Financial Globalization and Human Rights: Defining the Research Agenda
February 16, 2008
The conference explored three principal questions. First, whether private capital, in the form of sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, and financial markets, has rendered public capital from sources like the World Bank irrelevant to international development. Second, when states and firms make deals for large-scale development projects, what are the implications for state sovereignty and local communities. Third, whether states that rely heavily on revenue from the sale of natural resources less democratic and more likely to engage in human rights abuses than other states. [Download handout (pdf)]
Investigating the Effects of Development and Tourism
We worked with a network of community-based organizations in and around Narok, Kenya, to find locally-acceptable strategies to mitigate the harm caused to local communities by wildlife from the Maasi Mara wildlife preserve. This was a collaboration involving Prof. Nancy Benson, from the College of Communication at the University of Illinois. [View video documentary]
Operationalizing Global Governance
In collaboration with the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, participants studied the impact of globalization on the rising networks of both state and non-state actors who are increasingly responsible for addressing complex world issues such as the protection of human rights and the achievement of sustainable environmental practices. [View Conference site]
