In The Future of Women’s Rights: Global Visions & Strategies / Joanna Kerr, Ellen Sprenger, and Alison Symington (eds.)
In the last quarter of the 20th century we witnessed a blossoming of women’s movements. Across the world women are now active in unprecedented numbers, conscious of the need to be involved in the decisions that affect their future. We must insist that the rights of women are rooted in history rather than culture. We must take a new look at the structure of human relations broadly defined, and achieve a balance between the sexes not only in the public arena but also at the level of family. We must change the systemic tendency of globalization by infusing it with feminist ideals. And women everywhere must help women everywhere to become leaders. Then as we negotiate our passage into the new century, our movements will be the force that shapes the future.
In Gozaar: A Forum on Human Rights and Democracy in Iran
If human beings, including Iranian women, are to be free, which is an essential prerequisite of their security, they must be in a position to choose freely what to think, what to say, what to do, and, of course, how to relate, or not to relate, to God. This cannot be had if government and religion are one.
In The Scholar and Feminist Online
The sudden loss of identity started me on a search for the sources of my “self”. This journey was to take me to a deeper layer of feelings, thoughts, and experiences that I had not known before, and on which, now, I was to build a new identity.
In Social Research
Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace organized a conversation to map out an approach to a definition of the concept of human security. The participants discussed the concept of human security in order to identify the parameters as well as the limits of the traditional definition of human security, and to broaden it to encompass a wider spectrum of both human material and spiritual needs. They agreed to base their discussion on a value system that puts people’s welfare at, the center; emphasizes power sharing at all levels; and promotes an economic framework that encourages sustainable development, social justice, human rights, gender equality; and democracy. The conversation is a prelude to organizing a policy action group on human security with the support of the WLP and the Commission on Globalization.
In Remembering Childhood in the Middle East: Memoirs from a Century of Change
Powerful as my grandfather was, he was overshadowed by the status and authority of my grandmother, who was a Qajar princess. I knew that Grandfather was sick. That particular afternoon, the doctor walked into the room and didn’t come out for a long time. Then, suddenly, my mother rushed out. She took my hand and told me that in a hushed voice that my grandfather wanted to see me. He looked at me with gray, watery eyes and patted my head and said something I couldn’t understand. That night, Grandfather died and the whole household was flung into a new era.
In To Mend the World: Women Reflect on 9/11
We seem to have passed the era of absolutes. We have the ability to achieve, if we master the necessary goodwill, a common global society blessed with a shared culture of peace that is nourished by the ethnic, national, and local diversities that enrich our lives. To achieve this blessing, however, we must assess our present situation realistically, assign moral and practical responsibility to individuals, communities, and countries commensurate with their objective ability and, most importantly, subordinate power in all its manifestations to our shared human values.
In Women in Iran From the Rise of Islam to the Islamic Republic / Lois Beck and Guity Nashat (eds.) / 2002
This article is an account of the women’s movement in pre-revolutionary Iran. The focus is on the activities of the Women’s Organization of Iran (WOI) and its interactions with the government, the court, the clergy, and other conservative forces during the two decades preceding the Islamic revolution. Much of the article, particularly where the story of WOI is concerned, is based on the author’s personal knowledge and experience as WOI’s secretary general between 1970 and 1978.
In Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women
To lead is to communicate. For leadership to exist, we need at least two people who in some way relate to each other. No one can lead in isolation. Leadership, therefore, is a form of communication. Leadership is also an influence process; it is about going somewhere. To go somewhere, one needs to have a goal, a vision. Leadership, therefore, cannot be aimless. It has to have direction or it is not leadership.
In Raising Our Voices / The Global Fund for Women
We are now in the midst of a communications revolution that is changing the nature of power. Information technology has made communicating globally as easy as conversing locally, forcing governments and companies to further reorient themselves to the requirements of global competition. Nation states are being squeezed between the demands of global competition and the social needs of local populations. Globalization has already widened the gap separating the haves and have-nots everywhere. Unless we harness the evolving technology, the future, potentially bright, will descend darkly, without our knowledge, input, or permission. What we must do is harness technology’s powers for our own uses.
In Women, Gender, and Human Rights: A Global Perspective / Marjorie Agosín (ed.)
In modern times, women have moved from the margins to the center of history playing increasingly important roles in families, communities, and states across the world. As women became increasingly aware and assertive, their demands for equality, participation, and access elicited reactions that range from curtailing their right to the privacy of their bodies and minds to policies that deny them experiences that are essential to their ability to compete in society. The infringement of women’s rights is usually exercised in the name of tradition, religion, social cohesion, morality, or some complex of transcendent values. Always, it is justified in the name of culture.
Thursday, July 1, 2004