Human rights are a fairly recent experiment, one that has undergone a rapid expansion while also ... more Human rights are a fairly recent experiment, one that has undergone a rapid expansion while also facing virtually unrivalled opposition and criticism; this article aims at assessing their ‘state of health’, specifically their potential to respond to contemporary, innovative challenges, by investigating the ability of the system to expand and morph at the benefit of indigenous people, in their struggle to protect their traditional knowledge and associated natural resources from biopiracy. After providing a working definition of biopiracy and ‘indigenous peoples’, and briefly retracing these communities’ growing participation and recognition at the international level, specific attention will be devoted to the regime of intellectual property (IPR), which, while recognised as one of the root causes of this problem, is also often proposed as a potential solution. The article reconstructs its cultural foundations and ideological tenets, from which emerge this system’s inherent inability to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, which have a radically different approach to science and to the natural world. Subsequently, the human rights framework will be considered: firstly, the article pauses on an evaluation of its ideological similarities with the regime of intellectual property and its consequent limitations, which support accuses directed to this system of being (similarly to IPR) a neo-colonial tool; then, the article examines the expanding, context-sensitive approach developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to indigenous’ land rights, arguing for the possibility to extend such interpretation (by continuing on a path already opened by the Court) for the protection of natural resources, as well as of the related indigenous knowledge, notwithstanding an apparent separation and structural differences between the two.
Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in Italy, and a seemingly unsolvable one, which causes inef... more Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in Italy, and a seemingly unsolvable one, which causes inefficiencies and discrimination in the distribution of resources and enjoyment of services, as well as in the participation to the public life: as a consequence, it is safe to assert that it provokes (according to some it constitutes) a violation of fundamental human rights. However, despite broad popular concern and media coverage, the connection between corruption and human rights is hardly ever made. After an introduction to corruption, both as a phenomenon and in its significance in Italy, as well as an overview of the relevant regional and international framework, this brief article considers the benefits of a human rights-based approach to this phenomenon, in terms of advocacy, prevention and redress.
Human rights are a fairly recent experiment, one that has undergone a rapid expansion while also ... more Human rights are a fairly recent experiment, one that has undergone a rapid expansion while also facing virtually unrivalled opposition and criticism; this article aims at assessing their ‘state of health’, specifically their potential to respond to contemporary, innovative challenges, by investigating the ability of the system to expand and morph at the benefit of indigenous people, in their struggle to protect their traditional knowledge and associated natural resources from biopiracy. After providing a working definition of biopiracy and ‘indigenous peoples’, and briefly retracing these communities’ growing participation and recognition at the international level, specific attention will be devoted to the regime of intellectual property (IPR), which, while recognised as one of the root causes of this problem, is also often proposed as a potential solution. The article reconstructs its cultural foundations and ideological tenets, from which emerge this system’s inherent inability to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, which have a radically different approach to science and to the natural world. Subsequently, the human rights framework will be considered: firstly, the article pauses on an evaluation of its ideological similarities with the regime of intellectual property and its consequent limitations, which support accuses directed to this system of being (similarly to IPR) a neo-colonial tool; then, the article examines the expanding, context-sensitive approach developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to indigenous’ land rights, arguing for the possibility to extend such interpretation (by continuing on a path already opened by the Court) for the protection of natural resources, as well as of the related indigenous knowledge, notwithstanding an apparent separation and structural differences between the two.
Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in Italy, and a seemingly unsolvable one, which causes inef... more Corruption is a widespread phenomenon in Italy, and a seemingly unsolvable one, which causes inefficiencies and discrimination in the distribution of resources and enjoyment of services, as well as in the participation to the public life: as a consequence, it is safe to assert that it provokes (according to some it constitutes) a violation of fundamental human rights. However, despite broad popular concern and media coverage, the connection between corruption and human rights is hardly ever made. After an introduction to corruption, both as a phenomenon and in its significance in Italy, as well as an overview of the relevant regional and international framework, this brief article considers the benefits of a human rights-based approach to this phenomenon, in terms of advocacy, prevention and redress.
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Papers by Giada Girelli
After providing a working definition of biopiracy and ‘indigenous peoples’, and briefly retracing these communities’ growing participation and recognition at the international level, specific attention will be devoted to the regime of intellectual property (IPR), which, while recognised as one of the root causes of this problem, is also often proposed as a potential solution. The article reconstructs its cultural foundations and ideological tenets, from which emerge this system’s inherent inability to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, which have a radically different approach to science and to the natural world. Subsequently, the human rights framework will be considered: firstly, the article pauses on an evaluation of its ideological similarities with the regime of intellectual property and its consequent limitations, which support accuses directed to this system of being (similarly to IPR) a neo-colonial tool; then, the article examines the expanding, context-sensitive approach developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to indigenous’ land rights, arguing for the possibility to extend such interpretation (by continuing on a path already opened by the Court) for the protection of natural resources, as well as of the related indigenous knowledge, notwithstanding an apparent separation and structural differences between the two.
After providing a working definition of biopiracy and ‘indigenous peoples’, and briefly retracing these communities’ growing participation and recognition at the international level, specific attention will be devoted to the regime of intellectual property (IPR), which, while recognised as one of the root causes of this problem, is also often proposed as a potential solution. The article reconstructs its cultural foundations and ideological tenets, from which emerge this system’s inherent inability to protect the interests of indigenous peoples, which have a radically different approach to science and to the natural world. Subsequently, the human rights framework will be considered: firstly, the article pauses on an evaluation of its ideological similarities with the regime of intellectual property and its consequent limitations, which support accuses directed to this system of being (similarly to IPR) a neo-colonial tool; then, the article examines the expanding, context-sensitive approach developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to indigenous’ land rights, arguing for the possibility to extend such interpretation (by continuing on a path already opened by the Court) for the protection of natural resources, as well as of the related indigenous knowledge, notwithstanding an apparent separation and structural differences between the two.