Two Perspectives, One Goal
RU Professors Continue Eleanor Roosevelt's Fight for Human Rights
University News

By Laura Janota

In 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt blazed a trail for global human rights by leading the drive for what would become her greatest legacy – the world’s first-ever Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Nearly 60 years later, the United Nations’ declaration still stands, but its promise of human rights for all isn’t always kept, according to two Roosevelt University political science professors who have come to that conclusion through research.

Writing extensively on human rights issues, recently as a team, assistant professors Bethany Barratt and Christian Erickson are in agreement that human rights should come first - no matter the location or the situation.
"What Eleanor Roosevelt did was dramatic and radical, and we need to be sure that what she started lives on for years to come," said Barratt, who joined the University in 2002.

"Everyone talks about the world completely changing after Sept. 11, and it’s not completely true," said Erickson, who began at Roosevelt in 2002 as an adjunct professor and was promoted in 2004 to assistant professor.
"But I do think it’s an important historical period – as important as World War II and the Cold War – in that our human rights are under attack in the name of safety and security."

The two, who met in 1997 in a graduate-level international relations class at the University of California at Davis, have collaborated recently on a number of scholarly articles, which suggest human rights are being ignored and/or endangered in the name of security and the global war on terrorism.

Indeed, one need look no further than statistics from Amnesty International to recognize that human rights abuses are an international problem in need of attention.

For instance, in its May 2004 report, the group reported that unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions had taken place in 47 countries; disappearances had occurred in 28 countries; torture and ill-treatment were reported in 132 countries, including the United States; prisoners of conscience were held in 44 countries; people were arrested and detained without charge or trial in 58 countries, including the United States; people were sentenced to death in 63 countries and people were executed in 28 countries; and armed opposition groups were rampaging, and committing serious human rights violations in 35 different countries across the globe.

Barratt and Erickson agree that human rights are a key component of any free and civilized society; however, the two have differing perspectives on how to work to achieve the ideal.

Barratt, who grew up in Fayetteville, N.C., a military town where the divide between rich and poor is extreme, believes in working through existing structures and channels to achieve a balance.

She first worked with homeless people as a high school student in Fayetteville, and later worked more closely with them in college as a staff member of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness where she defended the homeless against ticket violations and monitored police activities involving the homeless for potential ill treatment by San Francisco police.

"I think you can do a lot of good for people by working inside the system," said Barratt, who has been the organizer of the University’s annual production of The Vagina Monologues, a show that raises awareness  about domestic violence against women.

On the other hand, Erickson, who grew up in Concord, Calif., a suburb of San Francisco, learned in high school and his early college days as a member of several punk rock bands to distrust government and authority.
"I’m certainly cynical about the prospect of our democratic process working to change things," said Erickson, who often has seen the police become overzealous in breaking up concerts and demonstrations.

"That said, I believe the presence of radical movements is absolutely crucial to our democratic system because it puts important pressures on a flawed process," he said.

To say that Barratt and Erickson have taken different paths on behalf of human rights is an understatement.  For instance, Barratt worked to help the homeless and taught at San Quentin prison during graduate school.  At the same time, Erickson participated in protest movements and solidarity committees including serving as a human rights observer in 1995 in Chiapas, Mexico, where he helped draw attention to the Zapatistas’ struggle for indigenous rights and political autonomy.

At Roosevelt, Barratt’s teaching interests have been in courses on International Relations, Gender and Human Rights, Foreign Policy, International Law and Comparative Politics while Erickson’s have been in courses on Political Violence and Terrorism, Great Power Politics, Latin American Politics, Cyberpolitics and American Politics.  He also recently led a seminar at the Chicago Police Academy on money laundering by members of Al Qaeda.

As scholars in the political science field, however, the two have intersected at varying points along the way.

For instance, when Erickson took the witness stand on behalf of a local Zapatista solidarity committee leader who was charged with inciting a riot in Sacramento, he believes he helped shift the balance of power from the police back to where it belonged – into the hands of the people.
 "What I’ve learned during my research is that when a country goes through crises like wars, civil wars and protests, the apparatus of law enforcement, police surveillance and security becomes more powerful," said Erickson.

"And it is our duty to always watch and to question that apparatus," stressed Erickson, whose testimony on police abuse of power was one of the key pieces of evidence that the Sacramento jury weighed in acquitting the Zapatista solidarity committee leader and three other protesters.

To Barratt, who watched the trial proceedings, the case represented a classic instance of race and class discrimination in which members of a "marginalized” group were targeted.

 "My hope as a political scientist is to bring attention to injustices based on class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other factors," said Barratt, who took the lead with Erickson on a scholarly article written before Sept. 11 on terrorism, the media and intolerance of Arab Americans.  "I believe if we shine a light on injustices, then there is a chance that they can be changed."

To Barratt, changing a pattern of discrimination has at times meant actively helping those on the lowest rung of society.  In fact, that’s what she did by teaching American politics for about a year to inmates at the San Quentin prison.

"It’s so important not to give up on these kinds of people," said Barratt, who also taught literacy and life skills, including job skills, health and personal care, money management and driving, for about two years inside the Alameda County jails.

"By having these kinds of programs, and getting involved with them, we are making a statement as individuals and as a society that we don’t want our prison population to be marginalized or to be considered as a subhuman class," she said.

Erickson, who was invited by Barratt to give a guest lecture on political violence to one of her San Quentin classes, savored the experience, not so much because he was helping inmates, but because he was able to learn from a group that understood the ramifications of political violence better than he did.

"The majority of these students weren’t in San Quentin for political crimes, but they certainly understood very well how our security apparatus functions," said Erickson, who took the lead recently with Barratt on a scholarly article about alarming U.S. preparedness exercises that rehearse responses to possible biological terrorist attacks.

Barratt has delved deeply into the question of how human rights issues affect foreign aid decisions in England, Australia and Canada (and what she’s learned is unsettling); Erickson has done an exhaustive study on similarities and differences between internal security/law enforcement apparatus in the United States and Russia.

Still, they have found common ground in scholarly work together that, above all, shines a light on the need to preserve and further what Eleanor Roosevelt and her efforts on behalf of human rights began so long ago.
"I don’t think there would be so many people studying human rights if it hadn’t been for Eleanor," said Barratt.

Added Erickson:  "It was a place to start, but in today’s world following Sept. 11, it is more important than ever to be vigilant for human rights if right over might is to prevail."

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