Learning to Realize Education's Promise - Part II

                 This summary is the second part of the same book from last week. The book was published at file:///D:/9781464810961.pdf

               Life outcomes are influenced by a child's development during the early years. Between the time of gestation and a child's sixth birthday, the brain matures faster than any other time of life. The environment children grow up in is a key determinant of their developmental trajectories toward outcomes later in life. Severe deprivation, along with stress, can impair healthy brain development (both structural and functional).  Why does the learning crisis persist? One big reason is that, for many, the learning crisis is invisible. To tackle the crisis, it is necessary, though not enough, to measure learning. This is evident in how politicians often talk about education only in terms of inputs, numbers of schools, numbers of teachers, teachers salaries, schools grants, but rarely in terms of actual learning. Lack of data on learning means that governments can ignore or obscure the poor quality of education, especially for disadvantaged groups. Identifying learning gaps in the classroom is the first step toward resolving them. In environments of low learning, there is often a gap between the level of students and the level at which classes are being taught. Learning metrics help highlight where support is most needed. For learning metrics to guide action effectively, they need to be used as a range of tools to serve different needs, from classroom practice to system management. The learning crisis will be truly salient politically only when vulnerable populations, who likely to suffer from learning gaps, are adequately covered by national assessment systems. Schools can not produce learning without prepared, present, motivated learners. Around the world. many children receive too little investment in nutrition and stimulation during their early years, and many lack access to early learning opportunities that can prepare them for first grade. Many young people leave formal education with weak skills, and thus they are unprepared for further education and training. This problem is especially pronounced in several developing countries. Improving skills early can alter workers' labor market trajectories. remedial education interventions can work, if they reach the right people using the right approach. Effective remedial interventions  meet people where they are, helping them transition into careers. Second-chance programs give youth who have dropped out of school a path to reengage in nontraditional learning environments, obtain secondary education and enter job training. In Australia and the U.S. early schools leavers are encouraged to enroll in programs that provide an equivalent to an upper secondary diploma. Across secondary-chance interventions, socioemotional skills play an important role in student success, with skills such as the ability to work toward long-term goals. The demand for second-chance programs is high and the evidence is promising, but keeping youth engaged in further education and training requires an integrated policy approach. After prepared and motivated learners, equipped and motivated teachers are the most fundamental ingredient of learning. Teachers are also the largest budget item, with their salaries accounting for over three-quarters of the education budget at the primary level in low- and middle-income countries. Yet many education systems put in classroom teachers who have little mastery of the subjects they are to teach. Meanwhile, education systems often lack effective mechanisms to mentor and motivate teachers. A key principle in leaving no learner behind is to help teachers teach to the level of their students. This technique has been successful in different formats across a range of scenarios, whether by using community teachers to provide remedial lessons or reorganizing classes by ability. Over time, education systems perform best when their teachers are respected, prepared, selected based on merit, and supported in their work. Countries should work toward these objectives. But in the short run, countries can take actions to strengthen the performance of teachers. They can provide a professional structure so that teachers feel motivated to apply what they know. Teachers are key to education. Making them more effective is an excellent investment. Learners and teachers have a more productive learning relationship when supported by learning materials and other inputs. Young people around the world face challenges in their transition from school to work. Many of them, especially youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, leave formal education prematurely, lacking the foundational skills needed to succeed on the job. As a result, many become unemployed or stuck in low-wage, unstable, informal sector jobs that offer them few opportunities to strengthen their skills. But the same can happen to secondary schools graduates, if they can not fulfill labor market needs. Workplace training deepens workers' skills and raises firms' productivity. Despite its potential benefits, young workers rarely receive workplace training. Successful short-term job training programs offer more than skills training. Programs that focus on developing multiple skills and that complement training with wraparound services such as career guidance, mentoring, and job search assistance have better odds of success. For example, comprehensive training schemes that emphasize technical skills, life skills, and interniships show positive effects in Kenya, Brazil, and Nepal. Career information is an important part of training programs, helping students identify opportunities, stay on course, and transition into a career. Career information interventions are usually grouped into career education program, which might include providing direction on coursework selection, and which is usually provided on an individual basis. Successful job training programs are typically based on strong ties with employers, with curriculums taught by teachers who have both industry experience and up-to-date pedagogical expertise. These programs also tend to reinforce skills, integrate calssroom instruction with workplace learning, and offer certifications that can be further built on. These features keep career paths open for graduates. though job training programs can yield positive outcomes, a key lessons is that trainees still need strong skills, cognitive and socioemotional, before moving into specialized streams. From 2000 to 2012, Brazil's learning outcomes on the PISA showed steady improvement, with gains in some subjects concentrated among poorer-performing students. Underlying this progress were reforms strengthened accountability for system performance, reduced funding inequalities across Brazil's diverse regions, and provided cash tranfers to the neediest families. Better information made it much easier to hold education agencies accountable for learning. The central government combined assessment results with student promotion rates to create an index of basic education quality IDEB for every school. Target based on this index are used by system administrators at every level, as well as parents, to hold schools and local administrators accountable for learning. Better information also raised incentives for politicians to improve performance. Public awareness of the index is high, with the biannual release of IDEB scores generating extensive media coverage and debate. This not only places education quality high on the political agenda, but also makes it an important factor when citizens choose their local representatives.

Learning to Realize Education's Promise

             This post is a summary of the book published with the title above in 2018 at   https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/.../9781464810961.pdf

                Education and learning raise aspirations, set values, and ultimately enrich lives. South Korea is a good example of how education can play these important roles. After the Korean War, the population was largely illiterate and deeply impoverished. Korea understood that education was the best way to pull itself out of economic misery, so it focused on overhauling schools and committed itself to educating every child and educating them well. Today, not only has Korea achieved universal literacy, but its students also perform at the highest levels in international learning assessments. It's a high-income country  and a model of success development. Korea is a striking example, but we can see the salutary effects of education in many countries. Delivered well, education and the human capital it creates has many benefits for economies, and for societies as a whole. But providing education is not enough. What is important, and what generates a real return on investment, is learning and acquiring skills. This is what truly builds human capital. As this year's World Development Report documents, in many countries learning is not happening. Schooling without learning is a terrible waste of precious resources and of human potential. Worse, it is an injustice. This year's report provides a path to address this failure. The detailed analysis in this Report shows that these problems are driven not only by service delivery failings but also by deeper systemic problems. The human capital lost because of these shortcomings threatens development and jeopardizes the future of people and their societies. At the same time, rapid technological change raises the stakes: to compete in the economy of the future, workers need strong basic skills. Schooling is not the same as learning. In Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, when grade 3, students were asked to read a simple sentence, three-quarters did not understand what it said. In rural India, just under three-quarter of students in grade 3 could not solve a subtraction such as 46-17. Although the skills of Brazilians 15-year-olds have improved, at their current rate of improvement they won't reach the rich-country average score in math for 75 years. These countries are not unique in the challenges they face. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills. This learning crisis is a moral crisis. When delivered well, education cures a host of societal ills. For individuals, it promotes employment, earnings, health, and poverty reduction. For societies, it spurs innovation, strengthens institutions, and fosters social cohesion.. The learning crisis amplifies inequality: it severely hobbles the disadvantaged youth who most need the boost that a good education can offer. Because of this slow progress, more than 60% of primary school children in developing countries still fail to achieve minimu proficiency in learning, according to one benchmark. The ultimate barrier to learning is no schooling at all, yet hundreds of millions of youth remain out of school. Almost all developing countries still have pockets of children from excluded social groups who do not attend school. Tackling the learning crisis and skills gaps requires dagnosing their causes, both their immediate causes at the school level and their deeper systematic drives. Given all the investment countries have made in education, shortfalls in learning are discouraging. But one reason for them is that learning has not always received the attention it should have. Acting effectively requires first understanding how schools are failing learners and how systems are failing schools. Successful educational systems combine both alignment and coherence. Alignment means that learning goal of the various components of the system. Coherence means that the components reinforce each other in achieving whatever goals the system has set for them. When systems achieve both, they are much more likely to promote student learning. Too much misalignment or incoherence leads to failure to achieve learning. Learning outcomes won't change unless education systems take learning seriously and use learning as a guide and metric. This idea can be summarized as "all for learning." As this section explains, a commitment to all for learning, and thus to learning for all implies three complementary strategies: 1) Assess learning - to make it a serious goal. Measure and track learning better; use the results to guide action.  2) Act on evidence - to make schools work for all learners. use evidence to guide innovation and practice.  3) Align actors - to make the whole system work for learning. Tackle the technical and political barriers to learning at scale. Research has expanded our understanding of how the brain works, and therefore how people learn. The brain is malleable throughout life, even if most brain development is completed by early adulthood. The fastest synaptic growth (thus malleability) occurs between until age 3, with growth then gradually slowing. A range of enriching experiences leads to more complex synapses, but cumulative exposure to risk factors (such as neglect or violence) either eliminates synapses associated with healthy brain development, or it consolidates those associated with unhealthy development. experiences affect the architecture of the brain in part because of the hormonal response they trigger. Hormones such as dopamine stimulate information absorption, whereas hormones such as cortisol can shut off learning. Illiteracy at the end of grade two has long-term consequences for two reasons. First, learning is cumulative. Education systems around the world expect students to acquire foundational skills such as reading by grades 1 or 2. Children who can not read by grade 3 fall behind and struggle to catch up. Teachers are the most important determinant of student learning. But high-quality teachers are in short supply. In Latin America, there is evidence that candidates entering the teaching profession are academically weaker than the pool of higher education students. 15 year-olds who identified themselves as interested in a teaching career had much lower PISA  scores than students interested in engineering in every country in the region. Many developingcountries suffer significant losses of instructional time. In Latin America, about 20% of potential instructional time is lost. there are many reasons for this loss of time, including poor training and other demands on teachers, and some teachers may perceive it as justified. This problem is concerning because the bulk of national education budgets goes to teacher salaries. Staff compensation accounts for 80% of public spending in some countries. If one in five school teachers is absent from school, developing countries are wasting considerable resources. The learning crisis is real, but too often education systems operate as if it is not. Many policy makers do not realize how low learning levels are. Others do not acknowledge them or simply equate low learning with low resources. Still, there are reasons for optimism. First, learning is increasingly in the spotlight. Second, learning metrics are generating irrefutable evidence of the learning crisis, thereby creating pressure for action. Third, promising new insights on how to tackle the crisis are becoming available. 

Strengthening Governance Globally: Forecasting the Next 50 Years

              This post is a summary of the book with the title above published in 2014 at   http://pardee.du.edu/sites/default/files/PPHP5ExecutiveSummary_0.pdf

             The book explores the future around the world of domestic governance, conceptualized as a two-way interaction between governments and society. It identifies three dimensions of governance - the provision of security (includingthe reduction of violent conflict), the building of capacity (including the control of corruption) and the broadening and deepening of inclusion - as fundamental to the moden state, and it examines how countries have made, are in the process of making, or have yet to undertake these transitions. We begin this summary with several key messages about longer-term governance futures: the important roles good governance can play in establishing an environment conducive to development and the implications of alternative governance scenarios for human development more broadly. The world has seen sustained movement toward improved governance globally, especially since the end of cold war in 1989. However, today's transitions are different than the broad historical patterns. Whereas contemporary high-income countries progressed sequentially through three historical governance transitions (first improved security, then greater capacity, and finally wider inclusion), today's developing countries are dealing with all three simultaneously. Improved governance facilitates delivery of essential services and improvements in the lives of citizens and enhances the stability and resilience of societies. Globally, there is great positive momentum in both human development and governance improvement. Today's positive trends in education, health, income, and governance help drive virtuous feedback loops that our Base Case scenario suggest are likely to function in coming decades. Good governance can facilitate human development by providing reliable market regulation, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and an institutional means of resolving conflict. Poor governance, on the other hand, can prove a barrier to development through insecurity, ineffectiveness, corruption, and exclusionary practices. The global evolution of governance over the last few hundred years has generally been toward greater sovereignty and domestic jurisdictional security; toward leaders paying closer attention to needs of their populaces and toward greater effectiveness in meeting those needs; and toward competitive, democratic elections and growing inclusion. In strengthening governance globally, we focus on these three transitions involving greater security, stronger capacity, and broader and deeper inclusion because they are fundamental to the development of the modern state. For capable governance, effective use of revenues by governments and a rule of law are also necessary. Over time, developing coutries as a whole have lagged behind high-income countries in terms of corruption reduction, but, high-income countries also still have room for improvement. The transition toward broader inclusion has historically come later than the transition to greater security and enhanced capacity. As states become more secure and effective, failure to also allow greater inclusion can undermine that earlier progress. Sociopolitical supports for inclusion include the free-flow of information, freedom of association, extensive participation in politics, and a cooperative culture of political behavior, each of which can feed into a movement toward democracy. Our forecast of governance is quite positive, with virtuous feedback loops dominating global development patterns over the next 50 years. Much of this positive outlook is due to the progress in key dimensions of human development, in particular, education and health. Rising enrollment in education, improving health and lengthening life-spans, climbing income levels, and falling fertility rates, along with other ongoing socioeconomic changes, all favor stronger governance and further development. Government effectiveness (the ability to use revenue well) is another important aspect of the capacity dimension of governance. The measures government effectiveness is primarily in terms of the level of corruption. The forecast shows most countries progressing toward less corruption as a result of increases in education and income that tend to lead to demands for accountability. The greatest reductions in corruption are likely to be seen in the developing countries of East and Central Asia, Latin America and Europe. The forecast of governance provide us with a reasonable window into the coevolution of advance in human development and governance. However, it is only one window among many possible ones. The Global Challenges scenario is built around a number of storm clouds that are appearing on the forecasting horizon. These storm clouds include: aging populations and the fiscal pressures associated with them; the peaking of oil and gas production and the need to develop alternative, sustainable energy; the rise to global leadership of emerging countries with less democratic histories than those of the countries now in leadership; growing pressure on fresh water supplies; and climate change. We find that the Global Challenges sceanrio does not stop global progress in human development, but it does slow it. Under Global Challenges, the world as a whole could lose more than 40% of the forecasted gains in HDI seen in our forecast. Most striking in our forecasts may be the narrowing on the security dimension, on which we forecast that upper-middle-income countries will converge with high-income countries and that other country categories will make much progress. Our forecasts also antecipate very substantial progress for upper-middle-income countries on the capacity dimension, even as high-income countries advance and raise the bar for all regions of the world. To analyze the four sub-Saharan African countries with the largest population (D.R.Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa). In 2010, these countries lagged far behind the BRIC countries in terms of capacity and especially security. By 2060, we anticipate considerable progress on the continent; with the exception of D.R.Congo, security for Africa's largest countries could be above the level of Brazil today. By 2060, using our Base Case forecast values of the index, no developing region other than Latin America is likely to have reached the average level of governance experienced by high-income countries in 2010.

The Benefits of Online Activism

                   This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published with the title above at  https://storify.com/Amberlin23/the-benefits-of-online-activism. The second article was published in January of 2017 at  http://www.unpan.org/Regions/AsiaPacific/PublicAdministrationNews/tabid/115/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/1467/articleId/53060

           In the past decade, the merits and faults of online activism have been debated among digital media scholars. Some of these scholars believe that net-activism is making it easier than ever to make your voice heard, and therefore increases democracy. Others claim that the internet decreases what they consider to be real-world activism. Essentially, some people believe that online activism will lead to a more active and complete democracy.  This essay will focus on the progressive activist site MoveOn.org to argue that the internet provides an opportunity for increased participation in the democratic process and complements rather than replaces traditional means of political activism.In his article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not Be Tweeted," Malcolm Gladwell claims that, as a society, we have forgotten what it means to be an activist. Gladwell does not appear to buy the assertion that online activists are activists. Gladwell seems to think that social media activism rarely leads to high-risk activism and that only high-risk activism can lead to meaningful change. There are two powerful critiques of Gladwell's argument. Depending on the situation, internet activists can be high-risk activists. For example, in an authoritarian state, an internet activist can be involved in high-risk activism. Even in the U.S. internet activists can be considered high-risk activists. Take the case of Aaron Swartz, at just 26 years old Aaron was being made an example of by federal prosecutors after his conviction that information should be free led him to release scholarly articles from JSTOR's database. Facing up to 35 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines, Aaron hanged himself in his apartment in Brooklyn. Certainly online activism can be considered high-risk activism. The second critique to Gladwell's article is the fact that low-risk activism can in fact lead to meaningful change. In his argument, Gladwell calims that the members of the Facebook page for the Save Darfur Coalition have donated, on average, nine cents each. However with over a million members, they have raised over $115,000 which should be considered meaningful. Furthermore, after Aaron Swartz's death, people were empathetic to the cause of free information and online activists redoubled their efforts. Many people express high hope for future of online activism, but people are deeply divided about whether the online activism will bring about positive change. Most everyone can agree that online activism have effect on political future but disagree about what that change will entail. Palfrey and Gassey are clearly optimistic in their article "Activists." They believe that online activism can lead to a better represented citizenry, at least in the media. Despite some concerns, most scholars have settled on the theory that online activism will enhance democracy. Furthermore, the internet has mobilized average citizens into action. Even with people like Siegel expressing the dangers of increased online participation, hopes are running high about the democratizing of online activism. One common assumption, made by those both for and against online activism, is that the internet is a motivation machine, taking previously disengaged people and turning them into political activists. However, a study conducted by Jennifer Orser, Marc Hooghe, and Sophie Marien found that those people who were active online were likely to be active offline as well. For instance, someone who floods your Facebook wall with political comments and reminders to vote correctly is likely to volunteer, contribute to a campaign, or otherwise participate in the political process outside of the internet. Orser, Hooghe and Marien, in their published report of the study, conclude that the internet works more as a reinforcement tool than a mobilization technique. MoveOn.org recognized early that online activity comes along with offline activity and now this webpage works by harnessing the power of over 8 million progressives activits from across the country. Besides providing an opportunity for individuals to be more active in their government, the internet has also helped to level the playing field between activist groups and well-funded organizations. In the article "Activism, information subsidies, and the internet," author Erich Sommerfeldt claims that the internet have helped activist groups gain professionalism and garner more attention with needing the resources they needed in the past. Palfrey and Gasser's article "Activists" expresses a belief that the internet has given activist groups power enough to compete with resource-rich organizations. They even take it a step further, claiming that because of new highly interactive, easy-to-use applications, professional journalists are not the only people who can determine what the nation talks about. Rather, they say, our social agenda is increasingly determined by our own "observations, experiences and concerns." The fact that social policy can be changed by one person starting a petition is demonstrative of Palfrey and Gasser's claims. I think this essay has demonstrated that despite the naysayers, internet activism goes hand-in-hand with traditional activism, increases participatory democracy, and create real social and political change. Though there were always be those who will doubt and those who will pin their hopes too high, activists will continue on, using all the tools at our disposal in order to make changes in the world we live in.

             Online activism emerged in the early 1990s in the USA and later spread very quickly to all countries. It initially consisted of mass email and E-bulletin board campaigns. Later, organizations such as Avaaz, Change.org, MoveOn.org and other brought civic engagement to a new level and put online activism at the center of political and business decisions. Online activism via petitions and campaigns has become an effective way to raise awareness about important political, economic, cultural and social problems and challenges society is facing. Some governments and parliaments are also creating online petition sites. Thanks to them, citizens have a more direct way to influence policy-making. Wikileaks and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists can be considered different examples of online activism. By revealing thousands of classified documents, these sites are contributing to transparency. Moreover, online political activism is helping to tip the balance in contested electoral campaigns. While online activism is growing in popularity, the rejection this type of activism generates among people also increases. Those people think that online activism is simply encouraging people to passively click in support of a cause rather than take concrete action, which may have a greater impact in bringing about change. We have summarized some of the main advantages and limitations of internet activism. Pros of online activism : 1) Online activism is cost efficient. It requires low effort from the organizers and supporters of a cause. 2) Digital activism is democratizing activism. 3) Online activism is demonstrating the transformational impact of internet on society. There are many examples of online petitions that have worked. 4) As many viral campaigns can attest to, it is an extremely effective means to raise funds if social media campaigns become viral. 5) It generates significant debate and awareness amongst people. "clicktivists" who are simply sharing a link or a post or clicking to endorse a petition, often learn about problems through this process. Some of them will later on find out more about that issue or cause and may end up becoming "fully-fledged activists." The limitations of online activism are: 1) Clicktivists are usually passive activists, they usually get involved because of the hype on social media. 2) Online activism can become hypocritical way of getting peace of mind when we know that we are not doing anything substantial to solve the problems. 3) Although the potential to transform society is real, sometimes the impact of online activism is negative for society. For instance, terrorist groups and xenophobic parties are also using online activism to achieve their goals. 

Human Rights Day 2017

                        Two weeks ago, precisely on Sunday 10th of December all the world celebrated the day of human rights. This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published with the title above at http://www.unesco.org/new/human-rights-day. The second was published at  https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/human-rights-day/. The third was published at  http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/sgmessage.shtml. The fourth was published at              https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass/what-are-human-rights-

                In the wake of the Second World War, humanity, together, resolved to uphold human dignity everywhere and always. In this spirit, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. The Universal Declaration embodies common human aspirations, rooted in different cultures, put clearly in its first words: "the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." Today, the Universal Declaration emters its 70th year of existence at a time of rising challenge. Hundreds of millions of women and men are destitute, deprived of basic livehoods and opportunities. Human rights must be the bedrock for all progress moving forward. This must start as early as possible, on the benches of schools. UNESCO is leading human rights education today and is launching its Global Education Monitoring Report on Youth and a campaign encouraging youth to hold governments accountable for ensuring everyone's right to education.

               Every often a thing comes to pass that is of such astounding importance that we must stand up and recognize it. We must place this thing on the pedestal it deserves, and ensure that policies put in place by it are adhered to, appreciated, and spread as far as the human voice will carry. Such is the sort of message sent by Human Rights Day. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was a shout across the world, stating loud and clear that no matter where we live, what we believe, or how we love, we are each individually deserving of the basic fundamentals of human needs. Every year Human Rights Day marks conferences around the world dedicated to ensuring that these ideals are pursued. The first and foremost way to celebrate Human Rights Day is to take some time to appreciate the effect that this resolution has had on your life. The next step is to get out and make a difference, whether it is simply making a donation or you own help those organizations or people fighting the good fight.

               This year's commemoration of Human Rights Day marks the beginning of a year-long celebration of seven decades since the adoption of one of the world's most far-reaching international agreements. The UDHR establishes the dignity of every human being and stipulates that every government has a core duty to enable all people to enjoy all their inalienable rights and freedoms. We all have a right to live free from all forms of discrimination. We have a right to education, health care, and economic opportunities. We have rights to privacy and justice. These rights are relevant to all of us, every day. Since the proclamation of the UDHR in 1948, human rights have been one of the three pillars of the UN, along with peace and development. While human rights abuses did not end when the UDHR was adopted, the UDHR has helped countless people to gain greater freedom and security. Despite these advances, the UDHR is being tested in all regions. We see rising hostility towards human rights and those who defend them by people who want to profit from exploitation and division. On this Human Rights Day, I, the UN Secretary-General want to acknowledge the brave human rights defenders, who work every day, sometimes in grave peril, to uphold human rights around the world. I urge people and leaders everywhere to stand up for all human rights, civil, political,  and social rights and for the values that underpin our hopes for a fairer, safer and better world for all.

               Human rights are like armour: they protect you; they are like rules, because they tell you how you can behave; and they are like judges, because you can appeal to them. They belong to everyone and they exist no matter what happens. They are like nature because they can be violated; and like the spirit because they can not be destroyed. They offer us respect, and they charge us to treat others with respect. Like goodness, truth and justice, we may sometimes disagree about their definition, but we recognise them when we see them. An acceptance of human rights means accepting that everyone is entitled to make certain claims: I have these rights, no matter what you say or do, because I am a human being, just like you.Human rights are inherent to all human beings as a birthright. Two of the key values that lie at the core of the idea of human rights are human dignity and equality. Human rights can be understood as defining those basic standards which are necessary for a life of dignity. Human rights receive support from every culture in the world, every civilised government and every major religion. It is recognised almost universally that state power can not be unlimited or arbitrary. We shall look at the legal mechanisms that exist for protecting the different areas of people's interests. In Europe, but also and the Americas, there is a court to deal with complaints about violations. One important role in exerting pressure on states is played by associations, NGOs, and other civic initiative groups. Realising rights means facing a range of obstacles. Firstly, some governments, political parties or candidates, social and economic players use the language of human rights without a commitment to human rights objectives. Secondly, governments, political parties or candidates may criticise human rights violations by others but fail to uphold human rights standards themselves. Thirdly, there are cases when human rights are restricted in the name of protecting the rights of others. Exerting your rights should not impinge on other's enjoyment of their rights. An active civil society and an independent judiciary is important in monitoring such cases. 

350th Birthday of Jonathan Swift - Part II

                    The tribute to Swift carries on this week, his novel "Gulliver Travels can be considered as the first dystopian novel written in the world literature. He already was concerned with the injustices and abuse of power in the beginning of the XVIII century. We must work every day to improve democracy, human rights and justice.  This post is a summary of a dissertation, This paper was published  at   http://www.academia.edu/31811384/GULLIVERS_TRAVEL_AS_A_DYSTOPIAN_NOVEL

          Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver Travels" is one of the most famous satires written in the history of English Literature. Unlike utopias, dystopias often refer to totalitarian societies and restricted personal freedom. They appeared in the 19th century and their number increased strongly during the last hundred years. Dystopias critically reflect social imbalances and the lack of essential and personal liberty. This novel contains utopian and dystopian elements within with the broader scope of satire. Jonathan Swift with the use of irony and sarcasm talks about both of an ideal society which is a utopia and of the real world which is dystopia in all the four parts of the novel, through various aspects. Swift generates "parallel universes", inhabited by weird beings and illogical realities, yet this can not be done without the characteristics traits of a world outlined with powerful objectivity. Eventough the novel contains utopian elements, still we find dystopian elements as well, beautifully portrayed by Swift through the images of the Houyhnhms and the Yahoos respectively. The utopian and dystopian outlook has been clearly conveyed in this novel. "Gulliver Travels" is a dystopian novel because Gulliver faces the same ups and downs, witnesses certain human follies as Swift had endured in England. Swift's sufferings and struggles, his wrath against the Queen of England and the English society made him write this great satirical novel. Swift like many others of his age, contributed a great deal to the development of what is called the "modern" prose style. Swift's writing is clear, pointed and precise. Swift's satire is pre-eminently intellectual. He has an incisive power of logic. Even those who have criticised his works, have not denied the "sheer force of his mind." Dystopian novel refers to a society that is dysfunctional and characterized by general suffering of the people, an opposite of utopia. The dystopian stories are often stories of survival, their primary theme is oppression and rebellion. The environment plays an important role in dystopian depiction. Dystopian stories take place in the large cities devastated by pollution. In every dystopian story, there is a back story of war, revolutions, and even some disaster. Dystopian novels consist in few common traits: 1) A hierarchical society where divisions between upper, middle and lower classses are definitive and unbending.  2) A nation-state ruled by an upper class with few democratic ideals. 3) Propaganda controlling people's minds. 4) Free thinking and independent thought is banned.  Many works combine utopias and dystopias. Typically, an observer will travel to another place or time and see one society the author considers ideal, an another representing the worst possible outcome. Dystopias are frequently written as warnings or satires, showing current trends extrapolated to a nightmarish conclusion. Dystopian fiction is the portrayal of a setting that completely disagrees with the author's ethos. Swift's dramatic satire led to the creation of his dystopias which is essentially fruitful, and thus capable of generating an undeniable curative function. Gulliver's Travels is considered one of the most important works in the history of world literature. The general theme is a satirical examination of human nature, man's potential for depravity, and the dangers of the misuse of reason. In this novel, the notion of estrangement can be traced in all four books. in book 1, Gulliver's Travel to Lilliput inhabited by small humans, resembles the world of similar social and political systems of monarchy and hierarchies. This place sounds like a miniature and more absurd England, as the description of the land and government continues it becomes clear that the Lilliputian suffer from the same flaws inherent in English society ( pompous government, rebellions over relatively minor issues, and a tendency to over-regulate the more mundane aspects of life ). By emphasising the short height of the Lilliputians, he graphically diminishes the stature of all human nature. And using the fire in Queen's chamber, the rope dancers, and the inventory of Gulliver's pockets, he presents a series of illusions that were identifiable to his contemporaries as critical of Whig politics. The legal codes in Lilliput are based on European models, but they all have an added clause that differentiates them from England. The Lilliputian decree in one of the important quotes, "All crimes against the state are punished with the utmost severity; but if the person accused make his innocence plainly to appear on his trial, the accuser is put to death, and the person that was accused is compensated for his trouble." The Lilliputians have a well-established class system that is similar to that of England. Gulliver remarks on the fact, "Whoever there can bring sufficient proof that he hath strictly observed the laws of his country for seventy-three moons, hath a claim to certain privileges. This eliminates class privileges." In the second book, Swift reverses the size relationship used in book 1. Now in Brobdingnag, Gulliver is a midget. Swift uses this difference to express a difference in morality. The Brobdingnagians are not perfect but are moral. Only the immature and the psycological deformed are intentionally evil. After relating the details of English society and politics to ttheir king, The king was perfectly astonished with the historical accounts given by conspiracy, murders, massacres, revolutions, the very worst efects that avarice, hypocrisy, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, lust, envy, mallice and other evil could produce. The king calls the English as "odious vermin." In book 3, the "Floating Island" of Laputa itself contains all science fictional elements. Laputan systematizing is a manifestation of proud rationalism. Swift shows that philology and scholarship betray the best interests of the Luggnaggians; pragmatic scientism fails in Balnibardii; and accumulated experience does not make the Struldbruggs either happy or wise. In his topical political references, Swift demonstrates the viciousness and cruelty, as well as the folly, that arise from abstract political theory imposed by selfish politicians. the common people, Swift says, suffer. In book 4, Gulliver's crew abandons him on an island where he is plunged into a world governed by the Houyhnhnms who live in accordance with pure reason and nature, that is also populated by a race of savage human beings called Yahoos, who live only for vice and squalor. The Houyhnhnms represent utopia and the Yahoos represent dystopia. The Houyhnhnms embody prefection, they have not word in their language to express lying or falsehood. Friendship and benevolence are the two principle virtues among them. Yahoos seem to represent the filth, greed, hatred and selfishness of human nature. These speechless humans and exemplify human flaws in primitive ways. The Yahoos were known to hate one another. They are dual charactered humans. Man is an infinitely complex animal; he is a mixture of intellect and reason, charity and emotion. But few people see Man as the grey matter of varying qualities. Gulliver's Travels represents a "double-edged" satire which simultaneously shows that humanity does not measure up to its own standard. The societies experienced by Gulliver during his voyage have certain flaws more or less similar to the English society. This novel shares some aspects of science fiction genre in its use of the estrangement technique and the use of utopia and dystopia in its context. The questions raised in this book are, our realization of social faults and the depiction of man in several conditions with its strengths and weakness both in body and mind.

350th Birthday of Jonathan Swift

                Almost two weeks ago, precisely on 30th November, the Irish writer Jonathan Swift would complete 350 years old, so this post is a tribute to him. He tried to improve politics and a fairer democracy with respect for human rights. This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift. The second was published at  http://enlightenment-revolution.org/index.php/Swift%2C_Jonathan. The third was published at  https://freebooksummary.com/pride-and-arrogance-in-gullivers-travels-41488. The fourth was published  http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/downlofunc=downloadFile&recordOId=8926056&fileOId=89260

               Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift. His father joined his older brother, Godwin, in the practice of law and he died about seven months before his son was born. His mother returned to England after his birth, leaving him in the care of his Uncle Godwin, a close friend of Sir John Temple whose son later employed Swift as his secretary. he attended Dublin University in 1682, financed by Godwin's son Willoughby. The four year course followed a curriculum largely set in the Middle Ages for the priesthood. The lectures were dominated by Aristotelian logic and philosophy. Swift was studying for his master's degree when political troubles in Ireland surrounding the Glorious Revolution forced him to leave for England in 1688, where his mother helped him get a position as secretary and personal assistant of Sir William Temple. Temple was an English diplomat who arranged the Triple Alliance of 1688. During his visits to England in these years, Swift published A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books (1704), and began to gain a reputation as a writer. This led to close, lifelong friendship with Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot, forming the core of the Scriblerus Club (1713). Swift became increasingly active politically in these years. In 1711, Swift published the political pamphlet The Conduct of the Allies, attacking the Whig government for its inability to end the prolonged war with france. Swift was part of the inner circle of the Tory government, and often acted as mediator between Henry St John, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, and Robert Harley prime minister. Swift recorded his experiences and thoughts during this difficult time in a long series of letters to Esther Johnson, collected and published after his death as A Journal to Stella.  Once in Ireland, Swift began to turn his pamphleteering skills in support of Irish causes, producing some of his most memorable works: Proposal for Universal Use of Irish Manufacture (1720), Drapier's Letters (1724), and A Modest Proposal (1729), earning him the status of an Irish patriot. This new role was unwelcome to the government, which made clumsy attempts to silence him. Also during these years, he began writing his masterpiece, Travels into Several Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, better known as Gulliver's Travels. Much of the material reflects his political experiences of the preceding decade. For instance, the episode in which the giant Gulliver puts out the Lilliputian palace fire by urinating on it can be seen as a metaphor for the Tories's illegal peace treaty; having done a good thing in an unfortunate manner.  First published in November 1726, it was an immediate hit, with a total of three printings that year. French, German, and Dutch translations appeared in 1727. As with his other writings, this was published under a pseudonym, the fictional Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon and later a sea captain. Though it has often mistakenly thought of as a children's book, it is a great and sophisticated satire of human nature based on Swift's experience of his times. Each of the four books, recounting four voyages to mostly fictional exotic lands, has a different theme, but all are attempts to deflate human pride. Critics hail the work as a satiric reflection on the shortcomings of Enlightenment thought.

              Jonathan Swift was one of the eighteenth century's great writers. Alert to all manner of phoniness, endowed with remarkable talents for parody, and skeptical of modern trends, Swift was satirist who exposed the moral failings of his age. Though disappointed he received noecclesiastic appointment in England, he emerged as a major figure in English political and literary life. He advised the leaders of the Tory Party, wrote influential political articles in The Examiner and pamphlets, and helped formed the Scriblerous Club, a literary society. Swift published in 1704 A Tale of a Tub, considered his finest satire by many. The book presents an alegory of religious history through the lives of three brothers, Peter. Martin, and Jack, who respectively represent the catholic church, the Church of England, and Non-Conformism. The story of the quarrelsome brothers illuminates the troubled history of organized Christianity. Swift single out Peter and Jack as satiric targets for their tendency to go to extremes of self-glorification and self-abasement. In 1726 Swift published his masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels. Divided into four parts, each recounting one of Gulliver's voyages, the book offers different analytic perspective on England, history, and humanity.  Part I narrates Gulliver's shipwreck on Lilliput, a land of tiny people that symbolize contemporary English. The Lilliputians's diminutive stature speaks volumes about Swift's assessment of his contemporaries: like the English, they have an inflated sense of themselves, a morally debased political culture, and a limitless lust for power, all of which makes them contemptible and dangerous. Part IV, in which Gulliver discovers a land inhabited by animal-like humans (Yahoos) and rational horses (Houyhnhyms), deepens Swift's critique of his contemporaries. The savage Yahoo represent what humans can become, but Swift also suggest that Europeans are worse, for they have all the Yahoo vices but have institutionalized and magnified them, (e.g., whereas the Yahoos squabble, Europeans wage wars). The ultra-rational Houyhnhyms seem to represent an ideal, but their passionless lives and readiness to exterminate the noxious Yahoos suggest otherwise. That Gulliver's decision to emulate them leads to profound alienation, from his family and all humanity. At the heart of Swift's major writings, which are unmatched in imaginative ingenuity, lies a profound anxiety over Enlightenment. Swift subject to devastating satiric treatment the central tenets of thought, that man is innately good, that guided by modern science human beings will progress, and that progress depend upon deliverance from old beliefs that do not meet the test of reason. Swift believed such thinking was leading humankind terribly astray and constituted a monstrous act of hubris in which man attempted to usurp God's role.

             In Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's adventures and experiences satirize many aspects of human nature. Pride and arrogance are reoccurring themes that make up the most of Swift's satire. Pride and arrogance is shown by the characters in Gulliver's travels. Politics earn Swift's greatest critical disapprobation. Through his supposed characters's observation, Swift levels an indifferent screed against the pettiness of politics and its degrading nature on the human spirit.He does this by focusing on the monarchy and parliaments of the nations he has created. During the voyages to Lilliput and Brobdingnag, Swift devotes whole passages explicating their political and social customs. These passages serve a satirical purpose by pointing out how petty and ridiculous politics can be. The reader, for who the narrator acts as eyes and ears to the universe he encopunters, is meant to find these social and political customs silly. But there is serious business involved in these passages. Here Swift is satirizing political values and the arrogance with which Europeans regard their form of authority and beliefs. 

              Gulliver's Travels contain satiric examination of the human condition within fantastic or unnatural settings. Swift became known for his loquacious antiestablishmentarian, in the sense that Swift frequently directed his criticism at the upper echelons of English's authoritarian, class-divided and colonial society. As this study will demonstrate, there are separate breaks in the narrative while simultaneously urging the reader's attention to compare the situation with matters of society.  That Swift is criticizing oppression is clear enough. What may not come through without the prerequisite knowledge is that the original criticism was directed at the British colonial rule and its treatment to the Irish population. It is interesting to note that much of Swift's contemporaneous satirical criticism is still applicable to modern society, albeit in a different context.