The Fletcher School

Peter Uvin, Henry J. Leir Professor of International Humanitarian Studies, has just published a new book, Human Rights and Development, successor to his ground-breaking 1998 book, Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda. Aiding Violence gained fame in the development community by introducing the idea that international development aid projects unknowingly contributed to the Rwandan Genocide. It described the kind of complex situation that ensues when development aid workers go into a region and do not take into account local politics, dynamics of violence, and social inequality. In introducing the new book, Uvin writes that the earlier book “diagnosed a set of problems, but… did not offer any solutions.” Human Rights and Development constitutes part of the follow-up, providing critical thinking on the intersection of human rights and development and with strategies to help development workers reduce conflict and improve human rights.

Professor Uvin has taught at Fletcher for the last four years, and says, “The idea for this book was made possible only after my arrival at Fletcher” where, as he writes in the new book, “colleagues…engage in difficult explorations of intersections, overlaps, synergies and contradictions with other fields of social change.” As he became the Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Human Security, he began to think seriously about the intersection between the fields of human rights and development. At the same time, in order for the book to be practical, Peter Uvin stayed constantly connected with development practitioners, drawing lessons and examples from the real world.

The book explores three main themes that define the intersection of human rights and international development. The first is political conditionality - or answers to such questions as: “To whom shall we give the money? Can aid be used as a condition for something?” The second theme is positive support. It addresses the issues of working with human rights violators, while at the same time attempting to build democratic institutions such as parliaments and judiciary systems. Peter Uvin posed the following question for this part: “Is it possible to work with countries that violate human rights on a regular basis to bring them in the right direction?” This, Uvin concedes, “…is very difficult to achieve,” although long-term progress is not impossible. The third issue discussed in the book is a paradigm shift to a rights based approach to development.  In this part, the practice of development is imbued with human rights throughout.

Uvin says he could have written this book nowhere but at Fletcher: not only did some of his colleagues review and comment on the draft of Human Rights and Development, but also many of his students, who took his “Crossing Boundaries” class, had worked in the fields of human rights and development and wrote papers and theses about their experience. Their enthusiasm was an additional inspiration for his written work.

“There has never been a book like this yet,” says Professor Uvin. “There is a lot of normative information out there about how human rights should be respected, but my book is a whole new type of analytical and operationally grounded work.” Uvin says the book should apply to all problems of human rights and development, although it is mainly influenced by his experience in Central Africa. Human Rights is not meant for a limited audience: “It can potentially be taught to undergraduates. I use no professional jargon.” If the success of Aiding Violence is any indication, there is a great likelihood that Human Rights and Development will become just as influential in the worldwide academic community.