Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has endorsed a new book on human rights activism edited by Carole Nagengast, University of New Mexico chair and professor of anthropology. “Human Rights, Power and Difference: The Scholar as an Activist,” is a book that links human rights activism with academic cultural analysis.
Carter is a world leader in advocating for human rights. In a statement of support, he said, “At the Carter Center, we have been committed to blending scholarship and action for more than 20 years. Texts like ‘Human Rights, Power and Difference' offer indispensable analysis that will guide human rights scholars and activists for years to come.”
Nagengast is a former chair of the board of directors of Amnesty International, USA. She came up with the idea of the book to inspire other academic researchers to investigate and teach about human rights. At UNM, Nagengast teaches a popular anthropology course on human rights. She is a long-time activist who combines her academic and human rights pursuits.
“Moral indignation, important as it is, is not enough,” said Nagengast. “We believe that along with it and the legal, social and political points of view that accompany human rights discourse, we also need to apply meticulous methodologies and a cultural analysis. Our goal is to give a human face to the issues of human rights by providing case studies from around the world.”
Composed of original writings by anthropologists and human rights researchers, the book emphasizes diverse approaches to social sciences to better understand human rights issues. Nagengast wrote an article dealing with cultural relativity and women's rights and wrote the book's introduction and conclusion.
Co-editor of the book is Carlos G. Vélez-Ibánez, director of anthropology at the University of California Riverside. The book is published by the Society for Applied Anthropology as part of its Monograph Series.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
Posted by scarr at May 10, 2004 08:51 AM