Back | Programme Area: Identities, Conflict and Cohesion (2000 - 2009)
Conference News: Racism and Public Policy
The third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 7 September 2001. World leaders examined progress made in the fight against racism since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related conventions and resolutions; discussed ways of improving the application of existing standards and instruments to combat racism; reviewed the social, economic, political, cultural and historical factors that drive racism and racial discrimination; and recommended measures to be adopted at the national, regional and international levels for combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance. While the preparatory meetings and the Durban conference itself exposed sharp differences among countries and groups on some of the core agenda items, they also underscored the need for a better understanding of racial cleavages and discrimination in formulating development policies.
The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) invited 30 high-level scholars from various regions of the world to prepare papers and lead discussions at a parallel UNRISD conference held from 3 to 5 September. More than 500 representatives of governments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and the media participated in the meeting. The conference provided participants with research findings, insights and policy debates on some of the core issues of racism, xenophobia and intolerance as they affect different groups, countries and regions; and examined the opportunities, problems and challenges of public policies devised for overcoming racist and xenophobic practices in different settings. It focused on four broad themes: the social construction of race and citizenship; the social dynamics of racism and inequalities; organized responses to cultural diversity; and the impact of public policies on race relations. There was an opening, a keynote address and 10 sessions.
Two important public policy issues were highlighted throughout the three days of discussions. The first is the complex ways racial cleavages have influenced the evolution of citizenship, especially in countries with deep ethno-racial divisions. Much of the history of efforts to construct a responsive and accountable public sphere can be seen as struggles to demolish racial barriers and incorporate previously excluded groups into the system of rights and obligations that define citizenship. Struggles for universal citizenship underscore the need to respect cultural diversity and its underlying values of tolerance, accommodation and human solidarity. The second issue is the promotion of social justice and equitable governance, which is seen as a fundamental requirement for achieving stability and consolidating the values of citizenship. However, reforms that seek to promote social justice and equitable governance are often fraught with difficulties as they deal with redistributive issues. They may be seen in zero-sum terms by some citizens. Potential losers may resist or undermine reforms, while those who stand to gain may not be strong enough to defend them. These issues were discussed in 10 sessions and covered a wide range of countries and regions: the Afro-Arab borderlands, Australia and New Zealand, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, the United States, and Western Europe.
To read this issue of Conference News, use the links on the right to open the PDF file or to receive it via email.
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Pub. Date: 21 Feb 2002
Pub. Place: Geneva
ISSN: 1020-8054
From: UNRISD