In this thought-provoking book, a diverse range of educators, activists, academics, and community advocates provide theoretical and practical ways of activating our knowledge and understanding of how to build a human rights culture. Addressing approaches and applications to human rights within current socio-cultural, political, socio-legal, environmental, educational, and global contexts, these chapters explore tensions, contradictions, and complexities within human rights education. The book establishes cultural and educational practices as intrinsically linked to human rights consciousness and social justice, showing how signature pedagogies used by human rights practitioners can be intellectual, creative, or a combination of both. Across three sections, the book discusses ways of bringing about holistic, relevant, and compelling approaches for challenging and understanding structures of power, which have become a global system, while also suggesting a move from abstract human rights principles, declarations, and instruments to meaningful changes that do not dehumanise and distance us from intrinsic and extrinsic oppressions, denial of identity and community, and other forms of human rights abuse. Offering new critical cultural studies approaches on how a human rights consciousness arises and is practised, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of cultural studies, education studies, critical sociology, human rights education, and human rights studies.

In this thought-provoking book, a diverse range of educators, activists, academics, and community advocates provide theoretical and practical ways of activating our knowledge and understanding of how to build a human rights culture. Addressing approaches and applications to human rights within current socio-cultural, political, socio-legal, environmental, educational, and global contexts, these chapters explore tensions, contradictions, and complexities within human rights education. The book establishes cultural and educational practices as intrinsically linked to human rights consciousness and social justice, showing how signature pedagogies used by human rights practitioners can be intellectual, creative, or a combination of both. Across three sections, the book discusses ways of bringing about holistic, relevant, and compelling approaches for challenging and understanding structures of power, which have become a global system, while also suggesting a move from abstract human rights principles, declarations, and instruments to meaningful changes that do not dehumanise and distance us from intrinsic and extrinsic oppressions, denial of identity and community, and other forms of human rights abuse. Offering new critical cultural studies approaches on how a human rights consciousness arises and is practised, this book will be of great interest to scholars and students of cultural studies, education studies, critical sociology, human rights education, and human rights studies.

Given Australia's status as an (unfinished) colonial project of the British Empire, the basic institutions that were installed in its so-called 'empty' landscape derive from a value-laden framework borne out of industrialization, colonialism, the consolidation of the national statist system and democracy - all entities imbued with British Enlightenment principles and thinking. Modernity in Australia has thus been constituted by the importation, assumption and triumph of the Western mind - materially, psychologically, culturally, socio-legally and cartographically. 'Inside Australian Culture: Legacies of Enlightenment Values' offers a critical intervention into the continuing effects of colonization in Australia and the structures it brought, which still inform and dominate its public culture. Through a careful analysis of three disparate but significant moments in Australian history, the authors investigate the way the British Enlightenment continues to dominate contemporary Australian thinking and values. Employing the lens of Indian cultural theorist Ashis Nandy, the authors argue for an Australian public culture that is profoundly conscious of its assumptions, history and limitations.

Human rights and peace issues and concerns have come about at a critical time. The world has recently witnessed a plethora of turning points that speak of the hopes and vulnerabilities which are inherent in being human and demonstrate that change in the service of human rights and peace is possible. At the same time, however, other events indicate that wherever there is life, there is vulnerability in a world characterized by instability and endemic human suffering. On top of all this, the collapse of the global financial system and the serious, rapid destruction of the environment have brought the world to a precarious state of vulnerability. Activating human rights and peace is, therefore, a project that is always in progress, and is never finally achieved. This enlightening collection of well thought through cases is aimed at academics and students of human rights, political science, law and justice, peace and conflict studies and sociology.

This book is based on papers originally presented at the international conference 'Activating Human Rights and Diversity' held in Australia in 2003. It advances a powerful and convincing affirmation of the importance of human rights in the twenty-first century and explores the vital connections between the theory and practice of human rights. It asks what kind of vision for humanity is necessary, given the harsh realities and challenges of the twenty-first century. Through a range of perspectives - reconciliation, refugees, women, indigenous issues, same-sex sexualities, conflict resolution, environmental degradation, political freedoms and disability - this collection highlights the fact that the survival of humanity depends on our ability to connect a vision with the reality of activating human rights.

Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt/M., New York, Wien. This book examines homosexual rights as human rights in the light of recent insights of cultural theory into identity, cultural values, rights discourse and homosexuality. The focus of the study is on the activist who is regarded as both the representative of perspectives, actions and attitudes as well as the embodiment of tensions and broader struggles that reflect and rupture dominant discourses of power. The book interrogates the homosexual activist and the theory and practice of human rights in three distinct nations: Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. It discusses and analyses the ways in which activists in these three polities devise strategies of survival and negotiate the limits of justice. The interface between Australia and Southeast Asia is a poignant context, which highlights different and overlapping (Western and Asian) perspectives on notions of rights, law, identity, activism, culture and sexuality. Contents: Apartheid of Homosexuality - Homosexual Rights as Human Rights - Theorising the Homosexual Activist - Homosexuality and Human Rights in Indonesia, Singapore and Australia - Queer(y)ing Human Rights in the Twenty First Century.