ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: Challenges and Opportunities in the New Millennium

The western concept of human rights needs critical assessment as there is a growing concern that one should not draw the line just at individual right or political right. There is also a suggestion that human rights be considered in a much broader context and there is a need to consider the socio-cultural traditions of different societies, particularly their pluralistic character. Finally comes the question of development – development in the context of globalization process, the relation of development with environment, the question of growth, growth with justice and equality. Especially in the context of disadvantaged people, the “development” programmes are often responsible for displacement. This has happened in different parts of the world. Naturally any cross-cultural discussion on these issues is very rewarding to formulate the proper development strategy and reduce sufferings of the people.
Twenty five papers included in this volume cover different situations, issues and problems from all over the world. It is expected that the findings of these research papers would create interest and awareness among scholars/researchers belonging to anthropology, human rights, sociology, political science and all people who are concerned about welfare and development of human being.
Contributor

Abhijit Ghosal
Arunkumar, A.S.
Binita Basu
Biswanath Gan
Buddhadeb Chaudhuri
Clarence J. Dias
Dipak K. Midya
Homprabha Biswas
Jesurathnam Devarapalli
Jhilam Rudra De
José G. Vargas-Hernandez
Laura R. Valladares de la Cruz
Milka Castro Lucic
Muhammed Shamsuddin
Pinak Tarafdar
Rajesh Kumar Sharma
Samar Kumar Biswas
Samik Roy
Sanjoy Roy
Sarah Rogers
Saumitra Basu
Somenath Bhattacharjee
Subha Ray
Subhankar Roy
Swapna Bhattacharya (Chakraborti)
Swati Chakraborty
Tilottam Paudel
Victoria Chenaut

Buddhadeb Chaudhuri was a Professor in South East Asian Studies, Dr. Ambedkar Chair Professor in Anthropology, and Founder of Human Rights Programme in the Calcutta University. He was Senior Fellow, ICSSR; Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla; Visiting Fellow, Helsinki University and Visiting Professor, Warsaw University, Poland. He is the Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) and at present the only Honorary Member of IUAES from India.
Subir Biswas is a Professor of Anthropology at the West Bengal State University, Barasat, Kolkata. Earlier he was Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the North Bengal University, Darjeeling. His areas of interests are Anthropological Demography, Health and Bioethics. He has to his credit three edited books as well as several research articles published in national and international journals.