The Human Rights and Social Justice program has really transformed my understanding of Human Rights in a worldly scale and acknowledging the delicate nature of them also keeping in mind that in real time we are constantly at war with various antagonistic elements that serve to ride over a lot of human rights just to get their way. As an individual who wants to be able to stand and advocate for people’s human rights, this means it must be a moral obligation for me which means also facing systematic inequalities head on. We must challenge each and every one who wants to fight and stand for human rights to focus and think beyond legal definitions and put more emphasis on the importance of aspects such as cultural context and lived experiences.
Through my coursework it has shown that human rights are deeply interconnected with broader systems of inequality and power for example, the Emergence of Global capitalism class highlighted how economic systems usually prioritize profit over human dignity, which is a major catalyst for the systemic violations of labor rights, environmental justice, food justice and social equity. This is reality as it is playing out nowadays as we have a whole lot of corporations valuing business more over human dignity. It’s really damning that in this 21st century we still have cases of child labor and exploitation, with many big conglomerates’ companies taking “the end justifies the means” route, even if it means morally bad ones in the process.
Reflecting on how the world we live in is in trouble of toppling over if many things aren’t changed really scares me sometimes especially considering what future generations will have to face if it’s not rectified now. In Who Really feeds the World? (2016) by Vandana Shiva she highlights another angle of human rights violations that are taking place which I believe we also must look at moving forward. Shee states that the global capitalist food system undermines the right to food by prioritizing profits over people. She raises up a very good point on food sovereignty in that people are less and less now able to control their own systems because of corporate driven agricultural entities. In her work she investigates how human rights violations are being pushed by feed manufacturers who are advocating for genetically modified seeds which in turn forces dependency on corporations whilst eroding self-sufficiency and farmers’ freedom. It is really profound how human rights can be violated through different areas of our social life without us even noticing but in the long run it will be very damaging not only to our health but also to our soil and environment.
Even studying topics like genocide, migration and housing insecurities has shown me that human rights are not stagnant, they are continuously evolving with societal needs and demands. Through my practicum at A Way Home Kamloops, I learned how applicable human rights principles are in real life context. Working under such a huge organization in terms of combating youth homelessness indicated how human rights advocacy works on a local and national level and how systemic obstacles limit access to fundamental rights even in developed countries like Canada.
I do believe this program has managed to transform my understanding of human rights away from the conventional set of legal principles into a web of intertwined frameworks that address systemic inequalities.
Shiva, V. (2016). Who really feeds the world? The failures of agribusiness and the promise of agroecology. North Atlantic Books.