Category: Debatables

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Debatables

In which people stand up and sit in arm chairs and yell a lot

By Matt Whiteman

One of our colleagues and occasional contributors, Tanja Bergen, was criticized in the Provice today for a rant she wrote for us at 3 in the morning in which she criticizes ignorant (yet well-meaning) celebrities for oversimplifying something kind of important.

As the principal writer for this blog (and Tanja’s room mate), I want to state that I fully support 3am rants against overly-privileged people who exploit human guilt and encroach upon productive debate around something that’s already pretty awful such as mass rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Never mind that the author of the article in the Province didn’t cite his sources (hint: us), denying Tanja any sort of context for the single, cherry picked line… readers are further distracted from more pressing issues (for example, what the connections are between (trans)national corporations and conflict in the Global South, or what the United States’ real motivations for sending thousands of troops to Haiti might be) and are reduced to squabbling over the questionable behaviour of celebrity figureheads.

I do however, thank Ethan Baron for at least portraying the Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition in a positive light, as it well deserves.

Badvocacy needs to be squashed, no matter where it comes from, and that’s part of what Tanja and company do.

***

Here is the response I left:

I love it. Armchair critics criticizing legitimate activists criticizing armchair celebrity activists criticizing rapists. I feel like I’m in a Beckett play. Or maybe Tom Stoppard.

Attention all ye anonymous strangers who criticize Ms. Bergen for “blather[ing] about what other people are doing, do[ing] nothing themselves, then mov[ing] on to the next story they can critizise [sic]”… pay a visit to the Africa Canada Accountability Coalition website: http://acacdrcongo.org/ and actually look at the work being done by she and her colleagues before making accusations of armchair criticism.

A question we should all ask ourselves – celebrities included – is “who is being served by my actions?” We all have conflicting motivations for our behaviour, but what I do take issue with is that while lending your voice in solidarity is always well-intentioned, it is usually more harmful than helpful.

It is so easy to homogenize incredible complexity, and most people do it when talking about something they don’t understand. It is perfectly reasonable to criticize somebody such as Sienna Miller for perpetuating harmful stereotypes or for oversimplifying an issue as complex as rape in the DRC. Responsible advocates criticize anybody who exhibits ignorant, harmful behaviour – they don’t discriminate.

Of course you hear the criticism of celebrities more often. That’s why they are celebrities. To accuse people of taking pot shots at celebrities is a bit of a sampling bias there folks, don’tcha think?

To pose the question of “who cares why anyone does charity work so long as it’s being done?” is to incorrectly assume that the charity paradigm is inherently a good one. Why not focus on social justice or critical consciousness instead, which means respecting human dignity and valuing competence rather than paternalism.

Or as a friend of mine rhetorically pondered: “Who is served by the Make Poverty History Campaign? Why, I wonder, isn’t there a campaign called Make Affluence History?”

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Debatables

Engagement in Haiti

By the EIESL Project Team

Several students have approached the EIESL Team asking how they can participate in the relief efforts for Haiti. Firstly, our formal role as a project is to develop our individual and collective capacity to participate in an ethically sustainable manner. In any crisis situation, the immediate need is for qualified and experienced emergency workers and logisticians, with the skills and capacity to begin to address the crisis effectively. Here at home, we can begin to participate in a number of ways, through dialogue, effective communication, and fundraising for “legitimate” relief efforts (e.g. MSF, Red Cross).

We cordially invite you to share your ideas on our blog about how we can most effectively engage from home. If you’ve never heard about Haiti, what do you know about it? What have we learned from the Tsunami in South Asia and from Hurricane Katrina?

We anticipate a substantial genesis of  ISL/volunteerism programs of all shapes and sizes over the next few months and into the summer during the rebuilding phase in Haiti. Compassionate volunteers will without a doubt flow into Port-Au-Prince eager to contribute, and their fervour will be commendable.

However, there is no better situation to exemplify the gravity of the ethical implications of service that we at the EIESL Project aim to put forth. This is an issue of competency:

If you do not have the appropriate skills to capably and responsibly enter this community and the situation it faces, which now more than ever can be described as ‘vulnerable’, you do not belong there.

Realize this with humility, and accept that although you may feel a helpless urgency, even with the best of intentions, you can do  much greater harm than good by being ill-prepared.

The EIESL Project Team is currently in talks to plan for a dialogue on what a responsible course of action might be during this later phase, once the situation becomes less critical.

*****

A quick note

By Matt Whiteman

Following from the note above, I heard a story of note on the radio this morning. Here’s a digital version.

Before I continue, I want to acknowledge that these are real people, and that they are somebody’s children. The earthquake and aftermath has produced a situation of unspeakable horror, and I stand quarely in solidarity with all those affected. The EIESL project members, like many others, are dialoguing to find the course of action that is most suitable to our collective capabilities. With the discussion below, I mean no disrespect whatsoever, and I welcome feedback from those who wish to give it.

On the subject of ethical engagement however, I began to wonder: why are there 18 high school students from Nelson, BC in Haiti?

What could they possibly know about “setting up a farm”? or about Haiti for that matter?

As a descriptor, “unprepared” just doesn’t cut it.

Another thing to think about as this story evolves: as you look at photographs depicting vulnerable people, think to yourself “is it okay to even take these photographs, let alone display them in public for anyone to see?”

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Debatables

Coolest. Christmas gift. Ever.

By Matt Whiteman

As a non-religious person, I’ve asked myself for a number of years, “what does Christmas even mean to me?” Without putting too fine a point on it, for me, the Christmas tree is a wasteful and empty symbol. I don’t need it to get together with my family, nor to feel festive… and the presents have certainly never needed shelter from the snow. Our decorations are tacky and possess no sentimental value to me, and the decorating process always feels tedious and inevitably sparks petty conflict. None of us have ever practiced religion. But like many Canadian families, we’ve celebrated Christmas every year, and it hasn’t really made sense to me for many years.

Since entering university, the wishlist I send my family every October has been fairly modest, but I couldn’t properly express my discontent for a long time. This year, the thought of a Christmas tree in my house stuffed with gifts felt particularly unpalatable. Without trying to seem pretentious or ungrateful, or to paint myself as a yuppie liberal in sympathetic cahoots with the poor (see the video “How Not to Write About Africa“), I felt our holiday as a whole lacked a level of consciousness that I strive to explore and sustain in the rest of my life.

This year, I asked my family members, as a gift to me, to volunteer a few hours of their time for the United Way. I asked them to offset flights for carbon. I asked them to watch The Girl Effect and consider how they might respond to it (I did also ask for my standard books, socks, and roasted pistachios). All these things I got from one person or another. My parents even surprised me by decorating my mother’s yucca plant before I arrived, rather than getting a tree (oh how I wish I’d remembered to take a photograph!). This was a fair (and hilarious) compromise between my request and the members of my family who do still value the tree.

But the coolest thing I got came from my parents. They live in Gordon O’Connor’s riding in Ottawa. O’Connor voted against Bill C-300, which was tabled to address the irresponsible Canadian mining practices abroad, most notably in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (for the real skinny on this issue, visit our friends over at ACAC).

I asked my parents to write a letter to him, urging him to vote in favour of the Bill at its third reading (can I get a woot! for our prorogued parliament?!).

They did, and here it is.

I was so grateful for this that I was speechless. It is well written. The three of us think that the reply was a wholly inadequate response to a major global challenge. I won’t post the whole thing here; however, it concludes with the following:

“Passing Bill C-300 would represent a step backwards for Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada, and for Canadian business.

While the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development is currently studying the bill, this Government cannot support it because not only are there problems with the legislation, but if passed, Bill C-300 would undermine the competitive position of Canadian companies and potentially render Canada a less attractive jurisdiction for mining investment.”

We are not amused. There’s more, but I’ll leave it at that. The point is that I found a way for Christmas and I to more or less peacefully co-exist.  Yes, UBC, you’ve trained me well, I’m now turning my private family matters into experiments in global citizenship. Little do you know my nefarious plan to turn every holiday into a super social justice extravaganza, mua ha ha ha.

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Debatables

5 Important Questions

By Matt Whiteman

In order to reach as broad an audience as possible (in our humble way…), I’ll re-post 5 questions from the fantastic blog, Wronging Rights. Read them over, tell us how you’d answer the questions, and then read this post… then this one.

1. Is it ever appropriate for foreign citizens, governments, or international institutions to intervene in crises overseas?

2. If the answer to #1 is “yes,” then when is it appropriate?

3. Do we know how to do it? That is, do we understand the technological means that will allow us to accomplish our stated goals?

4. If so, are those means available to us?

5. If they are, are we willing to expend the resources necessary to use those means?

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Debatables

Falling Whistles

By Matt Whiteman

Okay, for anyone who has read Ishmael Beah’s Long Way Gone or who knows anything about the Congo (or even if you haven’t/don’t), can you poke holes in this 2 minute video? It’s like the girl effect video, but more of a downer.

I say tough call. “THEIR WEAPON = OUR VOICE” >> kinda yikes… definitely oversimplified, but with human attention being a commodity, the video did exactly what it should have done…

Obviously, DR Congo ≠ child soldiers, rape and lions, but if it means more people trying to hold those prolonging the conflict to account, is that better than complete silence and apathy?  Does this  allow  people to symbolize their solidarity, or is this just more badvocacy? A friend pointed out that it’s sorta like “now you too can play child soldier” and that in itself is offensive enough.

As for sad music + saviour man… well, dime a dozen perhaps, but at least he admits it began with wanderlust, admits that he learned more than he bargained for, and at least he remains in the background to some extent.

An effective ad campaign, no doubt – and after reading Ishmael Beah’s story, it’s tough to argue against rehabilitation of child soldiers (as one part of a much larger issue). It’s also one of those issues that is impossible to fit onto a t-shirt and have it remain totally PC.

At first glance, I think to be even more transparent, they should post their reports with budgets etc. I’d also include a section where people can access resources to learn more about the conflict if they have more questions (Gérard Prunier’s book, for one). I wasn’t as outraged by this as I have been by some other campaigns, until I got to the photo journal (on the main page after the video, go to “story”).  A large helping of  white man’s guilt, accompanied by a hefty slice of “we are helping!”. They effectively “Other” the people of the DRC back to the 15th century. Come on guys, watch your language.

On the one hand, you’re buying a $300 trinket. On the other hand, the war whistle is a haunting gift if you imagine how it started (and this is totally my imagination and in no way represents reality, by the way). Guy comes home in pain but with overwhelming ambition – family and friends expect beautiful artisanal handicrafts from archetypal ‘noble Africans’ and instead he gives them a whistle carried by a small child in a war zone. I respect that he notes the “powerful irony” associated with the item, that “In DR Congo it is used as tool for war, but here at home it is a symbol of freedom.”[1] If I were the one receiving the gift and didn’t already know about the DRC, I’d probably jump on board as well. It all fits together really well; he tells a ‘tidy’ story (although perhaps a little too tidy in some ways). Regardless, I think when a campaign grows to this size, it becomes far easier to poke holes in it. Credit where credit is due, I think.

A friend who I think very wise always says to me that to understand an issue like this one, you can’t just critically analyze it. You have to feel it. This is what the campaign does.

Lastly, they quote this man, whose words echo Paulo Freire:

“If you came to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you came because your liberation is bound together with mine, then let us walk together.”[2]

~Just some fella living through a war

That’s something I can get behind.

—

[1] Retrieved Tuesday, December 15th, 2009. “Just A Bunch Of Kids: A FALLING WHISTLES BENEFIT”. Here.

[2] Ibid.

Categories
Debatables Personal Experience

Africa and Africans

by Matt Whiteman

I found this book on a friend’s shelf yesterday. It was from when her dad did his undergraduate degree, which was probably at least 40 years ago.

In case you’re wondering why I’m posting this picture, let me remind you that

“Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say ‘Africa’. In reality, except as a geographical appellation, Africa does not exist.”

~ Ryszard Kapuściński

Africa and Africans book

All I can say is, I’m glad (most of) academia has since become more conscious of the way they title their material.

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Contributions Debatables Videos

The Ethics of Development: Think About It

by Matt Whiteman

A brilliant 4-minute video that was produced by students at the University of British Columbia. It was made for a student-directed seminar supervised by Dr. Shafik Dharamsi on the Ethics of International Development by: Angela Paley, Alice Huang, Stephanie Ngo, and Lucinda Yeung.

https://il.youtube.com/watch?v=zqjPPNObBh4&feature=related

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Debatables

Why the AMS/UN debacle infuriates me (from an EIESL related perspective)

By Trisha Taneja

This afternoon, AMS President Blake Frederick (along with UBC graduate and former AMS VP Administration Tristan Markle) filed a complaint to the United Nations (I kid you not) stating that Canada has engaged  in “a consistent pattern of gross human rights violation” by not ensuring that post-secondary education is accessible to everyone.

According to article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.” Frederick says that since tuition fees have been on the rise and government funding for post-secondary education (both to universities and students through grants and bursaries) in decline, the UN should hold Canada accountable. And this complaint was filed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

There are so many (oh, so many) issues with this, I don’t even know where to start. Leaving aside the political ramifications and the fact that Frederick has made UBC a national (if not international) laughing stock, let us focus for a moment on this whole human rights business.

Earlier this semester as a part of EIESL we discussed how aid and human rights has become almost a trend. Celebrities from Bono to Oprah Winfrey have been spreading the word and drawing public attention to aid, orphans, human rights violations- you name it. Everything now days is apparently a human rights violation; human rights is the buzzword of the day to draw media attention to whatever cause. And now apparently, it is the media drawing word for the AMS. And make no mistake; this is nothing more than a media-stunt. What can the AMS actually expect from the UN? I mean, let’s have a little perspective- do they even have any idea of what constitutes a human rights violation? Logically, this move by the AMS makes no sense whatsoever.

Let’s consider where we stand in terms of education. Firstly, we are lucky to have public schooling up until post secondary. Secondly, we are lucky to have a fairly low tuition rate as compared to other schools that are internationally competitive. Thirdly, yes, we have been facing tuition hikes. Yes, it is unfair. However, we are still lucky not have suffered Berkeley’s recent 32% hike in tuition. And yes, there have been funding cuts to post secondary education, and to student aid programs. It is, however, a recession and there will be funding cuts. And we are still lucky to have access to a job market on campus as well as student loans. There are many many people who would kill to be in our position.

So the AMS lost perspective…what’s the big deal? The big deal is that our university student union- the people who officially represent the students of UBC are now subscribing to cheap theatrics by using international buzzwords to draw media attention. I would argue that this dilutes the very meaning of human rights. There are several issues that rightfully deserve the tag of human rights violation- you only need to look around campus to see a multitude of groups working on these, or just a bit further to the Downtown East Side. Not to perpetuate stereotypes, but there are people who don’t have money to buy food. As we speak war and extreme gender based violence is in progress. There are people who don’t have access to medicines, people who don’t have access to basic primary education.  There are places where there are no student aid or loan programs whatsoever. The treaty Canada is allegedly violating talks about equally accessible education based on capacity and appropriate means. What gives AMS the right (and the qualifications) to say these means (student loans and such) are not appropriate, and that despite the recession the government has a higher capacity to fund education?

Not only is the AMS misusing the term human rights violation, it is also showcasing itself as culturally insensitive and a ridiculously spoiled brat. By using such a heavy term in such a light handed, media-savvy way, the AMS is being insensitive to all those people at UBC that are from places way less privileged than BC, Canada. This is exactly what we talked about in our dialogue series- a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed.  We cannot be throwing such terms around without fully understanding their implications just to gather attention. Believe it or not, ‘human rights’ does mean something important. If our elected representatives don’t realise that, how can we expect it of our student body?

UBC prides itself on being international. “Protecting Human Rights- from here;” that is part of their new brand isn’t it? The AMS has effectively damaged that with a single thoughtless action. Is the AMS really trying to put increased tuition rates for post secondary education on the same level as lack of access to basic food, shelter, medicines, education, and in some cases even safety? Is it really so desperate for attention that it ignores the cultural sensitivities of this issue and this term on an international campus? Please, don’t get me wrong. I am in no way saying that tuition hikes are not an important issue, or that they do not affect students, or that they do not deserve media attention. Nor am I saying that our AMS exec has not tried their best to lobby both levels of governments. But if you are upset about your tuition you hold protests, lobby the government, write articles, organise a rally. Not working?  Try again, try something else. Maybe on a national scale. Do not, however, use terms such as ‘human rights’ as a buzzword for an issue that is in no way even close to being a human rights violation (that too on the international stage), just to garner attention. It is completely unacceptable and unethical. Like the UN doesn’t have other concerns to deal with.

Frederick claimed to submit this report “on behalf of [the members of the] AMS.” Hopefully, the entire world isn’t thinking that the students of UBC have lost touch with reality, and consider rising tuition costs a “gross violation of human rights.” I assure you, at this point, the AMS does not represent me.

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Debatables Videos

Great TED video…

A great TED talk by Chimamanda Adiche (Nigerian Novelist) that addresses the theme of cultural competence. Adiche talks about how forming our perceptions on one dominant story or world view can lead to misunderstandings and negative sterotypes. I think we’ve all fallen into the trap of “the single story” at some point or another (she admits to having done it herself).

I wonder if most people think of ISL (international service learning) as a single story too- either as being helpful to the receiving population and a great opportunity, or (as we sometimes talk about in our dialogue series) unsustainable, patriarchal, and with great knowledge gaps.

Maybe we need to stop thinking of ISL as one story, and think of it as a combination of different aspects. Can ISL be both helpful and ethical?

Anyways, the video…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg[/youtube]

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Contributions Debatables

Sienna Miller in the DRC – 8 minutes. its good. real good.

By Tanja Bergen
I am a student at UBC, working on a student-run, research-based advocacy project (www.acacdrcongo.org), so I thought I’d get your take on this gem: Sienna Miller’s Heart-Wrenching Documentary on Congo Women, “8 minutes” available at: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/10/14/watch-sienna-millers-heart-wrenching-documentary-on-congo-women/
Why I bring this to your attention:
1. Grammar: Sienna Miller’s Heart-Wrenching Documentary on Congo Women (Congolese Women? Congo’s Women?)
2. Statement one: when women are raped it is important to know that it is sometimes not only by men but by objects ranging from .. knives, broken bottles (whoa, who knew? In the DRC guns and knives can rape women all on their own!), to the butts of very large rifles (cuz had they been the butts of small rifles.. lame-o)
3. So I am now one minute in (hey its only an 8 minute movie) and I have seen/heard:
a. 1 super pretty and sad blonde lady sharing the stories of african women
b. 1 adequately maimed Congolese women with a subtly horrific scar
c. the super pretty white woman now tells me that that they are all afraid and that they prey that someone, someday, will come
and help them. Re-inforced stereotype of helpless victim – check.
4. armed groups fight for control of these raw minerals … ummm please see IPIS: Mapping Conflict Motives: Eastern DRC – many groups raise their funds by taxing supply routes and by using rape as a weapon to terrorize villages into the militarized control of their land. there hasn’t been a lot of fighting between armed groups for control of these lands over the last year…
5. “RAPE in Eastern Congo is described as the worst in the world” I haven’t heard that one before. I’ve heard it called the worst place in the world to be a woman or a girl – and yes that is because rape and sexual torture is common place relative to many other areas in the world .. but does anyone else find it problematic to rank rapes? Like, oh… you were raped in Rwanda/Darfur/the US etc. well you weren’t raped in the Congo so whats your problem?
6. Time out: Dr. Denis Mukwege (shown on video) and Dr. Jo Lusi (not shown on video but equally awesome) of Panzi Hospital and Heal Africa respectively are probably some of the top 10 awesomest human beings alive. So bask in his awesomeness while he is on.
7. Bah. talking about women as victims? What about as survivors (back to the helpless victim stereotype)
8. Lots of talk about Rwandans.. context given as to genocide? Nada.

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