


Protest: the act of challenging, resisting, or making
demands upon authorities, powerholders, and/or
cultural beliefs and practices by some individual or
group
Social movement: a collective, organized, sustained
and noninstitutional challenge to authorities,
powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices.
Revolutionary movement: a social movement that
seeks, at a minimum, to overthrow the government or
state

The act of challenging,
resisting, or making
demands upon
authorities,
power-holders,
 and/or cultural
beliefs and
practices


by some individual or
group
A challenge to
 authorities, power-holders
 cultural beliefs and practices
 actions to promote or resist
social change
that is…
 collective (multiple people)
 organized (coordinated, at
least to some degree)
 sustained (lasts a while, not
just one outburst) and
 non-institutional
(problematic – outside the
“normal” structures or
routines of society. Hard to
define…)


Revolutionary
movement: A specific
type of social
movement dedicated
to carrying out a
specific revolution.
Revolution: A social
movement advancing
exclusive claims to
control of the state, or
some segment of it.



Collective action (esp. protests): people act together in
some concerted fashion.
Collective campaign: series of collective actions
oriented toward the same general social change goal
bounded by space, time, and/or participants
Social movement (alternative def): a complex set of
collective campaigns and other collective events
broadly oriented to the same general goal
 Emphasis on complexity, diffuse boundaries
 Competing definitions, orientations within the
movement




Can be extremely vague and ill-defined, especially for
relatively unorganized turmoil expressing discontent
without clear proposals: For example, vague goals such
as “to make things better for farmers [or peasants, or
poor urbanites]."
Organizations are more likely to articulate clear goals
or proposals.
Different factions of the same movement may disagree
about specific goals…i.e. different branches of
women’s movement, Black movement, workers’
movements, gay movement.
A complex movement generally encompasses may
specific and even competing goals within a broader
more diffuse social change orientation




Coherent decision-making groups set goals,
plan strategies, accumulate resources
Often seek directly to influence those who have
power
Often plan events designed to draw in other
people OR to influence other people’s opinions
May take many forms: moderate law-abiding,
small informal or small clandestine, large
bureaucratic, radical or disruptive, religious or
secular


Demonstrations, mass
protests: Typically
planned by an
organization or coalition
of organizations, but may
draw in many other
people.
May also occur more
spontaneously after a
major precipitating event,
or at a gathering formed
for another purpose.

Riots, short-term
insurrections:
Typically not
planned (although
some may be
incited). Generally
build upon prior
sentiments,
organized on the
spot.






Individual thoughts, ideas
Isolated contributions,
usually financial
Votes, public opinion,
“green” consumerism
Some individuals take
extensive actions to promote
their movements: one-person
campaigns
Individual acts of
interpersonal resistance and
solidarity.
Challenge hierarchies and
form solidarities in
interpersonal relations.






What Drives Social
Movements?
Universal issues: “everyone”
benefits (in principle): peace,
environment
Responses to economic
crises, threats to subsistence,
livelihood
Inequality issues
Specific issue, moral reform
movements
 On behalf of yourself
 On behalf of others,
victims
Think in terms of the social
structure of the issue






Examples: peace, war, the environment
Despite universal claims, always contentious
Peace: avoid war vs. use force to get rid of a perceived
problem
War: potential for total destruction
Environment: all are harmed if the planet is destroyed,
but the harms and the costs of protection are
distributed unevenly
The groups supporting these issues tend to be tied to
lifestyle, political, or religious subcultures, but not to
deep social divisions



Oppressed people who form separate economically & politically
weak communities (many ethnic/racial minorities). Few ties to
dominant groups.
Class movements
 Reactive responses to subsistence threats
 Longer-term institutionalized movements seeking state power
 These may be tied to deep social divisions
People who experience discrimination (e.g. women, gays,
disabled, religious minorities)
 Typically integrated with other groups
 Vary in class position and level of economic deprivation
 Group members may disagree about whether oppressed






Reform campaigns carried by formal organizations that
raise money, lobby legislators, organize volunteers.
Interest groups, charitable groups.
Larger pools of public opinion.
Larger movements (e.g. women, Blacks, labor) with
many organizations, strong base, have won presence in
the polity
Nationalist movements: broad upswelling of oppressed
populations, revolutionary often unless it is repressed
Sporadic or unorganized uprisings or resistance by
oppressed people
HUMAN RIGHTS: are the rights that all
people have by virtue of being human
beings.
HUMAN RIGHTS: are often defined
internationally, nationally and locally by
various law making bodies.
Modern Protection of
Human Rights

United Nations

Regional
Organizations

Local NonGovernmental
Organizations

Antiquity



Code of Hammurabi
Rights of Athenian
citizens
Medieval


Magna Carta (1215)
Sir Thomas Aquinas’
theory of natural
rights (13th Century)

Enlightenment
English Declaration of
the Rights of Man
(1689)
 U.S. Declaration of
Independence (1776)
 French Declaration of
the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen (1789)
 United States
Constitution and Bill of
Rights (1789)


Early Developments
(cont.)
International
Committee for the Red
Cross (1863)
 Geneva Convention
(1864)
 Hague Conventions
(1899 and 1907)
 League of Nations and
the International Labor
Organization (1919)


Aftermath of World War
II
 Roosevelt’s Four
Freedoms Speech
(January 6, 1941)
 The Atlantic Charter
Between the United
States and Great Britain
(August 14, 1941)
 The Nuremberg and
Tokyo Tribunals
 Creation of the United
Nations (1945)

The Preamble to the United Nations Charter
states that the “Peoples of the United Nations”
are determined “to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person, in the equal rights
of men and women and of nations large and
small.”

In 1948, the UN General
Assembly adopted the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The
Declaration enumerates
civil, political,
economic, social, and
cultural rights, but the
Declaration contains no
provisions for
monitoring or
enforcement.

In 1966, the General
Assembly adopted:
 The Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights
(and its First Optional
Protocol)
 The Covenant on
Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights
which, together with the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, are now
known as the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights.
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
 Prohibits discrimination on the basis of “race,
color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status” without regard to
citizenship
 Prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment (personal
integrity)
 Prohibits slavery
 Limits the use of the death penalty in countries
that allow it to the most serious crimes
committed by persons over 18
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (cont.):
 Prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention
 Protects freedom of movement and residence
 Protects the right to trial, presumption of
innocence, right to a lawyer, right to an appeal,
freedom from self-incrimination, and freedom
from double jeopardy
 Protects freedom of opinion and expression
 Protects freedom of association and assembly
 Public emergency exception (but torture,
executions, and slavery are never
permissible!!!!)
 Ratified by the United States in 1992!!!!
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights:
 Right of people to work and make a “decent
living for themselves and their families”
 Right to safe and healthy working conditions
 Right to form trade unions with the right to
strike
 Right of everyone to Social Security, including
social insurance “widest possible protection
and assistance should be accorded to the
family, which is the natural and fundamental
group unit of society”
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (cont.):
 Right to adequate food, clothing and
housing and to the continuous improvement
of living conditions
 Right to education
 Right to health care
 Economic rights are subject to each
country’s ability to provide such rights
progressively as its resources permit
 Signed but not ratified by the United
States!!!

In addition to the
International Bill of Human
Rights, the United Nations
has drafted and
promulgated over 80
human rights instruments:
 genocide
 racial discrimination
 discrimination against
women
 refugee protection
 torture
 the rights of disabled
persons
 the rights of the child






Security Council
General Assembly
Economic and Social
Council
Commission on Human
Rights
Subcommission on the
Promotion and
Protection of Human
Rights
Commission on the
Status of Women




Commission on Crime
Prevention and
Criminal Justice
International Court of
Justice
International Criminal
Court
Office of the High
Commissioner for
Human Rights (created
by the General
Assembly in 1993)

Treaty Monitoring Bodies
 Human Rights Committee
 Committee on the
Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
 Committee on the
Elimination of
Discrimination Against
Women
 Committee Against Torture
 Committee on the Rights of
the Child
 Committee on Economic
Social and Cultural Rights


Congress and State
Legislatures may
enact legislation that
specifically
incorporates
international law into
domestic law
Judicial interpretation
and application of
existing legislative or
constitutional
provisions





American Refugee
Committee
Center for Victims of
Torture
Institute for
Agricultural and
Trade Policy
School of the
Americas Watch
Tibet Women's
Association


Monitor elections and
political trials
Investigate human rights
and conditions
 Analyze human rights
practices in closed
countries – Albania,
North Korea, Saudi
Arabia
 Identify and analyze
conflicts in Chiapas and
Kosovo
 Child slavery in Haiti;
child health in Mexico,
Uganda and the United
States


Lobby United Nations
Draft model statutes





Inquest procedures
Forensic techniques
Domestic violence
laws
Represent political
asylum seekers
Promote ratification of
human rights treaties





Influence Human Rights
Foreign Policy
Public Education
Work to abolish the death
penalty and represent
inmates on death row
Train activists in Eastern
Europe and Nepal to use
international human rights
law to eliminate domestic
violence
Boycott companies that use
child labor
Where Do Human Rights Begin?
In small places, close to home, so close and so small that they cannot
be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the
individual person, the neighborhood he lives in, the factory, farm, or
office where he worked. Such are the places where every man, woman,
and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without
discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little
meaning anywhere.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Never Doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the
world, indeed that are the only ones that ever have.
Margret Mead
A little about poverty…
Poverty is the lack of basic necessities
that all human beings must have: food
and water, shelter, education, medical
care, security, etc.
A multi-dimensional issue, poverty
exceeds all social, economic, and
political boundaries.
As such, efforts to alleviate poverty
must be informed of a variety of
different factors.

4.4 billion people live in developing countries.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day




More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in
countries where income differentials are widening
The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population
accounts for 5 percent of global income.
The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of
world income

The most recent
estimate, released on
October 14, 2009 by
FAO, says that 1.02
billion people are
undernourished, a
sizable increase from
its 2006 estimate
of 854 million people


The FAO estimate is based on statistical
aggregates…
It looks at a country's income level and income
distribution and uses this information to estimate
how many people receive such a low level of
income that they are malnourished.



The official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5
percent in 2007. This was the first statistically significant annual
increase in the poverty rate since 2004, when poverty increased to
12.7 percent from 12.5 percent in 2003.
In 2008, 39.8 million people were in poverty, up from 37.3 million
in 2007 -- the second consecutive annual increase in the number of
people in poverty.
In 2008, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites (8.6
percent in 2008 -- up from 8.2 percent in 2007), Asians (11.8
percent in 2008 -- up from 10.2 percent in 2007) and Hispanics
(23.2 percent in 2008 -- up from 21.5 percent in 2007). Poverty
rates in 2008 were statistically unchanged for Blacks (24.7
percent).



The poverty rate in 2008 (13.2 percent) was the highest
poverty rate since 1997 but was 9.2 percentage points lower
than in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are
available.
Since 1960, the number of people below poverty has not
exceeded the 2008 figure of 39.8 million people.
The poverty rate increased for children under 18 years old
(19.0 percent in 2008 -- up from 18.0 percent in 2007) and
people 18 to 64 years old (11.7 percent in 2008 -- up from
10.9 percent in 2007), while it remained statistically
unchanged for people 65 years and over (9.7 percent).
•
Three-fifths lack basic sanitation
•
Almost one third have no access to clean water
•
A quarter do not have adequate housing
•
A fifth have no access to modern health
services
•
As of 2008 (2005 statistics), the World Bank has
calculated that there were an estimated 1,345
million poor people in developing countries
who live on $1.25 a day or less



According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die
each day due to poverty
Around 27-28 percent of all children in
developing countries are estimated to be
underweight or stunted.
Based on enrolment data, about 72 million
children of primary school age in the developing
world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of
them were female



A study by the World Institute for
Development Economics Research at United
Nations University reports that the richest 1%
of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in
the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of
adults accounted for 85% of the world total.
In 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world
accounted for 76.6% of total private
consumption.
The poorest fifth just 1.5%


And yet…1.6 billion people — a quarter of
humanity — live without electricity
The top three billionaires have assets greater
than the combined GNP of all under-developed
countries and their 600 million people.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of
him/(her)self and his/(her) family,
including food, clothing, housing
and medical care and necessary
social services... Everyone has
the right to education.
What caused
this?
Trade
Third world countries lose out
through unfair trade agreements,
lack of technology and
investment, and rapidly changing
prices for their goods.
Better communications and
transport have led to a
“globalized” economy.
Companies look for low-cost
countries to invest in. This can
mean that, though there are
jobs, they are low-paid.
When a country is at war
(including civil war) basic
services like education are
disrupted.
People leave their homes as
refugees.
Crops are destroyed.
Third world countries have to pay interest on
their debts.
This means they cannot afford to
spend enough on basic services like health
and education; nor on things like transport or
communications that might attract investment.
 If
you have land you can
grow your own food.
 But many people in the Third
World have had their land
taken over by large
businesses, often to grow
crops for export.



Affordable or free health care is necessary for
development.
In poor countries the percentage of children
who die under the age of five is much higher
than in rich countries.
HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the
Third World.
HIV is now the single greatest threat to
future economic development in Africa.
AIDS kills adults in the prime of their
working and parenting lives, decimates
the work force, fractures and
impoverishes families, orphans
millions...
· Callisto Madavo, vice-president of
the World Bank, Africa region 1999
Affordable, secure food supplies are vital.
Malnutrition causes severe health problems,
and can also affect education.
Without education it is difficult to escape from
poverty.
This becomes a vicious circle – people who
live in poverty cannot afford to send their
children to school.
When we measure poverty we find differences
between the level experienced by men or boys,
and women or girls. Women may be
disadvantaged through lack of access to
education; in some countries they are not
allowed to own or inherit land; they are less
well paid than men.




United Nations Statistics…
A child born in an industrialised country will add more to
pollution over his or her lifetime than 30-50 children born in the
Third World.
However, the third world child is likely to experience the
consequences of pollution in a much more devastating way.
For example, annual carbon dioxide emissions have quadrupled
in the last 50 years. This contributes to global warming, leading to
devastating changes in weather patterns. As a result, Bangladesh
could lose up to 17% of its land area as water levels rise.
Not a lot…
Aid
Access to basic services for everyone would cost
approximately $US40 billion more per year than is
spent now. This is 0.1% of world income. World
military spending is $US780 billion per year. US$50
billion is spent on cigarettes in Europe every year.
Fair trade
Fair trade guarantees higher, more stable prices for
third world producers. Look out for products with a
Fairtrade Mark.
Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning,
you’ve depended on more than half the world.
– Martin Luther King



Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on
dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks
greater equity in international trade.
It contributes to sustainable development by
offering better trading conditions to, and
securing the rights of, marginalized producers
and workers – especially in the South.
Fair Trade Organizations (backed by
consumers) are actively engaged in supporting
producers, in awareness raising and in
campaigning for changes in the rules and
practices of conventional international trade

Providing workers in developing countries
with a fair wage on which they can feed,
educate and medically provide for themselves
and their children.

You can buy many products Fair Trade:
coffee
 clothes
 wine
 bananas
 chocolate





Direct purchasing from producers
Transparent and long term trading
relationships
Agreed minimum prices
Focus on development and technical assistance
via the payment to suppliers of an agreed
social premium



“Fairer Trade” WTO negotiations e.g.
Legislative barriers, Technical barriers,
Liberalization…etc.
“Ethical Trade” Conditions and rights of
Labor, typically associated with manufacturing
in the developing world.
“Fair Trade” Confronting the disempowered
position of the producer that is a consequence
of market imperfections.




Producing organizations (co-operatives of
small farmers)
Buying organizations (different business
models, some for profit, some non-profit)
Outlet organizations (In practice some retailers
import directly from the producers)
Labelling/Umbrella organizations: The
certifiers and the standard setters




Market share is small, but growth in the sector
is strong.
In terms of total global trade, fair trade
products account for only about 0.01%.
Approximately two-thirds of fair trade’s value
is accredited to Europe.
Total gross sales of fair trade products to North
America amounted to about $358.91 million in
2004,a 30% increase compared to 2003.
Coffee accounts for approximately 30% of all Fair
Trade sales in Europe and North America







Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Italy
Holland
1.70%
3.40%
0.40%
0.40%
1.10%
0.30%
2.90%



Within the Fair Trade movement itself it is
acknowledged that the definition of a “fair price” is
problematic.
Fair Trade Base price = Cost of production + cost of
living + cost of complying with Fair Trade standards
Costs of production and costs of living are determined
at the country specific level





Incentives are distorted by setting minimum prices.
“Temporary crutch”–prolongs economic dependence of producers
by reliance on a niche market of socially-conscious consumers.
Some consumer surveys suggest limited willingness to pay a
premium for “causes”.
Gives certain groups advantages over others (is not a universally
accessible scheme).
Specialty producers are most likely to participate but are least
affected by low commodity prices.




A truly significant effect on producers requires much
broader efforts.
Inefficient means of transferring income from consumer
to producer; a direct transfer would economically be
more efficient.
Probably does not reduce price volatility, as producers
are uncertain how much Fair Trade Product can be sold
at the Fair Trade price.
More market-friendly options exist (such as promoting
products in home markets, making market information
more accessible to producers, moving into higher-value
product Markets).


There is no shortage of feel good stories: Farmer X in
country Y is very happy with fair trade for reason Z
What is achievable?
1.To quantitatively isolate the fair trade component
of impact.
2.To control for different products within different
cooperatives and if performance varies between
different traders and different labeling organizations.
3.To investigate the supply chain and try to offer an
understanding of what constitutes ‘unfair’.