The self comes to know itself by retelling itself : beliefs, identities, and human rights

Abstract

Human rights educators often speak of individual rights that human beings possess by virtue of our common humanity. Citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, educators proclaim the “inherent dignity” of and the “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” Ironically, however, by referring to “the” individual rather than to specific individuals, we reject the human and the personal in favor of the abstract and impersonal. The educational methodologies described in this article — grounded in years of real-world work with frontline human rights practitioners, advocates, educators, and scholars — attempt to bring the self into the human rights equation. These methodologies demand not only active interaction with human rights issues but also a strong dose of self-reflection. In a sense, these educational tools not only are concerned with learning about human rights but also provide an opportunity to learn about ourselves and our sense of ourselves and, in so doing, encountering all that we humans can do and should be with one another, locally and globally.