Presentation Title: The globalization of power leaving the common good behind.
I sit on a man’s back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back. (Leo Tolstoy, 1882, What Then Must We Do?)
We live in a world where the discourse on universal human rights - rights bestowed on all of us equally by virtue of the fact that we are humans - is now predominant. Yet it is also a world which is ill-divided in the realisation of such rights; a world where a lack of basic socio-economic rights condemns millions to hunger, thirst, ill-health and limited access to shelter, healthcare and education - in a world of plenty (UNICEF, 2018). It is a world where a lack of civil and political rights deny many the right to self-determination or control over their government, or to freedom of speech or cultural expression, or to freedom from arbitrary arrest, torture and even death (Amnesty, 2019). It is clear that the realisability of human rights is directly related to access to power and resources, and inextricably linked to relationships between human beings - all subject to the outcome of human agency and constant struggles on a daily basis by communities around the world.