espe-
cially that involving community services, is also subject to considerable resource
competition, especially with groups more favorably viewed, such as children, older
adults, the medically ill.
For these reasons there is a continuing need for advocacy for such rights, espe-
cially for mental health care. This is much more easily defined as an understandable
and achievable right, more so than any guarantee of mental health. It includes both
services and supports, not only for the seriously mentally ill with persistent condi-
tions, but also those with acute conditions. Care is inclusive of both services and a
variety of other supports, such as housing and food. Furthermore, determining a
9 Social Progress, Globalization, and the Development of Mental Health: A Human… 185

required minimum standard of service provision, a menu or basket of services that

must be available when needed, is not only feasible, but often done. With consider-
able work having been accomplished in identifying best practices, and especially
empirically-based services, there is a recognized knowledge base available for this
task, though considerable work is still required in this respect.

Conclusion

Both the idealization and the questioning of the notion of social progress has inevi-
tably contributed to a diversity of approaches as to how social development can best
be facilitated. These have ranged from highly centralized top-down approaches to
neo-liberal laissez-faire strategies of deregulation. The latter, which has come to be
widely promoted since the demise of communism, along with continued techno-
logical innovation, has driven globalization, the most recent rendition of social
progress and modernization. Globalization, as a loosely interconnected set of eco-
nomic, social, and cultural trends, has had a diversity of positive and negative
impacts, most notably the widening of economic inequalities, involving both the
lifting of many out of extreme poverty in the developing world, and economic and
social stagnation among the working classes of developed nations. Although the full
impact of such changes is yet to be fully documented in respect to patterns of global
mental health, preliminary indicators suggest that the mixed economic effects of
globalization have had equally mixed effects on the mental health of the various
populations involved, ones that represent its winners and losers. Very importantly,
the growing international interdependencies and the social dimensions of globaliza-
tion are contributing to psychiatric deinstitutionalization and the growth of com-
munity mental health on a worldwide basis, with some evidence of displacement of
indigenous support systems and healing practices in the developing world. All of
these changes, as well as the overall development of human rights law, have set the
stage for and enabled the continued implementation of the right to mental health,
one which is most practically understood as the right to mental health care, includ-
ing the requisite social and health conditions, and the attainment of the highest pos-
sible standard of mental health.

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Chapter 10
The Importance of Rights-Based
Intervention: Clinical Sociology

Jan Marie Fritz

Introduction

When one is a consultant to organizations, it becomes increasingly clear that it is

important for both the consultant and the client to be very clear about the principles
involved in a proposed intervention and to have this discussion as soon as possible.
For instance, when the client or consultant thinks the proposed work involves com-
munity involvement in all phases of the work, it is important to know this at the start
of the work. If one is talking about developing a peace agreement, all parties need
to understand if they are talking about peace (quiet, calm, without violence) or a
peace that is considered to be a just peace (a calm and violence-free period that is
inclusive and fair). One of the easier ways to make some basic principles very clear
is to incorporate important points in the definition of the field. This chapter exam-
ines the idea of rights-based intervention; discusses why rights are included in the
definition of the field of clinical sociology as well as in explanations of the work
being undertaken; and provides examples of rights-based interventions by clinical
sociologists.

Rights-Based Intervention

Rights-based intervention is based on human rights standards (often international

ones) and aims to both promote and protect all people so that they can live with
dignity, freedom, equality, justice and peace. These human rights standards or prin-
ciples affect the design, implementation, monitoring and assessment of policies and

J. M. Fritz (*)
University of Cincinnati, Palm City, FL, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 189

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_10
190 J. M. Fritz

practices. Many fields – such as business, social work, psychology, development,

public policy and health care – have an interest in or focus on intervention (for
assessment, service delivery and possible changes).1 Generally the “official” defini-
tions of these fields do not describe their interventions as rights-based, but the idea
of rights-based intervention has been discussed and/or incorporated in the work in
many of the fields for a number of years.2
Human rights became a global topic after the United Nations adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and its two Optional
Protocols along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (1966) form the International Bill of Rights.3 In 1993 the UN held the World
Conference on Human Rights and applying human rights principles “became a cor-
nerstone of UN reform efforts” in 1997 (United Nations Population Fund, 2014). In
2003, organizations and agencies took part in the World Conference on Human
Rights. The conference fostered a common understanding of a rights-based approach
and resulted in a document, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (UN
Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 1993). Some international devel-
opment organizations and agencies, beginning in the early to mid-1990s, moved
rather quickly to emphasize a human rights approach.4 However, according to the
United Nations Population Fund (2014):
Before 1997, most UN development agencies pursued a ‘basic needs’ approach: They iden-
tified basic requirements of beneficiaries and either supported initiatives to improve service
delivery or advocated for their fulfillment. UNFPA and its partners now work to fulfill the
rights of people, rather than the needs of beneficiaries. It’s an important distinction, because
an unfulfilled need leads to dissatisfaction, while a right that is not respected leads to a
violation. Redress or reparation can be legally and legitimately claimed. A human rights-­
based approach also seeks to reinforce the capacities of duty bearers (usually governments)
to respect, protect and guarantee these rights.

The United Nations Population Fund (2014) has identified the following good
practices as basic to a human rights-based approach in relation to development:
–– Programmes identify the realization of human rights as ultimate goals of
development.
–– People are recognized as key actors in their own development, rather than pas-
sive recipients of commodities and services.
–– Participation is both a means and a goal.
–– Strategies are empowering not disempowering.
–– Both outcomes and processes are monitored and evaluated.

1
See, for instance, Esquivel, 2017; Koehler, 2017; Allison-Hope & Hodge, 2018; Patel, 2019;
Burkholder et al., 2019; McPherson, 2020 and Cosgrove et al., 2021.
2
See, for instance, Goldhagen et al., 2020.
3
The two covenants entered into force in 1977.
4
Miller and Redhead (2019) Rights-based approaches’ first emerged within the development sec-
tor, before transcending to wider areas.
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention: Clinical Sociology 191

–– Progammes focus on marginalized and excluded groups.

–– The development process is locally owned.
–– Programmes aim to reduce disparities and empower those left behind.
–– Situation analysis is used to identify immediate, underlying and root causes of
development problems.
–– Analysis includes all stakeholders, including the capacities of the state as
the main
There is still little consensus over exactly when the precise concept of ‘rights-­
based approaches’ emerged, however, it is easy to trace various international devel-
opment agencies’ explicit talk of an integration of rights within development
practice in the post-Cold war period of the early 1990s, with momentum building
around the 1995 Copenhagen Summit on Social Development. According to Miller
and Redhead (2019) Rights-based approaches first emerged within the development
sector, before transcending to wider areas. There is still little consensus over exactly
when the precise concept of ‘rights-based approaches’ emerged, however, it is easy
to trace various international development agencies’ explicit talk of an integration
of rights within development practice in the post-Cold war period of the early 1990s
(with momentum building around the 1995 Copenhagen Summit on Social
Development).
Social work is one of the fields that also has shown interest in a human-rights
approach to its work. There is, for instance, a book series that focuses on rights-­
based approaches to social work.5 Shirley Gatenio (2015, p. vii), the editor of that
series and the co-editor of the Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, has
written:
Rights-based social work shifts the focus from human needs to human rights and calls on
social workers and the populations they work with to actively participate in decision mak-
ing processes of the state so that the state can better serve the interests of the population.

While calling for a rights-based approach to social work, Gabel (2015, p. viii)
notes that “social work overly relies on charity and needs based approaches. These
approaches are built on the deficit model of practice in which professionals or indi-
viduals with greater means diagnose what is ‘needed’ in a situation and the ‘treat-
ment’ or services required to yield the desired outcome…” Gabel (2015, p. ix) has
emphasized that a rights-based approach equally values process and outcomes:
In rights-based work, goals are temporary markers that are adjusted as people perpetually
reevaluate and understand rights in new ways calling for new approaches to social issues….
Rights-based approaches are anchored in a normative framework that are based in a set of
internationally agreed upon legal covenants and conventions, which in and of themselves
can provide a different and potentially more powerful approach.

5
Two books were published in the SpringerBriefs series in 2015 and another three in 2016. One is
expected to be published soon “that unpacks international field experience with a rights-based
approach (Gabel, 2021a).
192 J. M. Fritz

Gabel (2015, p. xi) has provided a very useful table that summarizes the similari-
ties and differences between charity, needs and rights-based approaches in social
work in terms of aspects such as goals, process, target population, accountability
and emphasis. Gabel noted the similarities between the rights-based and strengths
approach in social work (which focuses on strengths, abilities and potential rather
than problems, deficits, and pathologies). Gabel (2015, p. xv) also emphasized:
the strengths-based perspective falls short of empowering individuals to claim their rights
within a universal, normative framework that goes beyond social work to cut across every
professional discipline and applies to all human beings. Rights-based approaches tie social
work practice into a global strategy that asserts universal entitlements and the accountabil-
ity of governments and other actors who bear responsibility for furthering the realization of
human rights.

Gabel (2015, p. xiv) has written that “bonding” the practice of social work to
international human rights documents will make social workers look beyond their
own governments’ responses to social issues. This will help social workers move
from often being “agents of the state” to being change agents. She also noted (2015,
p. xv; 2021b) that “rights-based approaches in social work have gained international
acceptance in the past two decades more so outside of the United States than
within”6 though “US scholars have gone into greater depth regarding how to apply
a rights-based approach.” Gabel (2015, p. xv) thought less acceptance of rights-­
based approaches in the US was related to a number of factors including that many
in the US reject the application of international standards for human rights in the
United States, the “limited engagement” of social workers in the area of human
rights and “the perception that human rights activism is best led and achieved by
lawyers or elite policy advocates.”

Clinical Sociology and Rights-Based Intervention

Clinical sociology is one of the fields that has discussed rights-based intervention.
Clinical sociology is defined as a creative, humanistic, rights-based and interdisci-
plinary specialization that seeks to improve life situations for individuals and groups
in a wide variety of settings (Fritz, 2021a, b; Uys & Fritz, 2020). Clinical sociolo-
gists, working individually or part of a team, assist clients/client systems or initiate
their own projects. They assess situations and avoid, reduce, or eliminate problems
through a combination of analysis and intervention. Clinical analysis is the critical
assessment of beliefs, policies, or practices, with an interest in improving a situa-
tion. Intervention is based on continuing analysis; it is the creation of new systems
as well as the change of existing systems and can include a focus on prevention or

6
Gabel (2021b) notes that “All accredited schools of social work in the US must teach human
rights however, in a survey we conducted a few years ago, we learned the depth and application of
rights-based approaches to practice vary widely across schools. It is a work in progress.”
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention: Clinical Sociology 193

promotion (e.g., preventing environmental racism or promoting community

sustainability).
Clinical sociologists have many different areas of expertise, such as health pro-
motion, counseling, organizational development, evaluation research, social con-
flict reduction, or cultural competence, and they work in many capacities. They are,
for instance, university professors (full-time or part-time) who also may be consul-
tants or advisers; community organizers; sociotherapists; mediators; social entre-
preneurs; focus group facilitators; activists; social policy implementers; elected
officials; action researchers; managers; and organizational analysts. Clinical soci-
ologists, then, work at any of the intervention levels – individual, small group, orga-
nization, community, national and global. The clinical sociologists who have an
organizational focus may be interested in assisting organizations in the public sector
(government and nonprofit organizations) or for-profit enterprises that are publicly
or privately owned.
Rights-based intervention refers to the creation of new systems as well as the
change of existing systems (including a focus on prevention or promotion) while
taking into account everyone’s human rights. The rights often are those defined by
national as well as international documents such as the United Nation’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. A rights-based approach means that an intervention
will “promote and maintain a minimum standard of well-being to which all peo-
ple… would ideally possess a right” (Johnson & Forsyth, 2002). Interventions, then,
should “protect and promote,” or at least not undermine, “the interests of [those who
are] poor and vulnerable” (Johnson & Forsyth, 2002).
Since at least 2012 (Fritz, 2012, p. 394), the U.S. definition of clinical sociology
has explicitly included the idea that intervention is rights-based. Prior to that time it
was thought that using the term “humanism” in the definition was sufficient as that
term included human rights work. As Alfred McClung Lee noted in 1979, a clinical
sociologist could not work for just any client, as the specialization has to serve
humane goals. Over time it became clear, as the United Nations Population Fund
(2014) has noted, that by explicitly connecting the work of clinical sociologists to
human rights documents “a right that is not respected leads to a violation (and then)
redress or reparation can be legally and legitimately claimed.” For this reason, the
term “rights-based” was added to the definition. By having “humanist” and “rights-­
based” as part of the definition, it also was very clear that interventions that were not
humanist and rights-based (e.g., the work of some sociologists in developing and
supporting the apartheid system in South Africa)7 could not be considered to be
clinical sociology.

7
Clinical sociologists are very aware of the problems that can be connected to intervention that is
not rights-based. For instance, there could be a consultant who assists a government by advising
leaders but does not take the rights of all citizens into account or who assists business owners by
finding ways to illegally control workers. An example of intervention that is not rights-based was
the work of some South African sociologists in developing and supporting the apartheid system in
South Africa. For a discussion of this problem, see the publication by Tina Uys (2021, pp. 112–116).
194 J. M. Fritz

Examples of Rights-Based Interventions

Clinical sociology, like the field of social work, focuses on intervention at different
levels. Gabel (2015, p. xv), discussing the field of social work, noted the following
about rights-based approaches at different levels of intervention:

Individual Level

Individuals seeking assistance are not judged to be worthy or unworthy of assis-

tance but rather are viewed as rights holders… Interventions offered are not patron-
izing or stigmatizing, rather methods provide assistance based on the dignity of and
respect for all individuals.

Group/Organization/Community Levels

Efforts are redirected away from proving that they deserve or need a resource toward
learning about how they can claim their entitlements to resources. Practitioners
facilitate human rights education among group members including knowledge of
human rights instruments, principles, and methods for accessing rights.

National Level

Clinical sociologists agree with the points mentioned in this framework, but also
would include an international or global level. As noted above, intervention work at
all levels would involve letting people, organizations and communities know their
rights; having all those involved be able to provide information and opinions; and
encouraging the practitioners to influence individual/small group/organization/
community/national and international policies and practices. Interventions by clini-
cal sociologists are expected to take rights into account. Some of the interventions
are explicitly tied to rights frameworks while other work is done without making
explicit connections to specific human rights documents. Two examples of explicit
rights-based interventions involving clinical sociologists are provided here.
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention: Clinical Sociology 195

Cities for CEDAW8

On December 18, 1979, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly adopted the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) and, after being ratified by 20 UN Member States, it entered into force as
an international treaty on September 3, 1981. CEDAW, often described as the inter-
national bill of rights for women, gives direction to UN Member States that have
ratified the treaty. The treaty (UN. CEDAW, 1979) covers a wide range of topics.
The thirty articles focus on areas such as educational opportunities; sex trafficking;
women’s rights in political and public life; access to health care; rural women;
women’s economic and social rights; and equality in marriage and family life. Some
topics are not mentioned (e.g., abortion) or are only mentioned in the preamble
(e.g., poverty). The expectation is that the specifics in CEDAW should be incorpo-
rated into national law in order to fully realize women’s rights.
CEDAW was adopted 130 to 0, with 10 abstentions. Of the 193 UN Member
States, more than 50 of the countries that ratified the treaty did so specifying certain
reservations and objections. This makes CEDAW one of the most (and possibly the
most) heavily reserved human rights treaties (Al Shraideh, 2017, p. 18). Only a
handful of countries (Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Tonga, Palau and the United States)
have not ratified the treaty. U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty in 1980,
but the U.S. Senate never ratified it. The U.S. is the only economically developed
country not to have ratified the treaty.
In the United States, there has been a campaign, since 2013, that hoped to have
100 cities declare themselves as CEDAW cities by the end of 2015. This initiative
received the support of the United States Conference of Mayors in 2014. This kind
of effort raises awareness about CEDAW, provides a framework for community
action9 and calls attention to the fact that the United States is one of a very small
number of nations that has not ratified the treaty. Disappointed and/or angry that the
US Senate has not ratified CEDAW, advocates hope the Cities for CEDAW initiative
will help lead to U.S. ratification.
While the national campaign is to get governments “to effectively implement
CEDAW within their city, county and/or state to address barriers to full equality for
women and girls” (Och et al., 2018, p. 6), the cities’ efforts can look quite different.
They could, for instance, focus on what is going on in city administration and/or the
broader community; they can discuss and prioritize different topics; they may
have – or not – a women’s department/commission as part of the city government;
they may have a lot of government support or just enough to put this initiative in

8
This section is based on “Communities for CEDAW: Initiating Change on the Local Level.”
(Fritz, forthcoming).
9
Some actions are taken within the community and others within city administration. For instance,
Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, California, “issued a directive for each city department or
office to have a Gender Equity Liaison, established a Gender Equity Coalition and required each
head of a city department/office to submit a Gender Equity Action Plan for the central inclusion of
women and girls as part of the city’s CEDAW initiative” (Fritz, 2018).
196 J. M. Fritz

place; they may have varying degrees of grassroots support for this effort; they
may – or may not – want CEDAW or the U.N. to be mentioned; and the local gov-
ernments may see this as a continuing effort or one that would last for a rather short
period (e.g., 1 or 2 years).
In 2015, a CEDAW effort was initiated by a clinical sociologist in Cincinnati,
Ohio, a city of approximately 300,000 in a tri-state area (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana)
in a northern and central part of the United States. This initiative began as a univer-
sity class project and the initial effort moved quickly. A Cincinnati for CEDAW
community coalition was formed (including non-governmental organization repre-
sentatives, faculty members and students) and members of the Coalition met with
city council representatives and a representative from the mayor’s office. Within a
few months (by the e There is still little consensus over exactly when the precise
concept of ‘rights-based approaches’ emerged, however, it is easy to trace various
international development agencies’ explicit talk of an integration of rights within
development practice in the post-Cold war period of the early 1990s, with momen-
tum building around the 1995 Copenhagen Summit on Social Development.nd of a
semester), a city council resolution was put in place, but it took a very long time
(2 years) before the Cincinnati City Council issued two short ordinances – one that
created a Mayor’s Gender Equality Task Force and the other requested a gender
analysis of the city’s government operations. The first research (quantitative) from
the gender analysis was presented about 1 year after the research study began and
some changes started to be made in the city’s departments. The Mayor’s Gender
Equality Task Force’s extended term ends in 2021 and the final gender analysis
(with quantitative and qualitative information) has been completed.
Some initial changes already have been made by city offices since the initiative
was introduced and these include: programs about domestic violence from Women
Helping Women have been instituted for city departments; two high-level appoint-
ments (one for the first time) have been filled by women who were promoted in the
Police Department; employees are now aware that a city employee who has a com-
plaint and feels uncomfortable discussing the issue with the supervisor can go
directly to a human resources representative rather than the employee’s supervisor;
women’s equipment needs are being met and a peer-to-peer program has been
established in the Fire Department; and appointments to city boards and commis-
sions are now only considered after a written submission that provides information
about the appointment in light of the current composition of the board or commis-
sion. Suggestions have been made to City Council regarding continuing plans for
the initiative.
This effort may not only affect the situation in one city. A review of this effort
and efforts in other communities has resulted in a list of advisory points that can be
used by communities that want to put a similar effort in place (Fritz, 2021a, b).
These include selecting an excellent name for the initiative; developing leadership
skills; identifying community partners for a coalition; discussing girls as well as
women; looking for and encouraging political will; developing right-sized and
appropriate drafts of documents for consideration; providing adequate financing;
putting an advisory committee/task force in place; conducting a gender analysis;
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention: Clinical Sociology 197

setting short-term and long-term goals; looking for opportunities to use the different
levels of intervention to support the initiative; establishing an up-to-date website;
emphasizing outcomes and emphasizing a human rights basis for the effort. Cities
for CEDAW is all about gender equality in a human rights context. The expectation
is that basic human rights documents – such as CEDAW and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights – will be strongly connected to the work in a local
community)10 Working effectively on a local community level can be done after
national or international policies have been put in place. It also can be the essential
effort that improves the prospects for national and international policies to be estab-
lished or implemented successfully. It is hoped that the Cities for CEDAW effort
will result in the United States finally ratifying the CEDAW treaty.

Mediation

Mediation, as defined by a clinical sociologist, is a “rights-based, humanistic and

creative process in which one or more impartial individuals help parties (dispu-
tants), with their consent, discuss an issue or issues that concern one or more of
them” (Fritz, 2014, p. 3). The mediation process is sometimes referred to as facili-
tated negotiation. Rights-based mediation takes into account everyone’s human
rights. A rights-based approach means that a mediation is concerned with achieving
at least a minimum standard of well-being for parties, and those they represent, as a
right of all people. Mediations should not undermine the interests of the vulnerable.
Mediation is used in a wide variety of circumstances to try to reduce or resolve
conflicts or disputes; the areas include divorce, truancy, eviction, the environment,
workplace, civil war, special education, business arrangements. Government admin-
istration, neighborhood problems, health billing issues and land ownership, The
mediator (or mediation team) establishes an open, trusting setting in which parties
are encouraged to discuss facts as well as their personal feelings about the issue or
issues that brought them to the discussion. After all parties have been identified and
included, mediation is usually conducted as a flexibly-structured process and can be
free-flowing or more controlled. If the outcome of this process is an agreement, it
would be shaped by the parties and satisfactory to them. Mediation can be an excel-
lent method for resolving some kinds of disputes in part because it can be faster and
less expensive than the alternatives. Most importantly, the parties create their own
resolution to a dispute or conflict rather than have a decision imposed upon them.
The UN has made many statements about mediation and respecting human rights
during mediations. On September 13, 2011, for instance, Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser, the president of the 66th session of the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly, gave his opening remarks to the UN Secretary-General and the General

10
In some U.S. communities it may be difficult for some policymakers to easily accept the connec-
tion to an international human rights document. It may be easier to connect the work, at least ini-
tially, to local or national human rights documents.
198 J. M. Fritz

Assembly. He said there would be four main areas of focus that would frame the
work of the General Assembly during this session and that the first focal area would
be “the peaceful settlement of disputes.” He indicated that in his view “the General
Assembly should, through its revitalization, become more engaged and empowered
on issues of mediation, so that it can fulfill its role as the world’s preeminent peace-
maker at this major juncture in international relations.” And in 2012, the UN issued
the UN Guide to Effective Mediation. It said, in part:
Peace agreements should end violence and provide a platform to achieve sustainable peace,
justice, security and reconciliation. To the extent possible in each situation, they should
both address past wrongs and create a common vision for the future of the country, taking
into account the differing implications for all segments of society. They should also respect
international humanitarian, human rights and refugee laws…. (mediators) cannot endorse
peace agreements that provide for amnesties for genocide, crimes against humanity, war
crimes or gross violations of human rights (UN Guide to Effective Mediation, 2012).

Mediation is an interdisciplinary field with mediators coming from many disci-

plinary backgrounds including peace and conflict studies; counseling; law; environ-
ment; labor studies; and clinical sociology. It is useful to think about how the
disciplinary background of a mediator or a mediation team may affect the design
and approach to mediation. A number of those involved in some way in the media-
tion – e.g., parties; friends, relatives and employers of the parties; employer of the
mediator; powerful individuals or groups that may be concerned about the media-
tion; and/or an organization that may be funding the mediation process – also may
have different assumptions, values,11 and principles.
The principles, attitudes, and tools needed by a mediator in conducting interven-
tions may differ somewhat depending on the level of intervention (e.g., individual,
organization, community, nation, international) and the kind of mediation. The
basics for the mediator include: having an ethical framework; practicing inclusive-
ness12; working with the people’s interests and opportunities; encouraging recogni-
tion of other viewpoints; demonstrating interdependence as a factor in the change
process; encouraging capacity building; having relevant knowledge and knowing
how to access more of it; including a long-term perspective; and discussing relevant
documents (e.g., international or national standards regarding human rights).
Clinical sociologists are well-suited for the role of mediator. After receiving
mediation training and undertaking supervised practice, clinical sociologists usu-
ally bring a lot of experience in working with the different levels of intervention
(Fritz, 2021a, b). Mediators can expect to work at more than one level even though
a mediation may appear to be mainly at one level (e.g., neighbors may be arguing

11
James Laue and Gerald Cormick discussed the approach of interveners in their 1978 chapter,
“The Ethics of Intervention in Community Disputes.” For Laue and Cormick, the basic values for
a mediator were freedom, justice, and empowerment. It is worth discussing if the assumptions,
values, and principles will be the same for mediators involved in different kinds of mediation.
12
Some countries have legislation or official guidance that makes it difficult to talk with certain
parties (e.g., people or organizations identified as terrorists). Mediators and mediating organiza-
tions need to know that it is not illegal for them to talk with all those who are involved.
10 The Importance of Rights-Based Intervention: Clinical Sociology 199

about a dog continuously barking at night but the unresolved situation has now
involved their families as well as concerned other people in the broader commu-
nity). The clinical sociologist can move between the different levels (individual,
family, community) to help parties analyze and possibly resolve a situation.
It might be useful to examine a rights-based approach in one kind of mediation.
One of the mediation areas in which clinical sociologists work in the United States
is special education (sometimes called special needs education).13 There are times
when parents of a student with special needs and the student’s school may find
themselves in a dispute about the student’s educational program. There are a num-
ber of ways to address this situation (e.g., have a meeting of all those involved, take
the issue to a higher level within the educational system, go to court, change schools)
but, since the 1997 reauthorization of one particular law in the United States, the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), mediation is available in the
US to a disputing party for any matter related to the identification, evaluation, edu-
cational placement or provision of a free and appropriate public education related to
a child’s disabilities.
I have worked as a special education mediator in two U.S. states for over 15 years.
In my experience, cases are usually initiated by a parent or parents although some
have been initiated by school systems or jointly initiated. Some cases involved as
few as five persons, but a number had 15 or more people involved. Most cases
included just the parties and their close associates (e.g., teachers, attorneys, family
members and friends) but a number involved others (e.g., a hospital representative,
therapists, someone from another school system that handles matters in a different
way, and/or an expert on a topic of concern). A short mediation might last 6 h while
others might take 2 days.14 In many cases, somebody on one side may be initially
resistant to settling the matter and/or sitting down at length to talk about the issues.
Many cases reached an agreement but others went on to be decided in a court set-
ting. One of the options for a clinical sociologist (and others) who are mediating
cases (in this instance, special education cases) is to stress that this discussion is a
rights-based mediation. The mediator might choose to distribute and/or discuss all
or parts of one or more documents such as the US Americans with Disabilities Act,
US Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child; UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and/or one or more
of the many documents about rights that are available on the website of the Center
for Appropriate Dispute Resolution (CADRE) ­(https://www.cadreworks.org/search/

13
Special education or special needs education is defined here as a “customized instructional pro-
gram designed to meet the unique needs of an individual learner” (Gargiulo, 2006). This is a broad
definition, including all children (e.g., those who are gifted or who have disadvantages because of
gender, ethnicity, war trauma, or being orphans) who need some kind of additional support,
although the focus usually is on students who have learning difficulties. Learning difficulties may
be due, at least in part, to one or more problems/disorders (e.g., physical, psychiatric, emotional,
behavioral) and might require an educational program with special materials, services, teaching
approaches and/or equipment.
14
Sometimes the second day is at some point in the future because the meeting date may depend
on when requested test results become available.
200 J. M. Fritz

rights). The website contains documents developed by different U.S. states about
topics such as family rights, basic rights in special education, the right to filing a
complaint, and the right to mediation.
The discussion about rights could be held with mediation participants at one or
more points. It could be prior to the mediation, at the very beginning of the media-
tion or at any point during the mediation including the conclusion. A rights-based
approach can help those involved in the mediation focus on the rights of all those
involved and, if the mediation discussion seems to “be stuck” at some point, a dis-
cussion at that time of points raised in one of the documents can sometimes help
participants refocus and move forward.

Conclusion

Rights-based intervention is based on human rights standards. Interventionists can

introduce human-rights standards in many ways in their work. It might be, for
instance, part of an ethics code\s or included in an organization’s basic principles.
Sometimes, however, this approach is not easily noticed by all those involved in the
intervention process. One of the easier ways to help make sure all those involved in
an intervention pay attention to human rights standards is to emphasize the point by
explicitly incorporating the idea of rights-based work as part of the definition of the
field as well as in any explanation of the work that is being done.

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Chapter 11
Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology,
and Human Rights: Major Trends

Joseph Zajda

 iscourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human

D
Rights: Introduction

We are all citizens of one world; we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born
in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different
view on this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist I implore you, for we are all equally
human…Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity. Comenius (1592–1670).

Comenius, also known as Komenský, was the bishop of a protestant Church, the
Bohemian Brethren whose members had been were forced into exile when the
Habsburgs imposed Catholicism on Bohemia. What was innovative at the time was
his radical idea that all children, from both sexes and all social classes should be
educated. According to Mount (2011), Comenius developed his philosophy, very
similar to today’s ‘holism’, where all knowledge combined could be used, to offer a
new and visionary education of individuals for peace:
Comenius thought that he could put all the knowledge, philosophy, theology, geography
and history, into one system of knowledge. And that system would then be the basis for the
re-education of mankind towards peace and brotherhood (Mount, 2011, cited in Jan Amos
Comenius: A Bohemian in Amsterdam, 2011).

These ideas, modern in terms of conceptualisation for the seventeenth century,

indicated that at that time, there were active progressive thinkers, like Comenius,
who believed in the universal peace and brotherhood. Some 300 years later, The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (1948) was launched, as an inter-
national policy document defining the rights and freedom of all human beings. This
document can be regarded as the most significant policy document in the history of

J. Zajda (*)
Faculty of Education & Arts, School of Education, Australian Catholic University,
East Melbourne, VIC, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 203

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3_11
204 J. Zajda

human rights. It defined, for the first time that fundamental human rights had to be
recognized and universally protected. The UHHR was eventually translated in more
than 500 languages and resulted in more than seventy human rights treaties, which
continue to be used today in discourses of globalisation, democracy, human rights
and social justice.

Defining Human Rights

There are numerous definitions and conceptions of human rights. However, there
exists a global consensus that human rights refer to freedom, justice, and equality:
the rights that are considered by most societies to belong automatically to everyone.
Ozdowski (2021) stresses that human rights help us to recognise that every person
has ‘inherent dignity and value’ and that in this sense human rights are global—they
are the same for all people. This is what makes human rights truly ‘universal’ and
global. Furthermore, human rights, from a cultural perspective, are international
mores, and norms that help to protect all people everywhere from severe political,
legal, and social abuses (Vissing & Williams, 2018). Human rights include the right
to freedom, diversity, privacy, due process, and property rights. The right to freedom
of religion, the right to a fair trial, and the right to engage in political activity are
significant principles of a pluralist democracy. These rights exist in morality and in
law at the national and international levels. The main sources of the contemporary
conception of human rights are the Universal Declaration of Human Right (United
Nations, 1948). The 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
defined the fundamental rights of people, including:
• The right to life
• Freedom of thought, opinion, and religion
• The right to a fair trial and equality before the law
• The right to work and education
• Freedom from torture and arbitrary arrest
• The right to participate in the social, political and cultural life of one’s country.
Human rights education is essential to the full realization of human rights, social
justice and fundamental freedoms and contributes significantly to promoting
democracy, equality, respect for human dignity, preventing discrimination and
enhancing participation in democratic processes (Vissing, 2021). It reflects societal
and legal standards that need to be learned by each generation and transferred to the
next, in order to preserve and maintain the principles of democracy, equality and
freedom.
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Major Trends 205

Social and Cultural Dimension of Human Rights Education

There is an ambivalent nexus between social stratification, inequality and human

rights. The greater the social inequality, the less one finds human rights and social
justice. The prospect of widening inequalities in education, due to market-oriented
schooling, and substantial tolerance of inequalities and exclusion, are more than
real (Milanovic, 2012, 2013). Access and equity continue to be enduring concerns
in education. This was confirmed in the OECD (2009) study: ‘Across OECD coun-
tries, over 40% with less than an upper secondary qualification are not even
employed…Even those with higher levels of education are vulnerable if they
become unemployed. Around half of the unemployed young adults aged 25-34 with
lower and upper secondary attainments are long-term unemployed’ (OECD, 2009,
p. 13, see also UN Millenium Development Goals report, 2015; Human Rights
Report, 2020; OECD, 2021a, 2021b).
The creation of a more equitable, respectful, inclusive, and just society for every-
one is a dream for all concerned citizens on spaceship Earth, be they democratic
policy makers, empowering and egalitarian pedagogues, and informed and active
citizens, who believe in human rights education and the much needed policy reform.
The United Nations declared 1995–2004 as the Decade of Human Rights Education.
It stressed that the human rights education was a powerful tool to fight racism and
discrimination in all spheres of education and in society. Social and cultural dimen-
sions of human rights education include ideology, power, inequality, education,
gender, ethnicity, race, religion, and social justice.
Major discourses of human rights education tend to remain at a policy rhetoric
and humanistic pedagogy level. As such, they seemed to be uncritical of the existing
status quo of legitimized social and economic inequality. We could ask the follow-
ing: What social action is needed to move from proclaiming the rights and obliga-
tions of people in a given country, towards effective and empowering implementation
of those rights and obligations? How can we best ensure that the rhetoric of human
rights is matched by reality? We need to recognise that the ideology and the politics
of human rights play a significant part in the discourse of human rights education
(see Zajda & Ozdowski, 2017).

Children’s Rights

Human rights education is particularly relevant to teaching children’s rights. Ozdowski

(2009) in An absence of human rights: Children in Detention, stated that ‘The impris-
onment of children under mandatory detention policy in Australia’s detention camps
was one of the worst, if not the worst, human rights violations in the Australia’s post
World War II history’. Children have the right to special protection because of their
defencelessness against mistreatment (Vissing, 2019). The first United Nations state-
ment devoted exclusively to the rights of children was the Declaration on the Rights
206 J. Zajda

of the Child, adopted in 1959. This was a moral rather than a legally binding docu-
ment. In 1989 the legally binding Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted
by the United Nations. In 54 articles the Convention incorporates the whole spectrum
of human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – and sets out the spe-
cific ways these should be ensured for children and young people.
• Around 11 million children die each year from largely preventable diseases
caused by lack of clean water and inadequate health care. Through improved
access to clean water, food and immunisation, the lives of many children are
being saved.
• Around 101 million primary school age children worldwide are not enrolled in
school. Most of these are girls. Millions more children are enrolled in schools
now than at any time in history.
• Around one in six children aged from 5 to 14, 16% of this age group are working
around the world.
• Close to 2 million children have been killed in armed conflicts in the past decade.
• Nearly all countries in the world have signed the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC), and committed themselves to promoting, protecting and fulfilling
the rights of children (Zajda, 2010).
In addition, there is a great deal of empirical evidence on the occurrence of dif-
ferent types of human rights violations in many countries today (Gates, 2013;
Vissing, 2021; Human Rights Watch, 2021; EU Annual Report on Human Rights
and Democracy in the World). EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy
adopted a new action plan (2020–2024) to promote human rights culture and fights
against human rights abuses in some countries today:
One of the highest profile EU actions in 2020 against human rights violations and abuses
was the establishment of a dedicated EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. This is a
real breakthrough. It sends a clear message that human rights violations and abuses will not
be tolerated, no matter where they happen. In 2020, the EU also adopted the new Action
Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2020–2024) which sets out the EU’s ambitions and
priorities and places human rights prominently in its external action.

Conceptualising Human Rights Education

Fundamentally, human rights education movement refers to the transfer and acqui-
sition of knowledge concerning human rights and the necessary skills of how to
apply them. Human rights education is also about adoption of universal values and
behaviours that are respectful of others and compliant with such universal stan-
dards. This is especially important in a globalised world, where many different cul-
tures and religions meet and need to interact peacefully (Vissing, 2020; Zajda,
2021). The UDHR in particular, and other relevant treaties, provide us with univer-
sally agreed basic standards of decent behaviour; standards that are cross-cultural
and trans-national. Thus, human rights education provides us with an all-important
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Major Trends 207

link between universal and therefore global human rights standards and local values
and practices.
As such, human rights education encourages intercultural dialogue, reduces con-
flict and builds mutual respect around universal values. It delivers an important
peace building capacity, as it develops the relevant knowledge, skills, understanding
and attitudes: all necessary for a peaceful and harmonious co-existence. It also
empowers individuals to participate in a broader community and in authentic demo-
cratic processes which promote inclusive citizenship, equality and advancement of
the rule of law (Ozdowski, 2021).
Some recent research suggests that human rights education does not address our
growing diversity and interdependence, which is needed to help students address
global complexities affecting their lives (Spreen & Monaghan, 2015). We need to
explore research dealing with the recent shift from HRE to Global Citizenship
Education (GCE) (Dill, 2013; Spreen & Monaghan, 2015).
There are many models of human rights education. Tibbitts (2012) for example,
identifies three predominant models that are ‘linked implicitly with particular target
groups and a strategy for social change and human development’ (p. 163). These
include the Values and Awareness Model, which focuses on HRE in school curricula
and public awareness campaigns as a primary vehicle of transmitting basic knowl-
edge of human rights issues and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR); the Accountability Model which targets professionals directly involved in
public or civil service (e.g. lawyers, policemen) and focuses on knowledge related
to specific rights instruments and mechanisms of protection; and the Transformational
Model which seeks to empower vulnerable populations to recognize human rights
abuses and to commit to their prevention (Tibbitts, 2008).

Current Research on Human Rights Education

Contemporary research questions in human rights education can be summarized as

follows:
1. How can researchers and educators better understand and analyse human rights
education within specific cultural contexts
2. How are human rights conceptualised in different nations globally?
3. Will a better knowledge and critical understanding of human rights produce bet-
ter pedagogical outcomes in schools?
4. Are there ideological differences in implementing human rights education in
developed and developing countries?
5. What is the development and impact of human rights education on nations, char-
acterised by neo-colonialism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, oppression, violence,
wars and conflicts?
208 J. Zajda

6. How can we use comparative education research in promoting a more balanced

and effective human rights education globally? (Adapted from Contemporary
issues in human rights education, 2011)
In general, human rights education research globally, can be divided into four
broad categories: humanism, progressivism, reconstructionism and critical dis-
course analysis. The first three correspond to curriculum theorising and curriculum
design models over the last five decades. Humanistic perspective in education and
human rights education focuses on knowledge, the enhancement of human develop-
ment, autonomy, and values. According to Aloni (2014), humanistic education is
grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of the Child:
Humanistic education, designates a variety of educational theories and practices that are
committed to the world-view and ethical code of Humanism; that is, positing the enhance-
ment of human development, well-being, and dignity as the ultimate end of all human
thought and action – beyond religious, ideological, or national ideals and values. Based on
a long philosophical and moral tradition and manifested in the UN’s Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the Rights of the Child (Aloni, 2014).

A relevant humanist perspective is developed by Veugelers (2011), who focused

on values and norms, as well as citizenship education. He showed how discourses
on values have changed in the last decades and what the possibilities are for a
humanist perspective on both autonomy and social involvement. He argued for a
‘critical democratic citizenship with a strong focus on meaning-making, diversity,
bridging, and embedding morality development in political processes of social
justice’(p. 4). In her human rights research, Kiwan (2015), like Veugelers (2011),
and other human rights researchers, also focuses on what it means to be a human
being within the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and citizen-
ship education. It can be argued that if the source of human rights is the individual’s
moral nature, then individuals are guided by their moral compass. In short, human
rights are value-based, hence normative. Consequently, Kiwan (2015) argues that
contemporary human rights discourses are ‘increasingly coupled’ to citizenship
education (Zajda & Ozdowski, 2017).
Progressivist perspective in education was developed to stress the individual and
experiential learning, best captured by John Dewey and his child-centred pedagogy.
Dewey focused on the child’s personal experience in learning in his book Democracy
and Education (1916), which became a guide for progressivist and experiential
pedagogy during the twentieth century. This was a new thinking in education, in
contrast to the traditional education of the nineteenth century, which was based on
preparation for the university. Learning by doing, or experiential learning, is the key
principle of progressivist pedagogy. Experiential learning, as opposed to traditional
and rote learning, denotes knowledge acquired from experience, rather than formal
schooling (Dewey, 1938). Experiential learning theory (ELT) defines learning as
‘the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experi-
ence. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experi-
ence’ (Kolb, 1984). ELT offers a pragmatic and holistic perspective of the learning
process. Experiential learning can be traced to the experimental pedagogy of John
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Major Trends 209

Dewey, Jean Piaget, Carl Rogers, Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire and others. Experiential
learning is relevant to other major educational theories, ‘including critical peda-
gogy, progressive pedagogy, empowerment-based pedagogy, and transformational
pedagogy’ (Zajda, 2008).
Reconstructionist perspective in education and human rights education focuses
on improving people’s lives in their cultural settings. Since culture is ubiquitous in
our society, with its core elements of ideology, organizations, language, values and
technology, it is most relevant to human rights education. By examining the existing
economic and social conditions, defining inequality, individuals become more
aware of factors responsible for it, and engage in social actions to change the condi-
tions perpetuating economic and social inequality. The Transformational Model of
human rights education of Tibbitts (2008) is a vivid example of this (see Zajda &
Ozdowski, 2017).
Critical discourse analysis examines and analysing power relationships in soci-
ety, as expressed through language and social practices. Foucault (1977) used the
role of discourses in wider social processes of legitimating and power, and empha-
sizing the construction of current truths. Foucault attempted to trace the beginnings
of internalised moral behaviour, or a reflexive relation to the self in human beings.
Examples are presented of various approaches to discourse analysis, including
deconstruction and preferred reading and interpretation of the text. Discourse,
derived from critical theory, is fundamentally a form of critical and deconstructive
reading and interpretation of a text. Rea Zajda (1988) used discourse analysis in her
work to examine the construction of the self, gender and identity. She argued that
‘Discourse is concerned with the social production of meaning’. These meanings,
she argued, can be ‘embodied in technical processes, in institutions, in patterns for
general behaviour, in forms for transmission and diffusion and in pedagogical
forms’ (Zajda, 1988, p. 11).
With reference to discourse analysis, Zajda (1988) argued that discourse ‘can
also refer to not only statements, but social or institutional practices through which
the social production of meaning takes place or is embodied’ (Zajda, 1988, p. 11).
She was one of the first researchers to examine, construct and use discourses of the
self and sexuality. More importantly, Zajda (1988) challenged the neutrality of
knowledge and ideology in language and text. Zajda (1988) argued that the critical
aspect of discourses challenges both ‘the accepted hierarchical structuring of
authority concerning knowledge and the neutrality of knowledge and ideology. It
asks questions about the historical and cultural conditions in which discourses
emerged’ (Zajda, 1988, p. 12).
Critical discourse analysis perspective is particularly relevant for examining spe-
cific patterns of power relationships in human rights policy documents, as expressed
through language and social practices. It lends itself to the used in deconstruction of
the text, in order to critique knowledge and the social production of meaning.
Current research on human rights education, as discussed here, includes dis-
courses of human rights, historical, contemporary, and future issues in human rights
education, human rights for a global citizenship, extremism vs. human rights, a
victim-group’s approach to human rights education in Colombia, unintentional
210 J. Zajda

messaging about children’s rights in children’s books, an interdisciplinary, and

international global policy outlook of the optional protocol on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography, the importance of rights-based interven-
tion in clinical sociology, and emerging trends in discourses of globalisation, ideol-
ogy, and human rights.
Zajda and Vissing (2022) argue that effective human rights education has the
potential to create a more equitable, just, tolerant, peaceful society for all in the
global culture. Carroll (2022) suggests that the human rights record in the Global
South largely reflects an ‘absence of care/concern for human life, though before we
apportion blame and castigate the leaders and peoples of the Global South, we
should perhaps first examine our own roles in the creation and propagation of the
many human rights abuses that have been documented’ (Carroll, 2022). Historical,
contemporary, and future issues in human rights education is provided by Swindell
and Wright (2022). Their analytical framework, drawn from prominent theories of
globalisation and human rights is used to examine critically how education systems
have responded to address social, political and cultural changes. The authors offer
pragmatic directions for human rights and education including global citizenship
education, situated in human rights, and global sustainability.
The legal issues confronting migrant and refugees children in Europe, is
addressed by Rodrigues (2020). He suggests a top priority strategy, a green line
applicable to all Member States in matters relating to children, regardless of whether
they are migrants, refugees, or unaccompanied minors. Vissing (2021), argues that
there are ‘civil, political, economic, cultural, and social rights, and rights unique to
certain geographic, demographic, or indigenous groups’. She stresses the need to
protect the human rights of each group and helping in the prevention of violence and
the protection of citizens (Vissing, 2021).
Holland (2021), on the other hand, in her case study, examines a victim-group’s
approach to human rights education in Colombia, and argues that human rights
education provides a promising blueprint for intervention in peace building con-
texts. The author provides examples of how the women themselves, activists in
human rights had their lives threatened or even taken.
Juchniewicz (2022) analyzes children’s books, in order to provide effective strat-
egies, in order to introduce children to their rights through picture books. She
reviews the ideological shifts in how children’s rights are portrayed in picture books,
as the world has become more globalised. She argues that a ‘book that is provided
to or selected by a child can in this way plant seeds of understanding regarding their
rights and generate a sense of self-esteem’ (Juchniewicz, 2022).
The topic of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography is
examined critically by Tanya Herring (2022). She refers to The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Article 22, is a section of Child
Law, in order to ensure that a child seeking refugee status or considered a refugee
receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance outlined in the
Convention. This research investigates the seldom studied role of General Comments
across human rights instruments and State obligations, concerning children.
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Major Trends 211

Hudson (2022) examines the historical development of mental health as a human

right in the context of globalization. The author argues that there exists a growing
research in mental health field, establishing mental health care as a human right. A
key element of this policy has been the ‘effort to establish an international consen-
sus on the rights of mental patients, including the rights to health and mental health
care, and mental health itself’ (Hudson, 2022).
Fritz (2022) employs clinical sociology with reference to human rights-based
intervention, in order to offer the idea of rights-based intervention, discusses why
rights are included in the definition of the field of clinical sociology. Clinical sociol-
ogy is defined as a creative, humanistic, rights-based and interdisciplinary special-
ization that seeks to improve life situations for individuals and groups in a wide
variety of settings (Fritz, 2022).
Finally, Zajda (2021) argues that the right to freedom, the right to a fair trial, the
right to freedom of religion and the right to engage in political activity are signifi-
cant principles of a pluralist democracy. The chapter concludes that in order to
advance the discourse of human rights for all, and participatory democracy, we need
current evidence of significantly more human rights education at every level: begin-
ning with teaching human rights to children.

 uman Rights Education, Implementation and Emerging

H
Policy Issues

Recent research suggests that human rights education is recognised as an essential

tool for building stability in post-conflict societies (Baxi, 2007; Holland, 2010;
Smith, 2010; Unicef, 2011; Donnelly, 2013; EU, 2020; Vissing, 2020; Human
Rights Watch, 2021). In some circumstances, it can also deal effectively with rac-
ism, bigotry and xenophobia (Ozdowski, 2009). However, at the same time, many
human rights education questions remain unanswered. Human rights education is
not only about principles and goals. It is also a dialogue about tools and methodolo-
gies that can be used to deliver the quality and value-added education, which reflects
the values of social justice and human rights. Human rights education deals with
questions of strategies and priorities. For example, should we concentrate on human
rights education for legal professionals, in developing countries, or perhaps, should
we give a priority to community learning, or focus on primary school children.
Human rights education is also about relevant pedagogy and curriculum develop-
ment that are appropriate and effective in promoting the concepts and values of
human rights.
Some researchers have argued that human rights and social justice are difficult to
achieve in a society where social inequality debate is powerless, dormant, or inef-
fective. The difficulty of attaining authentic social justice globally was explained by
Rikowski (2000), who argued that sustainable social justice is impossible on the
basis of social stratification globally.The challenge we face today is one of
212 J. Zajda

addressing equity and fairness in the global community, and challenging dominant
ideologies, authoritarian power structures, and oppressive totalitarian regimes. The
full promotion of economic, social and cultural rights will demand a deep political,
social and cultural transformation and change in many nations globally (see Zajda
& Ozdowski, 2017).
The future of human rights education will depend on our ability, skills and power
to make human rights education relevant beyond the spheres of law, political institu-
tions, or international relations. Human rights education must be explored and
understood by all active citizens, irrespective of ideology, race, ethnicity, gender, or
religion. The effects of globalisation compel us to address issues of economic and
social equity, the rule of law and meaningful participation in real and authentic
decision-making. In the re-envisioning of the human rights education, as a social
action platform for social justice, peace and tolerance, we need to re-examine:
• current evidence concerning the nexus between social justice, cultural transfer-
ability and human rights
• competing and contested democracy models
• language issues in cross-cultural research, intercultural dialogue and education
• issues of race and ethnicity in the discourses surrounding regional and global
cultures
• the unresolved tensions between religion, politics, and values education
• gender research in the global culture
• citizenship education and life-long learning
• globalisation, economic and social change and the implications for equity, access
and democracy.
As above demonstrates, in order to address human rights for all, and participa-
tory democracy, we need to develop and consolidate a strong emphasis on human
rights, inclusivity and the values of social and economic justice. In the classroom we
need to ensure that children have a meaningful and well-grounded approach to their
own rights and responsibilities, as they mature into adulthood. Both families and
schools are powerful shapers and agencies of socialisation and the best places to
begin nurturing and teaching an understanding of cultural diversity, human rights
and democracy (Vissing, 2020).

Conclusion

Effective human rights education has the potential to create a more equitable, just,
tolerant, peaceful society for everyone for all in the global culture. But it will remain
a mere hollow policy rhetoric, or ‘magic words’, unless we debate more vigorously
social, cultural and economic inequality in the global culture, within the legal
framework of human rights education, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
and the Millennium Development Goals Report. We need to critique the existing
status quo of stratified societies and nations, neoliberal politico-economic
11 Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human Rights: Major Trends 213

imperatives, authoritarian and dictatorial power structures, dominant ideologies,

and forces of globalisation, which have affected all levels of society, reinforcing
cultural, political and economic social stratification. This has serious implications
for realizing a genuine and empowering human rights education and social justice
in the future. Human rights education will need to become an integral part of critical
and progressive pedagogies for social justice and pluralist democracy.

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Index

A Borum, R., 84, 97

Accountability, 33 Bronshtein, Y., 39
Allport, G., 100 Brownlee, L.R., 15
Aloni, N., 208 Brysk, A., 33
Amin-Khan, T., 17 Burbules, N.C., 17
Ampuja, M., 1, 2 Burde, D., 41
Ang, D., 98 Byman, D., 85, 86
ANUPAR, 114
Appadurai, A., 1, 17
Arenas, A., 6 C
Arizpe, E., 137 Caldecott, 138
Aryaeinejad, K., 98 Cambridge International Examinations
Asylum-seeking children, 152, 163, 165 (CIE), 39
Authoritarian ideologies, 104 Campbell, J., 138
Autocratization, 89 Carroll, G., 17, 134, 210
Awada, G., 41 Carroll, L., 133
Azzopardi, P.S., 43 Cassola, A., 180
Castells, M., 2
Cervini, M., 177
B Chermak, S.M., 85
Bach, M., 178 Child malnutrition, 42
Baldwin, R., 171, 172 Child protection, 152
Bandura, A., 95 Child refugees, 152
Baum, L., 135 Children’s books, 133, 143, 210
Baxi, U., 119, 120, 127 Children’s literature, 132, 135, 137, 138, 142,
Becker, M., 97, 100 143, 145, 146
Bekele, G., 41 Children’s rights, 132, 138, 139, 146
Bellino, M.J., 125 Choe, S., 92
Bellitto, M., 170 Climate change, 44
Berger, J., 86, 97 Clinical sociology, 192, 211
Bettelheim, B., 142 Coccia, M., 170
Bishop, R.S., 147 Colombia, 113, 128
Blackbourn, J., 100 Colombian Victims Law, 126
Blaise, M., 44 Comenius, J.A., 203
Boboltz, S., 84 Conflict theorists, 97

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 217

J. Zajda, Y. Vissing (eds.), Discourses of Globalisation, Ideology, and Human
Rights, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 28,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90590-3
218 Index

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, El Hassani, A., 88

Inhuman or Degrading Treatment English Bill of Rights, 178
or Punishment (CAT), 84 Engzell, P., 42
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Equity, 48
Discrimination Against Women Ethnic diversity, 92
(CEDAW), 4, 84, 195 Extremism, 84, 86, 87, 102
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Extremist attitudes, 105
4, 61–63, 75, 84, 150, 165 Extremist ideology, 84
Corona virus pandemic, 20
Costello, M., 100
Council of Europe Strategy on the Rights of F
the Child, 67–70 Fairbrother, R., 31
COVID-19 pandemic, 24, 31, 38 Faour, K., 41
Coysh, J., 118 Faulkner, E.A., 35
Critical discourse analysis, 209 Felbab-Brown, V., 85
Cultural globalisation, 3 Ferrandin, M., 67
Culturally biased children’s books, 147 Financial globalisation, 3
Cultural rights, 88 Forsyth, T., 193
Curriculum, International Baccalaureate, 39 Foucault, M., 115, 209
Frankel, J., 23
Frasquilho, D., 91
D Freeden, M., 88
Darden, J., 105 Freire, P., 3
David, L., 5 French Declaration on the Rights of Man and
Davis, G.A., 23 Citizen, 178
Decade of Human Rights Education, 205 Frikha, M., 23
Decentralisation, 6 Fritz, J.M., 192, 193, 196, 211
Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 135 Fukuyama, F., 170
Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 58
De Haas, H., 37
Democracy, 89 G
Deviant, 94 Gabel, S.G., 191, 194
de Waardt, 113 Gable, L., 180, 181
Dewey, J., 135, 208 Gender stereotypes, 141
Diab, H., 41 Giannini, T., 20
Dickins, 134 Giddens, A., 1
Digital environment, 44 Gilborn, 92
Discrimination, 41, 73, 104, 117, 166, Gillan, S., 92
184, 204 Glaser, D., 94
Displaced people, 41 Global economy, 90
Docherty, B., 20 Global mental health, 185
Doyle, J., 92 Gostin, L., 180, 181
Drexler, E.F., 15 Gray, C., 44
Druckman, J.N., 99 Guven, O., 41
Duan, H., 1 Guzman, A.T., 163
Dvir, Y., 39

H
E Hallgrimsdottir, H., 100
Economic inequality, 177 Hawdon, J., 100
Economic social stratification, 213 Held, D., 29
Educational attainment, 41 Herring, T., 210
Educational opportunities, 121 Heymann, J., 180
Education for All (EFA), 34 Heywood, A., 5
Index 219

Higinbotham, S., 132 Keith, K., 15

Hirsh, J.B., 126 Kennedy, R., 100
Hodge, E., 100 Kilkelly, U., 33
Holland, T., 210 Knowledge economy, 2
Holt, T.J., 100 Kolb, D., 208
Homelessness, 176 Kristof, N., 92
Horta, J.R., 17 Kruglanski, A., 105
Hudson, C.G., 169, 172, 176, 211
Humanist perspective, 208
Human rights, 4, 22, 115, 116, 120, 122, 124, L
126, 128, 137, 154, 163, 178, 204, 212 LaFree, G., 105
Human rights abuses, 118 La Mattina, G., 41
Human rights-based intervention, 211 Lansdown, G., 45
Human rights education, 6, 7, 113, 115, 124, Latin America, 113
204, 205, 209, 211, 212 Ledger, S., 39
Human rights education movement, 206 Levitt, T., 18, 29
Human rights educators, 116 Liberia, 12, 13, 15, 18, 24
Human-rights laws, 124 Lim, L., 39
Human rights of children, 153 Lipscy, P., 98
Human rights standards, 189, 200 Li, X., 176
Human rights treaty obligations, 158 Loescher, G., 149
Human-rights violations, 123 Lowe, D., 100
Human rights Watch, 89

M
I Magna Carta, 178
Ideology, 3, 88 Majhanovich, S., 29, 105, 172
Inclusive education, 34 Mannheim, K., 3
Inequality, 106, 205 Marketisation, 6
Intergenerational dialogue, 127 Martel, M., 38
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), 41 Martin, M., 17
International Convention on Elimination of All McCorquodale, R., 31
Forms of Racial Discrimination McGann, B., 98
(ICERD), 84 McLuhan, M., 29, 172
International Covenant on Civil and Political Mediation, 197
Rights (ICCPR), 4–6, 59, 84, 179 Mediation process, 197
International Covenant on Economic, Social Mental health, 169, 183, 211
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Mental health movement, 175
6, 84, 179 Mental health rights, 169, 172, 182
International migration, 36 Meta-ideology, 2
Migrant children, 54, 76
Milanović, B., 174, 177, 205
J Millennium Development Goals
Jannisa, G., 14, 17 (MDGs), 23, 34
Jasko, K., 105 Millennium Development Goals Report, 6, 7
Johnson, C., 193 Miller, H., 191
Jones, S., 84 Milne, A.A., 135
Juchniewicz, M.M., 210 Mishra, L., 180
Misiak, B., 100
Modernity, 2
K Monaghan, C., 207
Kapit, A., 41 Monteiro, L.C.G., 54
Kaufman, J., 154 Moral citizenship, 46
Keet, A., 114, 115, 122, 123, 127 Multi-cultural children, 147
220 Index

Murad, A., 84 Refugee children, 71, 210

Murad, R., 84 Retribution theorists, 102
Mutua, M., 5 Reyes, I., 6
Mutz, D., 92 Richards, S., 41
Rights-based approaches, 191, 196, 200
Rights-based intervention, 189, 192, 193, 200
N Rights to public health, 180
Natur, N., 39 Rikowski, G., 6
Neier, A., 5 Robertson, R., 1
Neoliberal capitalism, 1 Robinson, K., 33
Neoliberal policies, 38 Rodrigues, J., 210
Nyamutata, C., 35 Rousseau, J.J., 133

O S
O’Brien, C., 158 Sacchi, C., 44
Oette, L., 158 Sanne Weber, 113
O’Flaherty, M., 158 Schaeffer, K., 92
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Selwyn, N., 44
Development’s (OECD), 2, 38 Shackleton, N., 43
Orgera, K., 181 Shanin, T., 170
Ottoni, R., 100 Shelton, D., 88
Ozdowski, S., 204, 205, 209, 211, 212 Silova, I., 44
Skarpeteig, M.I., 41
Sklair, L., 105
P Social indices of globalization, 177
Pact of San José de Costa Rica, 60 Social justice, 6, 122, 143, 183, 211, 213
Patterson, T.D., 84 Social media, 104
Paulston, R., 1 Social stratification, 92, 205, 211
Picture books, 136, 139, 141, 142, 144–146 South Africa, 128
Pobjoy, J., 152 Spirit of Capitalism and the Protestant
Political globalisation, 3, 31 Ethic, 91
The politics of human rights, 6 Spreen, C.A., 207
Poverty, 173 Starkey, H., 87
Prejudices, 100, 104 Stasavage, D., 98
Privatisation, 6 Steger, M., 88
Programme for International Student Stereotypes, 104
Assessment (PISA), 2, 38 Stigma, 184
Progressivist perspective, 208 Stromquist, N.P., 29
Putnam, R.D., 177 Sustainability, 48
Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), 40
Swidler, A., 154
Q Swindell, A., 210
Quality education, 34, 40 Szmukler, G., 178, 182

R T
Racism, 73 Teaching reading, 141
Randell, H., 44 Teitel, R., 5
Raub, A., 180 Tiba, S., 23
Reconstructionist perspective in Tibbitts, F., 207
education, 209 Tilton, J.E., 23
Redhead, R., 191 Timor, 14
Index 221

Timor-Leste, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24 Vissing, Y, 4, 6, 83, 87, 97, 102, 104, 113, 172,
Todres, J., 132 204–206, 210–212
Tolbert, J., 181
Torres, C.A., 47
W
Wahl, R.L., 41
U Wallerstein, I., 1
U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Wellbeing, 48, 88, 183
Child, 131 Wilder, 138
UNESCO, 2 Winter, 100
UNESCO’s Futures of Education World Declaration on the Survival,
project, 35 Protection and Development of
United Nations Children’s Fund, 57 Children, 63–65
United Nations. Human Rights and World Education
Refugees, 72 Indicators (WEI), 2
United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for World Health Organization (WHO), 174
the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Wright, J., 210
their Liberty, 65–66 Wyman, L., 6
United Nations Universal Declaration on
Human Rights, 12
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Y
(UDHR), 4, 7, 58, 84, 197, 203 Yemini, M., 39
U.S. Bill of Rights, 178 Youmatter, 3
U.S. Declaration of Independence, 178 Youngblood, M., 85
Uys, T., 192

Z
V Zajda, J., 1, 3, 6, 29, 83, 104, 105, 113, 172,
Veugelers, W., 208 205, 206, 209–212
Vienna Convention on the Law of Zajda, R., 209
Treaties, 156 Zembylas, M., 122