UConn Library
Human Rights Archives
The next film series event organized by the Human Rights Institute will be held on March 13th, 2013 and will be showing Mrs. Goundo’s Daughter. The film will be shown at 4pm in Konover Auditorium in the Dodd Center.
For more information follow the link to the film series calender.
From the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, the Dodd Center has invited John G. Ruggie to speak at its annual Sackler Lecture. Prof. Ruggie will speak on the topic of Principles in Business with regards to Human Rights. The press release of the upcoming event can be found here.
For information on how corporate responsibility has played out over the last 50 years, please consult our collections on Human Rights for topics on labor practice and Alternative Press collection for the environmental impact of business, particularly Roberto Romano’s digital photograph collection.
The inherently decentralized and accessible nature of the internet has provided activists and underground press the ability to make their voices heard, requiring nothing more than a computer and a connection. Admittedly a little over naive, the potential for the Internet as an organizational structure has new channels for empowerment. As an academic research institution such as ours at UConn, we face challenges in attempting to document the digital documentarians. While we have one of the largest Alternative Press Collections in the country, our ability to capture tweets, status updates and blog rolls is limited. One important distinction to make regarding digital representation versus physical is the utter impermanence of these sources, particularly in an un(der)funded enterprise as many activist groups and presses are. Arguably, the physical print is also impermanent but the comparative longevity of print to a blogger site is quite drastic. The philosophical archival dimensions of thinking about these kinds of challenges remains rooted in the theory foundations which have transcended evolutions in media. A temporary remedy to this current problem in documenting underground press is to provide links to the digital representations of prominent sources and accessible organizations with a broad base.
I have updated the Library Guide on Introducing the Alternative Press Collection, by including a tab of Radical Internet Sources. This list is as imperfect as any sampling of the internet can be, however it will be continually updated and perpetually becoming. For an insightful view of the web’s virtual empowerment, see Lewis Call’s Postmodern Anarchism (Boston; Lexington Books, 2002).
In the recent ongoing clash between Islamist militants and the Malian government forces, backed by French military support, thousands of historical records and manuscripts have been burned in Timbuktu. Records dating back 1204, were targeted by the militants who were using the Amed Baba Institute as sleeping quarters, where the archives are housed.
These records had been designtated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, and were undergoing a digitization project in conjunction with Institutions in Norway and Luxembourg. A prime example of the use value of digitizing at risk collections for future electronic preservation and use, even archives that may appear to be protected under the UNESCO designation. Having also destroyed mausoleums and shrines to Sufi saints throughout the city, it is evident that heritage of a people is under attack.
As an archivist, the alarms immediately go off when the legacy of a people are designated as targets in war, as they have been countless times throughout history. However, in the immediacy of events, we far off onlookers must retain an awareness of violence happening to people first and foremost and not just property – be it commercial, private, or State owned. These are all crimes, but protection of people and their rights is a historical preservation in itself. What good is protecting a statue if 10 civilians were killed across the street from it? What story is lost when endangered peoples of our time are wiped out? The users of archives and the witness to events are primary sources that embody an archive. It is through the preservation of life that records are given meaning.
The Archives and Special Collections at the University of Connecticut holds records relating to the Darfuri people and their existence in refugee camps which exemplifies a people under threat without land, losing their traditions and culture.
The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data project is now hosted at UConn! The project, beginning in 2004 at SUNY at Binghampton, was created as a collaborative project with UConn and the University of Georgia to provide measureable datasets on 15 human rights in 195 different countries. Dr. David Richards of the Human Rights Institute at UConn has worked extensively on the project since 2010, and is responsible for bringing the data to the Archives & Special Collections for hosting.
This dataset has been accessed by such global entities as the World Bank who view progress through quantitative figures. The CIRI website allows researchers to search by specific indicators and specific countries to measure the effects of rights observed. The database can be accessed through the following URL: http://www.humanrightsdata.com/
On December 10th, mass actions were coordinated across Canada by Indigenous peoples and allies to challenge the Harper government’s neglect of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit issues. The pervasive resource extraction on native lands, stifling poverty and mortality rates on reserves and ongoing indifference to treaty rights by the Harper administration are the major focal points for agitation. This continued movement, self named Idle No More, represents all First nations, Inuit, Metis, and allies of every shade who seek to decolonize not just the political landscape but the forms of protest as well. From Victoria, BC to Montreal, QB and solidarity actions from LA to London, the possibilities for grass roots actions ranging from Flash Mobs to teach-ins has enabled a broad array of people to engage the movement’s call for everyday resistance. The issues facing Indigenous peoples have always been a part of Canada’s nation building and myth making, just as they are in the United States and the Americas. Further to the point for archives, the ongoing attempt at gathering and recording the human rights abuses of the church and state in the past through Indian Residential Schools will remain a disembodied historical corpse as long as the Canadian government, and large swaths of the settler population, continue to ignore the past’s clutch on the colonized present. What better way to make good on the apology issued by Harper before parliament than to present some truth and reconciliation by addressing how the current “institution neglects and abuses” those of the generations after residential schools. How tar sands, pipelines, damming and mining operations will ensure the destruction of the ecosystem. How incarceration rates of Indigenous peoples is nine times greater than the national average. How the ongoing disassociation of urban population to rural land grows with each economic deregulation venture.
Nigamo Pejig! 
UConn Archives & Special Collections, on Algonquin land, has a wide array of materials relating to struggles of Native Peoples throughout the 20th century in our radical Alternative Press Collection.
Our old blog has a new home! Thanks for finding us.
Today there are two things I would like to introduce you to: 1. Myself, 2. The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ 64th Anniversary.
As the new Curator of Human Rights Collections in the Archives and Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn, it is my goal to bring the global challenges of human rights to the archives. My experiences in archives and activism working with the LGBTTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered, Two Spirited, Queer) community, peace activists, Latin American Solidarity groups and Human Rights NGOs has provided me with the tools to address new concerns in the evolving discourse of human rights and archives. My intention is to focus collections policy and public programming toward the inherent needs of individuals and groups researching, advocating and seeking/experiencing human rights.
Now that you know who I am, lets talk about who you are and why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights matters. In 1948, most of the world was reeling from the horrors of war and oppression under fascism and imperialism. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted as a wish-list of rights to safeguard humanity from the atrocities of those who marshaled state power. The model of human rights was voiced through the vessel of state bodies “both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction” (UDHR Preamble). In the globalized 21st century, rights have undergone a neo-liberal shift from the state-sanctioned arena of expressions and charters, to now being scripted to bolster a new and ever evolving individual. Economic individualism through the 20+ year old Free Trade agreements in North America have led the way in demonstrating that states are still very much involved in securing rights, largely for business to move freely and express rights of ownership.
The focus of this year’s 64th anniversary is on the liberation struggles in the Middle East and at home in the Occupy movements. The necessity of the individual’s rights to assemble and demonstrate as well as participate in the election of state representatives, are guarantees that attempt to eschew the inherent flaws in the system in place. However, what remains important is the historical legacy of this document which seeks to promote the always becoming nature of well being. Where these worlds collide are in the textile factories of Bangladesh, where last week 112 workers died in a fire that was preventable. Infuriatingly just the most recent travesty from the deregulated periphery, the factory made clothes for Wal-mart (among other US clothing managers)which benefits from cheap labor and nonresponsibility for externalities – such as fire safety measures which they refused to pay for. Meanwhile, workers in Wal-mart stores across the US on November 23rd (Black Friday) participated in the largest demonstration in their history in order to demand adequate pay and benefits.
Now you’re wondering where archives come in. The role which history plays is that of the sounding board for current democratizing movements in the Middle East, the US and all over the world. Archives provide context for how things came to be. Collections which document the push and pull of state and society throughout the 20th century help build the framework for what is to be done in the future. How the State responded to communities and organizations of people who challenged its ability to provide. The newly administered States and their guarentees to the rights of the past must be advocated and built upon in the Middle East, the individual rights to work in a safe environment must be acquired in Bangladesh and South Asia as a region, and the economic ideology of US consumers and producers need catalyzing evidence which demonstrates that economic disparity is a human rights issue at home and abroad.
On this day and everyday we can take action through historical reflection, it is paramount that we acknowledge where people have come from and what they had to overcome to get there/here/everywhere and what is still becoming the individual, the group, the community, the global.
Venceremos,
Graham
Hi all,
Besides acquiring print books, the UConn Libraries is acquiring many ebooks that can be accessed through the HOMER catalog, or from the main page by searching the “Everything @ UConn” and the “Books and Media Worldwide” tabs’ search boxes. The two major distributors where we acquire books from are eBrary and EBL. They do have different interfaces and policy regarding printing pages or how many people can “check out” a digital copy. Sometimes only one person can view an ebook, sometimes multiple users can view an ebook. Offhand I can’t tell you which ebook follows one rule or the other rule–it really depends on the publisher, who decides what type of license is granting to the distributor. So feel free to explore this products and if you have problems or question do let us know. In addition, the links bellow my require you to use your netid and password before accessing the books. Finally, I do recommend that you create an account in both EBL and Ebrary (which are free) to keep track not only of what ebooks you are reading but also to save annotations you may want to do as you are reading them.
Here is a little sample of what we have acquired this academic year. eBooks purchases were based on faculty and students suggestions. Some books do have print counterparts but other don’t. If you prefer a print copy do let us know.
Cordially,
Marisol Ramos Librarian for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Latino Studies, Spanish and Anthropology And Curator of Latin American and Caribbean CollectionseBooks
eBrary
EBL
Hello everyone,
My name is Marisol Ramos and as many of you know me, I am the librarian for Latin American, Caribbean and Latinos Studies, Spanish and Anthropology and the Curator for Latin American & Caribbean Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. While we are waiting for the new Curator for Human Rights to be hired, I was asked to continue posting news about new acquisitions and any other news related for human rights. One of the biggest news is that we have moved the old human rights blog to a new web address, http://doddhumanrightsresearch.wordpress.com/So make sure to update your bookmarks.
For now, I just want to reassure you that we continue acquiring library materials to support human rights and that if you have an specific need for your classes or research, feel free to contact either Betsy Pittman or I with your requests. If you need library instructions, we are more than happy to help you connect with the right librarian at Homer Babbidge who can help you and your students to navigate our many library resources (both print and electronic). If you have suggestion for archival collections that we should be pursuing for human rights, please contact Betsy Pittman.
Now here is a small sampling of our latest acquisitions for human rights. If you have suggestions for new purchases please let me know!
Thanks,
Marisol Ramos Curator for Latin American and Caribbean Collections Thomas J. Dodd Research Center’s Archives & Special CollectionsAs of June 30, I will be leaving my position as Curator for Human Rights Collections. As a result, this blog will be updated less frequently, though I am hoping that whoever replaces me will take it over.
But before I go, I wanted to mention a couple of newly available digital collections here at UConn:
For the past year, I’ve been interviewing activists about their political advocacy work on issues impacting the LGBTQ community, including second-parent adoption, civil union, marriage equality, and equal protection under the law for gender identity and expression. These are all hugely important rights that set Connecticut apart from the vast majority of other states, which don’t allow LGBTQ citizens the same rights and protections as heterosexual citizens. Looking around the state, it didn’t seem that many libraries and archives were actively trying to document these very recent– and in some ways still ongoing– social movements. And so, with support and encouragement from my institution, I set out to do so.
In 2010, the University of Connecticut Libraries began actively collecting documentation of activism around the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, and neighboring areas, and received donations of research files and materials from Mia Farrow, Eric Reeves, and others. It was Ms. Farrow’s vision to create an online documentation center of these materials so access would not be limited to only those who could travel to Connecticut. Working in consultation with Ms. Farrow, and also with Dr. Bridget Conley-Zilkic at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, the project was launched in June 2011.
The website contains information about the Sudan related archival collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn, as well as a research guide for Sudan, links to news sources, and advocacy and humanitarian organizations working in the region. The project also includes an online gallery of digital photographs from Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic from various refugee and IDP camps.
According to the UNHCR, there are approximately 4.5 million internally displaced people in Sudan, and hundreds of thousands more in camps in neighboring countries. There are just over 200 images in the collection, most of which were taken by the incredible Mia Farrow, who has devoted the past 7 years to using her voice and celebrity to raise awareness of the horrific violence in Darfur and neighboring areas, which tragically is ongoing to this day. It has been my utter privilege to work with her this past year on the project, and I could not be more in awe of her tireless dedication to the people of Darfur.
All the best, and thanks for reading!