Week One, January 26: Some questions for discussion...

We'll begin but exploring these questions, and probably more, as time permits...

- What are "Universal Human Rights" - how do we know we have rights?  Who gets rights and who doesn't?  Who gets to decide those questions? What do we make of the claims of "cultural relativism as challenges to that universality" e.g., sharia law?  

- What is suffering?  Is feeling injustice the only means of understanding injustice? What have your experiences of injustice been? 

- The Prison of Identity; what is Identity and how do WE identify?  What are the positives and negatives of "Identity" and belonging? Why do we seem to push to identify an "Other" among us?  

- How is Multiculturalism re-shaping Identity politics around the world?

Week 1: Getting Started!

Our winter book study all set to get rolling, but we've decided to bump back our start date to give everyone a chance to catch their breath after a wonderful holiday season!

January 26th is our new kick-off date! Join us at 7:30 in the West Hill lounge.

We have a few copies of this year's title for sale through the kiosk if you'd like to get a jump on reading.

Our cost for the book is $17.50, or you can pick one up at your local book store.

 "In Search of a Better World"

by Payam Akhavan 

"A work of memoir, history, and a call to action, In Search of a Better World, the 2017 CBC Massey Lecture, is a powerful and essential work on the major human rights struggles of our times. In February of 2017, Amnesty International released their Annual Report for 2016 to 2017, concluding that the “us versus them” rhetoric increasingly employed by politicians is endangering human rights the world over. 

Renowned UN prosecutor and human rights scholar Payam Akhavan has encountered the grim realities of contemporary genocide throughout his life and career. He argues that deceptive utopias, political cynicism, and public apathy have given rise to major human rights abuses: from the religious persecution of Iranian Bahá’ís that shaped his personal life, to the horrors of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the rise of contemporary phenomena such as the Islamic State. But he also reflects on the inspiring resilience of the human spirit and the reality of our inextricable interdependence to liberate us, whether from hateful ideologies that deny the humanity of others or an empty consumerist culture that worships greed and self-indulgence.

A timely, essential, and passionate work of memoir and history, In Search of a Better World is a tour de force by an internationally renowned human rights lawyer." - goodreads.com