Global Challenges
Global Challenges
Challenge: Gaining Rights and Equality for Women
• In Africa, small self-help associations developed among women
• In Chile, the fight for women’s rights was part of a movement against the dictatorship of Pinochet
• In South Korea, it was part of a democracy movement
The United Nations declared 1975 International Woman’s Year
But at the Beijing Conference in 1995, divisions emerged over inheritance
• Some wanted equal inheritance for daughters and sons
• But under Islamic law, sons receive twice the amount
And a Global Backlash
• Some felt feminism challenged traditional values
Challenge: Modernity’s Challenge to the World’s Religions
Fundamentalism
• A militant piety in every major religious tradition
• Term derived from U.S.A. where religious conservatives were outraged by challenges to Bible
• Called for a return to the fundamentals of the faith
Hindu Fundamentalism
• Hindu nationalism
• A politicization of religion
• In increasingly popular Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),Muslims were viewed as outsiders
Islamic Fundamentalism
• Against Western cultural intrusion
• Qu’ran and Sharia to provide guidance
• Jihad or struggle to please God
The Leading Figures of Islamic Fundamentalism
• Mawlana Mawdudi from India
• Sayyid Qutb from Egypt
• In Sudan, adopted Quranic punishments
• Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassinated Sadat
In Iran (1979) and Afghanistan (1996), Islamic movements came to power
Challenge: Confronting Poverty and Inequality through Religion
• Liberation Theology a) A Christian social action movement in Latin America
• “Socially Engaged Buddhism” in Asia
Challenge: Protecting the Environment
• Impact of Human Population
a) Quadrupling of world population in single century
b) Impact of fossil fuels 1. Global warming 2. Diminished habitats
The Romantic Poets
• Environmentalism began in nineteenth century with the Romantic poets
a) Denounced Industrial Revolution
Second-Wave of Environmentalism
• Began with Rachel Carson’s book – “Silent Spring” in 1962
a) Described the dangers of chemical pesticides on the environment and humans
Green Party
• German environmental movement that entered political arena
a) Opposition to nuclear power
Chikpo Movement in India
• “Tree-hugging” movement
• In the 1970s, an organized resistance to the destruction of forests spread throughout India and came to be known as the Chipko movement
• The name of the movement came from the word “embrace”, as the villagers hugged trees, and prevented contractors’ from felling them
The North/South Divide
• Global South felt environmental initiatives would curtail needed industrial development
a) U.S. refusal to sign Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions
A Challenge to Modernity
• Need for sustainability as opposed to endless growth