Explores the way writers address the formation and fate of the contemporary American working class in an age of neoliberal globalization. Specifically, the essay examines Russell Banks's 1985 novel Continental Drift, which interweaves the stories of two characters who pull up stakes and head to Florida in search of a better life: an oil furnace repair man from New Hampshire and a young, single mother from Haiti.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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The Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL) is an independent, non-partisan think-tank dedicated to strengthening Canadian relations with Latin America and the Caribbean through policy dialogue and analysis. It seeks to create new partnerships and policy options throughout the Western Hemisphere through its promotion of good governance, economic prosperity and social justice.
Examines Haiti's past, present and future sustainability based on a thorough cause and effect analysis of the country's current situation, research on relevant social and economic factors, years of field experience, as well as training and consulting for businesses, political parties and non-profit organisations. In addition to identifying the current major core conflicts of Haiti, the article also suggests solutions to various social, economical and environmental issues.
The Sphere Project, "Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response," identifies the minimum standards to be attained in disaster response. From a human rights perspective and utilizing key indicators from the Sphere Project as benchmarks, this article reports on an assessment of the living conditions approximately 12 weeks after the earthquake in Parc Jean Marie Vincent, a spontaneous IDP camp in Port-au-Prince.
Argues that Haiti must begin immediately to lay the foundations for a society that will improve significantly on that of the last two hundred years, that two of the critical groups in that process will be women and young professionals, and therefore that high quality human rights education is needed to assure their political, economic and professional empowerment.
Child trafficking, under the guise of intercountry adoption, is a form of human trafficking that is often misunderstood by policy makers, governments, the media, and nongovernmental organizations. Uses the 2010 abduction attempt of Haitian children by American missionaries as a case to demonstrate how existing policies are insufficient to provide protection to victims and to prosecute perpetrators of this form of child trafficking.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
156 p., The reconstruction of Haiti following the earthquake of January 12, 2010 was institutionalized through the creation of the Commission Interimaire pour la reconstruction d'Haiti (Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, CIRH). More than a year later, the outlook for human rights in Haiti has not changed despite the great promise and strong rhetoric of change. This study seeks to provide evidence for understanding the many facets of extreme poverty in Haiti from a human rights perspective.
During the summer of 2009 a survey was conducted of 1,800 households in metropolitan Port-au-Prince. Six weeks after the earthquake, an attempt was made re-interview these households. The questionnaire examined mortality and injuries generated by the natural disaster, as well as the character of victimization, food security and living arrangements following the quake.
The privatized, top-down approach to aid delivery in the camps for displaced Haitians has made possible all manner of abuse and coercion. Haitian activists are responding by demanding their human rights, even as they challenge dominant conceptions of those rights.
This article discusses different views about sustainable development, emphasizing -- on the basis of a survey conducted in Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba -- the role of rural women in food production and natural resource management, the strength of the rural women's movement in the conquest of rights, and the decisive participation of women in defining proposals for public policies that guarantee gender equality in rural areas. A brief comparative analysis leads us to conclude that the development model in the three countries still prioritizes the male figure in relation to land tenure, access to credit and purchase of equipment or other material resources, it is suggested that both in Cuba, a socialist country, and in Mexico and Brazil, capitalist counties, the assumptions of social policies directed to rural female workers should take into account the basic needs of rural women to guarantee a more humane and sustainable development. Adapted from the source document.
