Olivier Masson
20 July 2007
Port Louis — "Rights and development in Mauritius, a reader", co-edited by Sheila Bunwaree and Roukaya Kasenally, poses as a forum for the inscription of human rights and expectations in the new frame imposed by globalisation.
Professor Jugessur, Vice-Chancellor of UoM, gave a speech on the impact of neo liberalism on human rights for the launch of the book co-edited by Roukaya Kasenally.
"There is no doubt that we, in Mauritius, have tried very hard to juggle with the social and the economic, ( ) but despite efforts made, we note there is still a long way to go to give full meaning to democracy and citizenship." This statement from Sheila Bunwaree gives the context behind Rights and development in Mauritius that she has co-edited with Roukaya Kasenally and that was launched Wednesday at the University of Mauritius. The book deals in a retrospective way with the issues of human rights during the years that accompanied the economic boom onwards because "Central to the question of democracy and citizenship is the question of rights and development".
The book gives revealing insights through a series of contributions, from those of the two co-editors (From colonialism to economic salvage: the case of English by Roukaya Kasenally, EPZ - A tool of liberation or oppression for women by Sheila Bunwaree) to other eminent scholars like Vicram Ramharai (Reflections on Educational Reforms and Children's rights), Sadda Reddi (State, Health and the Colonial Subject 1900-1960) or Daniella Police (Les Discours sur l'exclusion et l'esclavage 1993-2003), in the Mauritian context. The issues they raise more than ever illustrate the need for cross-fertilization of ideas and multi-discipline in the quest for democracy, good governance and nation-building. Revealing too, the contribution from MP Nita Deerpalsingh (Reflections on the democratization of our political realm).
<Å->"The reflection
could also lead to
reforms in mentality,
in the way, for
example, salary policy
can be interpreted
as a means
of protecting basic
human rights"
The launch was made under the patronage of Professor James Warner Bjorkman, from the Institute of Social studies, The Hague, who spoke on the alternative perspectives to development. Professor Bjorkman, also evaluator from the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (Ossrea), which has sponsored the publication, stressed on new venues in public-private partnership. An example of this new kind of partnership can be found in the national health policy in India, where private companies manage some public hospitals with greater efficiency. This may not seem new but, in a new context, approaches have to be reconsidered.
Schools of thought
"We are now in the era of globalization. If we compare it to the times that gave birth to colonial societies, we find that, instead of conquering unknown territories, modern leaders fight for new markets, resources", says Roukaya Kasenally. This means also that, for each nation to have its say in the process, it must first be able to tune to new economic challenges, to attract new investment without sacrificing its people's rights. In Mauritius, particularly as we are moving from a quota-assisted economy. For the lecturer, success without exclusion can be achieved through the concept of "glocalization", where cultural specificities, identity or local needs can fit in the vast frames imposed by global goals.
Roukaya Kasenally takes the example of English language that has imposed itself as the world idiom for economic development, particularly in the field of technology. "Mauritius is paradoxically one of the rare countries where English, the official language, has receded and where there is a huge rate of exam failure." Giving free education is not enough to ensure development for everyone. People must be allowed to feel comfortable with the language they have to use. Emphasis should be put on the importance of "indigenising" English and encouraged in spheres like music, cinema to "eductain" (be educated and entertained). "Indigenising" that is allowing the local idioms to mingle in has been achieved successfully in Singapore (Singlish) or India (Hindlish).
But the debate on development and human rights allows for other schools of thought. One very sensible issue raised by Daniella Police is that of compensation for slaves' descendants. She argues that we should move from a culture of charity towards some descendants that only leads to subservience to a system ruled by a neo-liberal oligarchy towards a kind of ecological policy that has to be discussed. But is not denouncing corporate responsibility programs a way of recognising their actual existence at the same time?
The book's scope has the merit anyway to reopen the debate on issues of development and democracy. They may be not for all in the sole realm of the private sector. But the reflection could also lead to reforms in mentality, in the way, for example, salary policy can be interpreted as a means of protecting basic human rights (a Mauritian SMIC?, a selective way of VAT-ing products?). Private companies like Beachcomber or Naïade have shown their goodwill by raising wages by more than 10%.
As the contributors stress, conjugating development with human rights is possible in a context of good governance (without political vote-catching) and by going ahead with this kind of dialogue.
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