Content
Public lecture: Reasserting the human: rights, community and democracy in an uncertain world
Professor Jim Ife
8 September 2010, 3–4pm
Lecture Theatre 1, Building K, University of the Sunshine Coast
All members of the public are welcome to attend this free event. No registration is required.
Overview
The world we experience is increasingly uncertain, and we now realise our existence is precarious: environmental crisis, peak oil, food and water shortages, climate change, globalisation, economic uncertainty and natural disasters have left many people feeling vulnerable, and questioning the sustainability of the way we live, economically, socially, politically and environmentally.
In this uncertain world it is essential that we both reassert the values of humanity, and also redefine what that humanity means. Three important aspects of this redefinition are human rights, community and democracy: all these are under threat, yet new forms of all three are essential for a future world that is both just and sustainable. We are currently moving tentatively towards new understandings of human rights, new forms of human community, and new ways of ‘doing’ democracy, which open up a very challenging but also a potentially exciting future.
Download a printable event flyer (PDF 95KB)
About Professor Jim Ife
Emeritus Professor Jim Ife is the former Professor of Human Rights Education at Curtin University and Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at The University of Western Australia. He is currently an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human Rights at Deakin University.
His main interests have been in community development and human rights, and he has published books in both these fields. His most recent book is "Human Rights from Below: Achieving Rights through Community Development" (Cambridge University Press 2010).
He has been actively engaged in various community activities, including a period as President of Amnesty International Australia, and Convenor of the Human Rights Commission of the International Federation of Social Workers. He is now retired and lives in Melbourne where he is active in several community organisations.
More information
Contact Christine Morley
Tel: +61 7 5459 4723
Email: cmorley@usc.edu.au