Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label equality. Show all posts
Climate Reality Leader
At the end of August, 2018, we spent three days at The Climate Reality Project training in Los Angeles, lead by former Vice-President Al Gore. The information-packed training was well-organized and attended by over 2,200 new trainees from 40 countries. There were several sessions on the climate crisis and solutions, including those adopted by California. Al Gore made a powerful 2 1/2 hour slideshow presentation on the first day of the event, and a 10-minute version of the same slideshow on the last day. Gore's presentations included several extreme climate events that occurred in July and August 2018.
Interestingly, the climate literacy and outreach training was underfunded by Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, who spoke on day three of the conference. Horn noted that one day this summer, as he got into his car in Los Angeles, the temperature gauge in his Tesla electric vehicle read 118 degrees Fahrenheit. And Gore revealed that one of his billionaire friends lost his home in a recent California fire. Climate change is affecting the rich, and some are realizing that their vast wealth may not be able to insulate their grandchildren from its worsening effects.
One of the most notable speakers was leading climate scientist, Prof. V Ramannathan of Scripps Institute, who released a peer-reviewed study three months ago warning that Earth was facing an existential crisis. The leading climatologist noted that when he presented the paper at a recent conference in Europe, he expected some push-back from the conservative scientific community. However, to his surprise, not one person said anything. In private, other scientists admitted to Ramannathan that they had reached the same conclusion as well.
One of the most important takeaways from the event was understanding how the climate crisis and equity issues are inter-related. Environmental racism is structural, systemic and planned since polluting industries are usually located in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Minority communities are on the frontlines of the fossil fuel industry, and are dealing with its effects all day, year round. They need help, but the green movement has largely ignored issues facing minorities in the inner cities. Consequently, environmental injustices have become normalized, and even impacted communities view negative health effects as inevitable. Sadly, African American children suffer asthma at 10 times the rate of European American children, part of the collateral damage of the fossil-fuel economy.
We were especially moved by the story of 17-year old Nalleli Cobo, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, next to an oil well. As a child, Nalleli was sickly and suffered from asthma. When she was nine years old, Nalleli grew tired on being sick and suffering from toxic air pollution caused by the oil well and started to organize others in her community to resist the oil company. They group gained support from local environmental organizations and eventually were able to get the well shut down.
By shutting down one oil well, Nalleli and others in her community effected change that improved their health and lowered greenhouse emissions that impacts all of us. Nalleli proves that when we act locally, we can have global impacts. The zero hour for young people is now. We must act to help Nalleli and all children from being condemned to a living hell in hothouse Earth. We must do all we can to reduce, reuse, and recycle, travel less, eat plant-based foods, and lower our carbon footprints. Even if there is little or no chance for success, we must persevere. Our children deserve no less.
Who Should We Feed - Animals or People?
Who Should We Feed - Animals or People?
by Moses Seenarine, 12/19/17
Worldwide, two billion people live primarily on an animal-based diet, while double that sum, or 4 billion people, live primarily on a plant-based diet. In fact, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated that calories lost from feeding cereals to animals could feed an extra 3.5 billion people.
Another report calculated that 4 billion people could be fed with the crops devoted to livestock. The single biggest intervention to free up calories would be to stop using grains for cow carcass production in the US. By far, the US, China, and Western Europe account for the bulk of the 'diet gap,' and corn is the main crop being diverted to animal feed.
By moderating diets from food animals, choosing less resource-demanding animal products, and maintaining non-feed systems, around 1.3 and 3.6 billion more people could fed. And ending consumer waste of animal calories could feed an additional 235 million people. The WHO estimated that the number of people fed in a year per hectare (2.5 acres) ranged from 22 individuals for potatoes and 19 for rice, to one and two persons, respectively for cow and sheep carcass. The agency added that the low energy conversion ratio from feed to carcass is a concern since the cereal grain being produced is diverted to livestock.
A Bangladeshi family living off rice, beans, vegetables and fruit may live on an acre of land or less. In sharp contrast, the average American, who consumes around 270 pounds of animal carcass a year, needs 20 times that. The current global average animal consumption is 100g (3.5 oz) per person per day, with about a ten-fold variation between high-consuming and low-consuming populations.
For most people in developing countries who obtain their protein from plants, eating animal flesh is a luxury. A kilogram (2.2 lb) of animal carcass can cost from $2 to $5 in the local markets, which is several days’ wages. A typical African eats only 20 kg (44 lb) of animal flesh a year, well below the world average. These findings suggest that over-consumption and dietary habits are of the essence for understanding resource use and GHG pollution, as opposed to expanding population being the primary driver as is popularly argued.
That is, population's importance is related to lifestyle expenditures, and specifically to the over-consumption class. A 2011 report concludes, “The mass consumption of animals is a primary reason why humans are hungry, fat, or sick and is a leading cause of the depletion and pollution of waterways, the degradation and deforestation of the land, the extinction of species, and the warming of the planet."
Excerpt from "Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming," by Dr. Moses Seenarine.
Growth for Who? Defining Progress by Under-Counting the Hungry Masses
Growth for Who? Defining Progress by Under-Counting the Hungry Masses
by Moses Seenarine, 12/15/17
Malnutrition affects one in every three people worldwide. It affects all age groups and populations, and plays a major role in half of the 10 million annual child deaths in the developing world. In the children who survive, malnutrition continues to be a cause and a consequence of disease and disability.
The most visible form of hunger is famine, a true food crisis in which multitudes of people in an area starve and die. There are over 850 million people who are chronically hungry. This is the largest number and proportion of malnourished people ever recorded in human history. Plus, being underweight is a major problem globally. A quarter of women in India and Bangladesh are underweight. And a fifth of men in India, Bangladesh, Timor, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia are underweight. Being underweight put a person at risk for multiple health problems including anemia, infertility and osteoporosis.
In the entire developing world, or Global South, hunger and poverty are intense and may worsen as economic growth across the world stalls. From 2005 and 2008 food prices almost doubled. To make matters worse, from 2007, there has been a sizable slowdown in food aid, bringing hunger reduction "essentially to a halt for the developing countries as a whole."
As many as 2.8 billion people on the planet struggle to survive on less than $2 a day, and upwards of one billion people lack reasonable access to safe drinking water. There is an enormous and persistent food gap between the global South and the developed north. To illustrate, the average person in the industrial world took in 10% more calories daily in 1961 than the average person in the developing world consumes today. The large numbers of poor and malnourished people in the world are unacceptably high, but these numbers may be much higher due to under-counting.
Misleadingly, the UN set the threshold for hunger as the minimum calories needed for a "sedentary lifestyle." In reality, the number of hungry people could be as high as 1.5 billion, or in excess of 25% of the world's adult population if the threshold was set as the minimum needed for "normal activity." And numbers of the hungry would jump to 2.6 billion, or nearly 45% of the global adult population, for "intense activity."
Currently, 4.3 billion people live on less than $5 a day. Although this figure is higher than the World Bank poverty criteria at $1.25 a day, one report showed that a realistic poverty measure would be around $10 a day. By this standard, over three-quarter of humans live in poverty. One-fifth of the Earth's 7 billion people have no land and possessions at all. These "poorest of the poor" are non-literates lacking safe drinking water and living on less than a dollar a day.
Many spend about 80% of their earnings on food, but still they are hungry and malnourished. The average US house cat eats twice as much protein every day as one of the world's poorest of the poor, and the cost to care for each cat is greater than a poor person's annual income. Half of the world's population have enough food to provide energy, but suffer from individual nutrient deficiencies. Billions of people lack iron, iodine, vitamin A, and other vital nutrients. In addition, racial, ethnic, and religious hatred along with monetary greed cause food deprivation for whole groups of people.
The IPCC's AR5 report suggest that climate transformation will affect poor countries the most, and inflate food insecurity. While Oxfam predicts world hunger will worsen as planetary heating inevitably affects crop production and disrupt incomes. The number of people in the peril of hunger might climb by 10% to 20% by 2050, but daily per capita calorie availability is falling across the world.
Whose Carbon Footprint is Larger? Diet Versus Over-Population
Whose Carbon Footprint is Larger? Diet Versus Over Population
by Moses Seenarine 12/15/17
Many parts of the world expect substantial modifications in population size, age structure, and urbanization this century. These variations can affect energy use and GHG outflows. In particular, aging, urbanization and variations in household size can substantially influence GHG footprints in some regions.
Aging will occur in most regions, due to declines in both fertility and mortality. Aging is expected to be particularly rapid in regions like China that have recently experienced sharp falls in fertility. On the positive side, slowing population growth could provide 16–29% of the GHG reductions suggested to be necessary by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate transformation.
There is an inverse relationship between the two main drivers behind increased land requirements for food – as socioeconomic development improves, population growth declines. At the same time, diets become richer. Typically, consumption of animal protein, vegetable oil, fruit and vegetable swells, while starchy staples become less essential. With higher purchasing power comes higher consumption and a greater demand for processed food, animal carcass, cow milk products, chicken eggs, and fish, all of which add pressure to the food supply system. This over-consumption severely affects global sustainability, equity, food security, and GHG emissions.
During a span of 46 years, from 1961 to 2007, a review of FAO data showed that in most regions, diets became richer while the land needed to feed one person diminished. In many regions, dietary change may override population growth as a major driver behind land requirements for food in the near future. Potential land savings through yield improvements are offset by a combination of population growth and dietary change. These dynamics were the largest in developing regions and emerging economies.
Notably, additions to the total per capita food supply were not observed everywhere around the world. In most developed regions, the share of animal products is extraordinary high. From 1961 to 2007, food animals constituted one-third of the available calories in the global North, compared to 10% or less in many of the poorer regions in the global South. These over-consumption dynamics are slowly changing but remains highly skewed.
The FAO projects that world population will expand 34 to 41% by 2050 to reach 8.9 - 9.1 billion. Food demand will soar upwards by 70%, and daily per person calorie intake will rise to 3,130 calories. Food is a major part of climate warming, but it is essential for survival, security and equity. Although the consumption per capita of cereals is likely to stabilize, population growth will escalate the demand for both food animals (almost doubling) and cereals for feed (50%) by 2050.
Another problem related to over-consumption is the hidden population of obesity. The average body mass is climbing at a sharp pace. For the first time in human history obese people outnumber underweight people. Almost 11% of men and 15% percent of women worldwide are obese, while under 9% of men and 10% of women are underweight. In 2005, global adult human biomass was 287 million tonnes, of which 15 million tonnes came from being overweight. This extra mass is equivalent to that of 242 million people of average body mass or 5% of global human biomass. Biomass from obesity was 3.5 million tonnes, the equivalent of another 56 million people of average body mass.
In 2012, the US came in third following the Pacific island nations Micronesia and Tonga for having the highest average weight in the world. By comparison, Americans are 33 pounds heavier than the French and 70 pounds bigger than the average Bangladeshi. In addition to extra energy and food demands, severe and morbid obesity are associated with highly elevated risks of adverse health outcomes.
Excerpt from "Meat Climate Change: The 2nd Leading Cause of Global Warming," by Dr. Moses Seenarine.
New Book: Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess
XPYR PRESS PRESS RELEASE
10/11/2017
Cyborgs Versus the
Earth Goddess: Men's Domestication of Women and Animals, and Female
Resistance is now available from Amazon
(http://amzn.to/2xyTkmh) and other booksellers. This book has a
compelling and unusual story to tell.
For millions of years,
early humans lived in gynocentric or female-centered cultures which
revolved around the worship of Earth Goddesses. Female-led clans were
ecological and managed the land sustainably throughout the Stone Age.
What is more, numerous aspects of so-called human 'civilization' were
developed by prehistoric females, thousands of years before
men/cyborgs domesticated animals - from fire, fireplaces, cooking,
food preservation, and storage, to dance, art, medicine, philosophy,
language, stories, ritual, trade, settlement, pottery, textile,
calendar, metal, and more.
The text includes
engrossing details on specific Goddesses, such as the Goddess of
animals, the Moon Goddess, the Triple Goddess, Sybils, and Oracles.
The significance of hundreds of Woman/Goddess carvings found in
Europe and Asia is considered, along with evidence of prehistoric
women's cave art. There are vital discussions on gynocentric power,
and female-centered family and culture. The importance of the
Mother's gift economy is also explored, especially its influence on
socialism and the capitalist backlash against feminism that resulted.
The 358 pages in divided
into 28 chapters. The writing is eclectic, interweaving research on
female prehistory, archaeology, anthropology, genetics, evolutionary
biology, art, culture, myth, theology, and theory. Intersecting with
insightful analysis on Stone Age females are fascinating discussions
on diet and the historical relationship between human and non-human
animals.
This unique book on the
history of women and animals is loosely organized and includes a
compelling narrative in each chapter, called ASIA's Journey about a
group of climate refugees in the near future. Some of the key issues
explored are the status of women during the Stone Age, the emergence
of animal husbandry and male-centered civilization 10,000 years ago,
the social construction of patriarchy during the Bronze Age, and the
effects of male dominance into the present.
Seenarine shows that
millennia after the intensive cultivation of crops, around 8,000
years ago, men harnessed animal power to gain the superior strength
and speed of cyborgs. Horses were exploited by pastoral
sperm-producers to conquer gynecological clans across Asia, Europe,
and the Middle East. But unlike agriculture, the use of domesticates
is unsustainable, and this practice has led to countless wars over
land and water resources.
After taming animals, men
subjugated females into property and used literacy and religion to
reduce them to the status of animals. Correspondingly, the once
mighty Earth Goddesses became the jealous consorts of kings and male
sky gods. The cyborg domesticating mindset continues into the present
where nonhuman animals and human females are stripped of agency and
considered as objects freely available for phallic use. Seenarine
argues that men's defeat of the Earth Goddess is the root of the
present ecological and social crisis, and empowering women and
animals are necessary for avoiding ecocide.
The study explores
several important questions: What was the Paleo Diet? Were the Paleo
diet and food security more influenced by female gatherers or by male
hunters? Are men natural born killers driven to rape? How did Stone
Age women deal with male aggression? How are female-centered cultures
organized and maintained? Can female governance help to restore the
balance with nature and heal our relationships with animals? Can an
understanding of gynecology help to solve the massive problems of
climate change and species extinction?
Importantly, the book
examines resistance to patriarchal thinking and cyborg consciousness
formulated by ecofeminists and others, and argues for a return to
gynocentrism. There is little domestic violence in existing
female-centered groups, and men live happier when women are in
charge. What is more, the author suggests that adopting a Mother's
gift economy can help end global poverty, inequity, and
discrimination. In addition, learning about ancient gynecological
perceptions and spirituality can help both women and men to live
simpler and happier lives.
Xpyr Press
India's Population Bump and Its Consequences
India's Population Bump
and Its Consequences
Is India's growth rate sustainable and equitable?
by Moses Seenarine
(This article was published on OpEd News on 08/04/2017)
Growth for Who?
India is a young country
with a fast growing annual GDP of above seven percent in 2016, up
from two percent at Independence in 1947. India's per capita income
rose from Rs. 7,513 from 1950 to Rs. 69,959 to 2014, yet according to
the World
Bank, it had the largest number of poor people in any country in
2012.
The country's economic
growth is lauded by the ruling class, but is India's growth rate
sustainable and equitable? What is the cost of decades of growth in
terms of environmental degradation and social exclusion? India is
portrayed as one of the world's top greenhouse gas polluters, but
India’s extended period of economic growth is driving energy
consumption, not necessarily its people.
Economic growth has
remained positive since the mid-1970s and has hovered above five
percent since the 1990s. Exports grew from $59 million in 1958 to
over $30 billion in 2013, while food grain production rose from 51
million tonnes in 1950 to 257 million tonnes in 2012. Widespread
belief in a raising GDP is viewed as a solution for all India’s
social and political problems, and the growth rate is the only
indicator of progress to which all Indian politicians pay homage. But
there is an annual negative balance of trade of $13 billion, and
total external debt of $470 billion.
The youth unemployment
rate hovers around 13 percent officially, but the actual figure may
be much higher. The Rangarajan
study estimated that 363 million, or close to 30 percent of India’s
1.2 billion people lived in poverty in 2011-12. The study considers
people living on less than Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 a day
in urban areas as poor. A vast majority of the poor come from Dalit
and other disadvantaged communities.
Population Bump
The median Indian age is
under 27 years, slowly raising from its low of 19 years in the 1970s.
It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29
years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan. The population
growth rate is falling, and the pace of the decline has increased in
the last few decades. The first decade of the new millennium saw
fewer people added to India’s population than in the previous
decade.
Women are the main reason
for this decrease in growth rate. Indian women are having fewer
children, and they are choosing to stop having kids early, so the
mean age at childbirth is falling. The average fertility is 2.3
children, well down from 5.9 births per female in 1951, and is
expected to further decline to the replacement rate of 2.1 by 2025.
The rural fertility figure is 2.5, and in urban areas it is 1.8,
close to the European Union’s 1.6. The urban population is around a
third of the total, around 400 million people. The number of female
births for every male birth in India is very low and just above that
of China, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The sex ratio was 944 females for
1000 males in 2016, but this disparity should start to improve by
2020, when male and female child mortality is expected to be similar.
While the tremendous
decline in fertility rate means that India does not represent a
population bomb, there is a significant bump ahead due to demographic
momentum that can still lead to resource problems and ecological
crisis. Indians already represent a fifth of the world's humans,
totaling over 1.3 billion in 2016, so the current slight value above
the replacement rate translates into hundreds of millions of people
in the coming decades. According to a 2017
United Nations' report, India will overtake China to become the
world's most populous country within the next seven years. And,
India's population will continue to grow until 2061 to over 1.7
billion people, by which time China's numbers is expected to decline
to 1.2 billion.
Consumption Bulge
In 2012, India had the
tenth-largest economy in the world but was the fourth-largest energy
consumer, trailing only the United States, China, and Russia. Primary
energy consumption more than doubled between 1990 and 2011. India was
the fourth largest consumer of oil and petroleum products in the
world in 2011, after the United States, China, and Japan. India
relies heavily on imported crude oil, mostly from the Middle East,
and became the world's sixth-largest liquefied natural gas importer
in 2011.
India's power capacity
increased from 1,323 MW in 1947 to 240,000 MW in 2013. Coal is
India's primary source of energy; the power sector accounts for more
than 70 percent of coal consumption. India's dependence on imported
energy resources and its inconsistent energy sector reform may make
it difficult to satisfy rising demand. Because of insufficient fuel
supply, the country suffers from a shortage of electricity
generation, leading to rolling blackouts.
Due primarily to
religious restrictions, vegetarianism is widespread in India, but
very few Indians follow a plant-based diet in which all animal
products are avoided. Milk and other dairy products are avidly
consumed across a large portion of the country. There are high levels
of meat consumption in Indian states such as Goa, Mizoram, Meghalaya
and Kerala. In Bengal, even Brahmins, whose dietary restrictions are
pronounced, are allowed to eat fish.
India is the largest milk
producer in the world by a good margin, having recently surpassed the
entire European Union, and Pakistan ranks fourth. Milk is India’s
leading agricultural commodity, produced on some 75 million dairy
farms, most of which are quite small. Urban dwellers, being wealthier
on average, tend to drink more milk than rural dwellers. Ghee, or
clarified butter, is an essential component of many Indian dishes.
To appease Hindu
conservatives, 18 states have banned the slaughter of cattle. Three
states require permits for the slaughter of cattle and seven states
allow cattle to be killed. These tough restrictions did not stop
India being a major player in world beef markets. According to the
USDA India was the
largest exporter of beef in 2014, ahead of Brazil and Australia.
India exports mostly buffalo meat which largely fall outside of the
cattle bans, plus the animals are needed to keep India's huge
domestic dairy industry going. Beef earns India more export dollars
than basmati rice. Further, the country's leather trade accounts for
13 percent of the world market.
Sales of beef, lamb and
chicken in India have all increased steadily over the past six years
and rising wealth is a big reason for the growth. India's disposable
income has surged 95 percent since 2009, and meat consumption has
nearly doubled over that time.
Climate Change Ahead
India occupies 2.4
percent of the world's land area but supports close to 20 percent of
the world's population. India is already experiencing a warming
climate and 13 of the country’s hottest 15 years on record has
occurred since 2002. The former union environment minister, Jairam
Ramesh, admitted that India is the most vulnerable country in the
world to climate change. For one, no country in the world has the
demographic expansion which India is currently experiencing.
Around 60 percent of
India's agriculture is rain-fed and the number of rainy days have
decreased which lessens ground water recharging. India is subjected
to irregular monsoons, flooding, and higher temperatures. The
Himalayan glaciers are receding which impacts the perennial rivers of
north-India. And rising sea-levels will adversely affect millions of
people living along the country's 7,500 km of coast line.
The reason India is so
vulnerable to climate change is because it is a large country with
many living in poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of
government planning to deal with complex weather systems. Climate
change will exacerbate the risks faced by the country's poor,
including storms, droughts and heat waves. Warming temperature trends
over the last three decades have already been responsible for over
59,000 suicides
throughout India.
High temperatures in the
growing season reduce crop yields, putting economic pressure on
India’s farmers. Crop losses could permeate throughout the economy,
causing both farming and non-farming populations to face distress as
food prices rise and agricultural labor demand falls. With no limit
on global warming, about 30 percent of the region could see dangerous
wet bulb temperatures above 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) on a regular
basis within just a few decades.
By the end of the
century, wide swaths of northern India, southern Pakistan and parts
of Bangladesh may become so hot and humid it will be deadly
just being outdoors. Such conditions would threaten up to a third
of the 1.5 billion people living in these regions. Most of those at
risk are poor farm workers, outdoor construction laborers, women and
children.
The poor lack air
conditioners, and up to 25 percent in of India’s population still
has no access to electricity. In some areas that have been deforested
for industry or agriculture, the disenfranchised may not even have
very much shade. Women and girls from Dalit and other marginalised
communities are disproportionately affected since they have to go
outdoors to search for firewood, fetch water, wash clothes, and so
on.
Floods and other natural
disasters can affect affects crops, livestock, infrastructure, roads,
electricity, communication links, and more. Abrupt climate change in
South Asia may necessitate cooperation and fraternity with India's
traditional rivals, China and Pakistan. And a belligerent Hindu raj
posturing for votes may prove disastrous for tens of millions of
climate refugees. India needs to remain democratic and collaborative
with its neighbors to mitigate this unprecedented crisis.
The Indian diaspora will
also be significantly impacted by climate change. A vast number of
overseas Indians reside on islands and in countries below the sea
level. Will India allow millions of climate migrants to return from
overseas communities? Diaspora organizations should include climate
change in their agenda and help communities in affected countries to
become more climate resilient.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's
emphasis on liberty, equality and fraternity points the way forward
for India and its diaspora. As he stated, "These principles of
liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate
items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to
divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of
democracy.”
Bengaluru Declaration: Revisiting Reservations
Bengaluru Declaration:
Revisiting Reservations
Reclaiming
Social Justice and Human Rights in the 21st Century
by Moses Seenarine
Persistent Bias and Poverty
For
over half a century, there have been legal restrictions against
caste-based and sex-based discrimination in India, yet both forms of
oppression continue to affect the lives of hundreds of millions
nationwide, especially Dalit and tribal Women. For example, in
terms of literacy rate, income level, health access, and other
factors, Dalit and tribal Women are among the lowest in the country.
As
the main architect of India's Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's
legacy includes legal interventions specifically designed for
ensuring inclusion of Women, Dalits, OBCs, Tribals, and minorities in
the public sector. Due
to Ambedkar's influence, reservations and other policies were
enacted which have slightly opened up political and social spaces
forbidden for centuries to these groups.
In addition to limits on
the political and social empowerment of the historically
underprivileged, the nation has a long way to go towards ensuring
that basic needs are met for vast numbers of Indians. The Rangarajan
study estimated that 363 million, or close to 30 percent of India’s
1.2 billion people, lived in poverty in 2011-12. The study considers
people living on less than Rs 32 ($0.50) a day in rural areas and Rs
47 ($0.75) a day in urban areas as poor. A vast majority of the
destitute come from disadvantaged communities who are victims of
inter-generational impoverishment. The existing education and
employment provisions for Dalit and others are limited to the public
sector and many avenues remain blocked, especially at the higher
levels.
Legal
provisions and reservations are like paper tigers, and powerful
groups find ways to circumvent and block their application. Lack of
implementation of the law is a huge issue, and Women, Dalits, OBCs,
Tribals, and minorities face consequences for daring to attend
school, contesting elections, and so on. Given the persistence of
bias and deprivation, and the shortcomings with implementation of
existing policies, there is a need for discussion and ideas on how to
improve the current impasse in inequality.
The
Bengaluru Declaration offers a broad set of recommendations that
could prove useful for a wide range of issues facing Women, Dalits,
OBCs, Tribals, and minorities. The Declaration's framers used the
platform provided by the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Conference,
held from the 21-23 of July, 2017 in Bengaluru, Karnataka to draft an
extensive list of recommendations that “hopes to be a dynamic
blueprint that addresses the needs and aspirations of all Indians,
and a starting point for an “alliance of equity” of all
progressive forces committed to safeguarding the idea of India."
In order to be effective, the suggested programs must have
accountability, and there should be consequences for individuals,
businesses and organizations who continue to practice discrimination
and bias.
Bengaluru Declaration's
Recommendations
The Bengaluru Declaration
contains 41 recommendations in six broad sections. In the first one,
there are two sets of propositions for “Safeguarding the People,”
- one focuses on upholding the rule of Law, and the other on
protecting individual rights and freedoms. The second section
contains three proposals for “Strengthening Democratic
Institutions.” The first recommendation is on reforms to enhance
political representation, the second is for protecting media
freedoms, and the third focuses on judicial reforms.
The 22 suggestions in the
third section for “Deepening Social Justice” represents the heart
of the Bengaluru Declaration as it tries to comprehensively address
“the needs and aspirations of all Indians, especially those who are
most vulnerable and marginalised, such as Scheduled Castes (SCs),
Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Women and
Minorities.” The list of undertaking range from establishing an
Equal Opportunities Commission and studying Ambedkar in the school
and college, to legislating reservations in the private sector and
granting agricultural land to landless Dalits.
The fourth section
centers on the needs of the poor with six propositions for “Enhancing
Human Development.” This section declares that health, housing and
education should be universal rights and asks the state to allocate
six percent of GDP for education and three percent for health. It
calls for establishing a Farmers Income Commission, and attaining
universal secondary education. It also wants provision of nutritional
support for poor children, and halfway homes to support employment.
Three suggestions in the
fifth section for “Ensuring Responsive Governance” focus on
mechanisms for public feedback and government accountability. The
last section of the Bengaluru Declaration contains six proposals for
“Promoting Social Security.” It calls for universal Social
Security and a living wage for the unorganised sector, and ensuring
dignity in retirement through enhanced pensions and an enhanced
safety net. It proposes starting a fund for landless labourers, and
finally, it wants low cost housing for the urban poor in all private
housing layouts.
If fully implemented,
these 41 proposals could help to alleviate many of the problems faced
by India's poor and historically disadvantaged communities. However,
the widespread recommendations are complex and extend over several
economic and social sectors, and involves disparate areas of
governance. Successful implementation will require intricate
coordination by multiple agencies, critical assessment, and
accountability.
Many of Bengaluru
Declaration's recommendations in education are basic and should be
part of a growing democracy, but successful implementation will
depend on gainful employment and upward mobility in all sectors of
society for female and poor students. The Declaration's educational
proposals include (i) curriculum changes in school and college, (ii)
access to quality English medium education from secondary school
level, (iii) residential schools for vulnerable children, (iv)
universal access to hostels, (v) reservations in private Higher
Educational institutions, (vi) and universal secondary education.
Bengaluru Declaration on Education
Recommendation number 16,
“Reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs in Private Higher Educational
Institutions,” is essential in educational access for students, and
employment of academics, from historically disadvantaged communities.
There is a limit to what the public sector can do, and as the
Declaration states, “Considering the expansion of higher
educational institutions in the private section, reservations for
SCs, STs and OBCs in these institutions shall be made mandatory.”
Private Higher Education
Institutions should be required to submit bi-annual reports on
student enrollment and staffing to show compliance with reservation
policies. At the end of a grace period, Private Higher Education
Institutions should submit plans to fill reserved spots and prove
they are non-discriminatory, or face fines for non-compliance. After
a certain period of repeat, unwarranted non-compliance, Higher
Educational Institutions should face oversight or having their
accreditation suspended.
The Bengaluru Declaration
realise that English instruction can be empowering and Recommendation
number 13 declares, “the State shall ensure access to quality
English medium education from secondary school level onwards.” The
important reason for this curriculum change is to ensure SCs, STs,
OBCs, Women and Minorities “are able to stand as equals with
forward castes.” English is commonly used in urban areas, so
English literacy will help disadvantaged groups to participate more
fully in urban economies.
To provide quality
English-based instruction, teacher credentialing must include an
English proficiency test. English courses should be integrated into
Education departments and all prospective teachers should take
classes in English grammar, speech and composition. In addition,
English courses in debate, literature, non-fiction, technical and
narrative writing should be available for students pursuing Education
degrees and teacher credentials.
The Bengaluru
Declaration's proposal for Navodaya type residential schools for
vulnerable children in Recommendation number 14 will provide basic
and essential social and educational services that can help increase
graduation rates for poor children. There should be separate Navodaya
schools for girls and boys, and over 50 percent of the staff must be
reserved for women from Dalit and other disadvantaged communities.
These residential schools should be taught in English medium and
infuse Dalit Studies across the curriculum.
The call for universal
access to hostels for SCs, STs and OBCs in Recommendation number 15
is part of non-discrimination laws and a basic human right.
Individuals who ignore anti-caste laws should be charged and
penalised if guilty. Anti-caste and housing commissions should make
it simple for victims to file housing complaints, and these
commissions should have the power to impose fines on property owners
and businesses.
Recommendation number
eight calls for curriculum changes in school and college for
"Ensuring study of Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotirao &
Savitribai Phule in School and College Curriculum: To inspire and
educate future generations on ideas and movements of social justice,
curriculum in schools and colleges should mandatorily include the
study of the life and work of Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma and Savitribai
Phule."
Dalit Studies, including
the life and work of Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma and Savitribai Phule, will
help to inspire excellence in all Indian students, and especially
those from historically disadvantaged communities. Cultural
empowerment is essential to motivating marginalized groups and to
raising the self-esteem of impoverished girls and boys. This form of
secular education can aid in the removal of historical stigma and
bias by raising awareness and bringing individual and community
experiences into the classroom.
Implementing Dalit
Studies in schools and colleges requires several administrations and
programs, and thousands of trained and qualified teachers. There
should also be independent Dalit Studies Institutes that focus on
legislation, research and assessment of policies and programs for
disadvantaged communities. Women from Dalit and other disadvantaged
communities should comprise 50 percent or more of the staff as
program administrators, department chairs, professors, researchers,
instructors, and teachers at all levels.
To provide instruction in
Dalit Studies, a curriculum committee should establish content and
assessment criteria for Dalit Studies for each standard of school,
and year of college. The curriculum committee should contain
representation from various Dalit sub-groups, professions, and income
levels. The curriculum should be available and taught in English at
all levels.
The curriculum committee
should determine basic, intermediate and advance levels of knowledge
and understanding of Dalit Studies at the college level, including
curriculum and assessment for courses in art, culture, economy,
history, language, literature, music, media, pedagogy, philosophy,
political science, psychology, religion, sociology, and women's
studies. The field of Dalit Studies could be added to Arts,
Education, Humanities, Interdisciplinary and/or Social Science
departments in college, or have its own field with degrees at the
bachelor's, masters and doctoral levels.
In terms of sequencing,
there should two or more units of Dalit Studies at the Primary School
level, and four courses of Dalit Studies available in Secondary
School. There should be one course on Mahatma Phule, another on
Savitribai Phule, and two classes on Dr. Ambedkar. Completion of at
least one course in Dalit Studies should be a requirement for
Secondary School graduation for all students. A Bachelor's degree
consisting of 12 or more college-level courses in Dalit Studies
should be required to teach this subject in Secondary School. And,
one or more Dalit Studies course should be a graduation requirement
for all college students.
The Dalit Studies
Departments in college should have linkages to other fields through
dual-majors, inter-disciplinary studies, and so on. The work of
Savitribai Phule and Dalit Women's issues should comprise at least a
quarter of coursework at all college levels. Classes in Computers,
Technology and Social Media should be part of course requirements,
and there should be opportunities for experiential or field-work
through departmental linkages to social welfare agencies and schools
that provide services to Women,
Dalits, OBCs, Tribals, and minorities.
The
Bengaluru Declaration's educational proposals will be more effective
for historically disadvantaged students and workers if they are
supported by social services mentioned in other recommendations, such
as "Halfway Homes to Support Employment." Extending
reservations into the Private Sector is essential for progress, and
there also needs to be implementation of existing policies, such as
filling up backlog vacancies in reserved posts.
As
with any set of prescriptions for social reform, the Bengaluru
Declaration do have some shortcomings. There is lack of recognition
regarding sex-differences, and the recommendations have to focused on
better serving the needs of Women and Children. Despite this
limitation, the 41 proposals are a good starting point for discussion
and can help guide the work of activists and advocacy organizations
alike.
Asserting Secularism and Global Equity Through Ambedkar
Asserting Secularism
and Global Equity Through Ambedkar
Human
Survival Requires Secular Values, Not Machismo Fundamentalism
by Dr. Moses Seenarine
(Photo:
Martin Luther King lll at the Quest For Equity conference with
Congress VP Rahul Gandhi, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, and Chief
Minister of Karnataka. Credit: GOK)
(This articles was published on Medium on 08/07/2017)
(This articles was published on Medium on 08/07/2017)
The conference,
“Reclaiming Social Justice, Revisiting Ambedkar,” held from 21-23
July, 2017 in Banglauru, Karnataka, was historic in many ways. First,
it was the first international conference that brought together
hundreds of scholars from all across India and the world to focus on
the life, thoughts and influence of one of the greatest minds of the
20th century – Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar (14th
April 1891 to 6th December 1956). Although hardly known
outside of India, B. R. Ambedkar is a distinguished leader in the
history of South Asia, and a pivotal figure in the global quest for
equity and freedom for the oppressed.
In an age of rapacious
economic neoliberalism and rampant, machismo nationalism, Ambedkar's
trenchant demand for equality, and his ardent call for freedom,
equity and fraternity, have never been more relevant. Climate change
in South Asia will necessitate cooperation with India's traditional
rivals, China and Pakistan, and blindly following parochial,
belligerent Hindu-based regimes may prove disastrous for hundreds of
millions of climate refugees due to environmental disaster, land
degradation, and uninhabitable conditions. India needs to remain
democratic and cooperative with its neighbors to mitigate this
unprecedented crisis and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar offers a way forward.
As the chief architect of
India's Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar was a scholar par excellence, a
philosopher, visionary, and emancipator of over 200 million
'Untouchables' or Dalits oppressed globally under hierarchical
Hinduism. Born in an out-casted group considered ritually polluting
to Hindus, Bhim Rao led a number of social movements to secure human
rights for women, workers, the poor, and the depressed sections of
society. Dr. Ambedkar is a towering symbol in the struggle for social
justice globally, and stands as the South Asian equivalent to
Sojourner Truth, Fredrick Douglas, W. E. B. Du Boise, Marcus H.
Garvey, and Martin Luther King in the USA. The Indian Constitution is
a testament to his vision of a civilized society with its numerous
protections for the disadvantaged.
The
Bengaluru Declaration issued at the conference was framed from input
provided by the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Conference. The
Declaration contains a broad set of recommendations to address a wide
range of issues facing the poor. Although written for India, the 41
proposals could be adopted to improve the lives of Women across the
globe, People of Color, minorities, and populations in the Global
South.
Secondly, the conference
offered a bold secular alternative to the ecocidal religiosity and
genocidal militarism currently sweeping the world. To mitigate the
impending effects of abrupt climate change, humans will need to
become more secular, that is, learn to believe in ourselves, behave
in a responsible way to others, and act as if we belong to a global
community. Survival and adaptation to the deepening ecological crisis
requires us to have unbiased perception, clear thinking, an open
mind, and acute awareness of our local surroundings and conditions
across the globe. At its core, to be secular is to maintain a
naturalistic worldview in which belief in anything is always
proportioned to the evidence available, and no leader exemplifies
these values and qualities as much as Bhim Rao.
In a seminal undelivered
speech to reformist Hindus, later published as the Annihilation of
Caste, Dr. Ambedkar argued, “An ideal society should be mobile,
should be full of channels for conveying a change taking place in one
part to other parts. In an ideal society there should be many
interests consciously communicated and shared. There should be varied
and free points of contact with other modes of association. In other
words there should be social endosmosis. This is fraternity, which is
only another name for democracy. Democracy is not merely a form of
Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint
communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and
reverence towards fellowmen (and women).”
Speaking on the opening
night, Martin Luther King III presented a clear-headed, secular
analysis of politics in India and the USA, and deconstructed the
cunning appeal of cultural fundamentalism under which social
intolerance is stroked. The son of the famous civil rights leader
observed that the “Trump and Modi administrations have unleashed a
ferocious animosity in both countries” and highlighted various mob
and racially-based atrocities against females, African Americans, and
Dalits. He concluded that both populist leaders, “have limited
regard for the poor and the underprivileged.” Martin Luther King
III's keynote speech linking the struggle against caste and race is
an important contribution to Pan-Africanism and in theorizing the
Global South, and should be read by activists worldwide.
The most anticipated
speaker of the opening night also hinted to the dangers of religious
ideology and narrow-minded nationalism. In his address to the packed
auditorium, the current vice-president of India's Congress Party,
Rahul Gandhi, warned against distortion of the truth and
glorification the past to guide the present. Taking a principled,
secular position on caste and religious issues, Rahul observed,
“There have been good and bad sides to India, and we need to accept
it and change it.”
Like King III, the
grandson of the famous Indira Gandhi cited numerous examples of Hindu
intolerance and their growing violence against Dalits and Muslims.
Commenting on the systemic denial of caste-and religious based
oppression, Rahul Gandhi stated, “The Modi government is trying to
wipe out history and create a perfect India, thereby strangling the
reality of Vermulas and Akhlaqs” - men who died as a result of
religious bigotry.
Thirdly, the conference
presented valuable insights into Ambedkar's global relevance as
speakers connected his writings and activism on caste, religious and
cultural oppression to the histories of enslavement, bonded labor,
gender construction, labor, migration and other social issues. B. R.
Ambedkar's legal prescriptions for women, the poor and disadvantaged,
including safeguards for political representation, education and
employment reservation was compared to affirmative action policies
for women and minorities in the Caribbean, Nepal, Northern Ireland,
Pacific Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, UK and USA.
The successful
non-discriminatory safeguards implemented in Northern Ireland can be
applied elsewhere, and similarly, lessons can be learned from the
political shortcomings of Sri Lanka's affirmative action polices
after the civil war. Moreover, the conference showed that Ambedkar's
stringent opposition to female oppression under traditional culture
and his prescriptions for women's equality are applicable worldwide.
Given the significance
that Bhim Rao placed on female representation in all spheres, it was
disappointing that the list of keynote speakers on the opening night
did not contain a single female. The token female on the dais, a
regional actress whose sole role was to dutifully introduce the
eleven men on stage. Her marginality is symbolic of the far road that
lies ahead for caste, race, sex and class-based inequality, but
Ambedkar's guidance can help us achieve faster and safer passage to a
more equitable and rewarding future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
New Release
New Release - Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess
Now Available! Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess: Men's Domestication of Women and Animals and Female Resistance by m seen...
Popular
-
(Bulgarian DV Poster) Excerpt from Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess: Men's Domestication of Women and Animals and Female Resistance by ...
-
Meat Society : Number 22 in a series exploring issues related to curbing demand for animal products, an important climate change solution fo...
-
Sista Resister Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism by m seenarine Xpyr Press 2023....
-
Now Available! Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess: Men's Domestication of Women and Animals and Female Resistance by m seen...
-
(Excerpt from Sista Resister: Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism by m seenarine. Xpyr P...
-
(Excerpt from Sista Resister: Bios of 50 Radical Women of Color Activists Resisting Sexism, Colonialism & Racism by m seenarine. Xpy...