Judith R. Blau

Judith Blau "is professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and chair of the Social and Economic Justice Undergraduate Minor. Her field is Human Rights, which is a normative approach to human societies, collective goods, political institutions, economy, and democracy. Drawing from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights treaties and conventions, Human Rights axiomatically asserts the inalienable and equal rights of all humans. One challenge everywhere is to ensure equal rights to those who are denied them owing to, for example, poverty or disability. Another challenge is to combat discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia) that stands in the way their achieving equality. Another is to ensure diversity of culture and of cultural expressions.

"These challenges are met at the international level in quasi-judicial proceedings carried out by The UN Human Rights Council, which reviews States’ progress in meeting their obligations under international Human Rights Treaties. This is all fine and dandy, but it is far removed from, say, those who are discriminated against and those who discriminate. Judith Blau has found that she can structure learning experiences with the students in her classes to engage residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro in highly egalitarian and non-threatening human rights projects.

"She is the president of the US chapter of Sociologists with Borders (SSF), a 501.C.3 affiliated with Sociologists without Borders International/ Sociólogos sin Fronteras Internacional (SSF-I). She is also co-editor of the journal, Societies without Borders.  Besides an academic audience, she also writes (blogs) for a more general audience:  http://www.humanrightsnow.net/"

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