Solidarity Is Our Security
VOLUME 31, NUMBER 3, SEPTEMBER 2009
The daily newspapers sit on the kitchen table at the Inter Pares office, where everyone can flip through their pages and see the headlines. Fear. Crisis. Security. Risk. These words are used to describe a range of world events, simplifying complex problems into bite-sized concepts. As we read them, we are encouraged to worry about the world we live in and to fear certain people with whom we share this planet.
But headlines and articles have no meaning if they are stripped of context. Too often people’s rights and freedoms are compromised in the name of security. In much of the Western world, including Canada, entire communities are under surveillance. They live in fear of guilt by association, and of the real possibility of being arrested, deported, tortured, or "disappeared" without ever knowing of what they are accused. Today the targets are predominantly Muslim, but history is replete with the practice of targeting and persecuting as public enemies any of a number of definable groups, establishing a pretext for treating them differently. As Hannah Arendt explained many years ago, "states of exception" serve as legally authorized spaces where rule of law does not apply. Throughout history, fear has been mobilized to justify the exclusion and expulsion of entire groups and communities in the name of protecting ‘our’ security. From Nazi concentration camps, to the ‘Red Scare’, and the ‘war on terror’, this fear only serves to justify the complete denial of rights for some, in exchange for a false sense of safety for others.
In our world, in our media, the creation of fear as an instrument of control and public compliance is not limited to the fear of the Other, but extends to almost all aspects of our lives. Fear has been instrumentalized to rally public support for wars, detentions, renditions, and for restricting people’s movement. Fear justifies the erosion of human rights, and encourages us to accept unquestioningly the solutions – medical, corporate, political, and military – we are told will make us safe. It encourages people and governments to act without careful consideration. Fear keeps us expecting more calamities, accepting that the situation can only get worse. It has a paralyzing effect on us, dampens our curiosity about the world and our belief in real possibilities for change.
What would happen if we traded fear for trust? Fear individualizes and breaks down community, while trust rebuilds the connections among us. By convening people from around the world to discuss and act together on issues of common concern, Inter Pares contributes to rebuilding these human connections. Working in broad-based coalitions related to peacebuilding, women’s health, corporate responsibility, biodiversity, economic justice, and civil liberties has allowed Inter Pares to join with others, exchanging ideas that lead to more effective action. When people and organizations have found themselves immobilized by fear, they have found new courage in reaching out to others, building trust and mutual support. Such courage is in the actions of human rights defenders who speak out, even when it is dangerous to do so. It exists in the audacity of groups such as those in Malaysia and Canada, demanding respect for migrants’ human rights, and in the ways Africans are speaking out against powerful interests and working to secure their own economic well-being.
This Bulletin describes how Inter Pares and our counterparts are replacing fear with common cause, and how together, we are addressing the roots of poverty and oppression - because our security lies in our solidarity with each other.
Previous page | Next page
| Reviewed August 19, 2009 |  |
Publishing Policies |
