Values Deliberation and Collective Action: Community Empowerment in Rural Senegal - Softcover

Cislaghi, Beniamino; Gillespie, Diane; Mackie, Gerry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3319815946 ISBN 13: 9783319815947

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Synopsis

This book describes how a program of values deliberations–-sustained group reflections on local values, aspirations, beliefs and experiences, blending with discussions of how to understand and to realize human rights--led to individual and collective empowerment in communities in rural Senegal. The study explains what happens during the deliberations and shows how they bring about a larger process that results in improved capabilities in areas such as education, health, child protection, and gender equality. It shows how participants, particularly women, enhance their agency, including their individual and collective capacities to play public roles and kindle community action. It thus provides important insights on how values deliberations help to revise adverse gender norms.

About this title

About the Author:

Beniamino Cislaghi is Lecturer in Social Norms at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He worked for various NGOs and International Organizations, including UNICEF, WHO, and ILO, and as a civic volunteer in his home country for about 10 years. His past research focused on how development programs can offer participants a space to renegotiate existing cultural meanings and collaborate to increase their and others’ wellbeing. 
Diane Gillespie has written extensively on interactive learning, the challenges of diversity in higher education, and, more recently, on human rights education. She won numerous awards for her teaching, including the 2010 University of Washington Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award. Since retiring she has served as a volunteer for Tostan.
Gerry Mackie is Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director for the Center on Global Justice at the University of California, San Diego, USA.  His prize-winning first book, Democracy Defended (2003), was on the value of democratic voting. He has worked with the NGO Tostan in West Africa and with UNICEF on ending female genital cutting and other harmful practices. 

Review:

“This book is an essential read for those interested to understand the processes and power of transformative human rights education.  The Tostan model illustrates how HRE can be culturally compatible and result in community empowerment that tangibly improves equality and freedom from discrimination.” (Felisa Tibbitts, Founder of Human Rights Education Associates and Lecturer at Teachers College of Columbia University, USA)

“The authors bring us into the heart of Tostan’s remarkable community empowerment model, sharing first-hand accounts from West African stakeholders affected by deeply rooted social norms they ultimately decide to change. A riveting and rigorous account of transformative social progress, this book should be required reading for anyone who aspires to bring about a more just and sustainable world.” (Sally Osberg, President and CEO, Skoll Foundation)

“Values Deliberation takes you on an intimate journey through Tostan’s village education program, documenting in women’s and men’s own words the inspiring transformation of mindsets and behaviors that ensued from learning about and applying the ideals of democracy and human rights in their daily lives.  Students of community development and social change have much to learn from Tostan’s approach and the theories that inform it.” (Patti Petesch, Co-Author, “On Norms and Agency: Conversations about Gender Equality with Women and Men in 20 Countries” (World Bank))

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 3319815946
• ISBN 13: 9783319815947
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224