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PLG is concerned with complacent acceptance of service to an unquestioned political, economic and cultural status quo.

"On considering the application of Amartya Sen's capability approach to an information-based rights framework."

Britz, Johannes, Anthony Hoffmann, Shana Ponelis, Michael Zimmer, and Peter Lor. 2013.

 "On considering the application of Amartya Sen's capability approach to an information-based rights framework." Information Development 29, no. 2: 106-113. 

ABSTRACT

We live in an information society, and, resultantly, significant attention is devoted to ensure “information-based rights” are protected among other essential human rights. Fostering and protecting information-based rights is essential to human well being, and the traditional strategies to support these rights focus on ensuring free and unfettered access to information, such as the right to education, the freedom to read, or providing for fair use of copyright-protected works. While ensuring informational goods and services are accessible is necessary for participation in our contemporary information society, we argue, however, that given the complexity of our information environment, additional factors must be considered within any information-based rights framework. Building on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we suggest that individuals’ ability to access and use information is influenced by their relative capabilities. Those advocating for information-based rights – such as the free software, access to knowledge, and open access movements – must adjust their focus to include not only achieving access, but also the fostering of human capabilities.

capability approach _ Amartya Sen__ information rights__ information access

"The Human Right to a Public Library." in the Journal of Information Ethics

Mathiesen, Kay "The Human Right to a Public Library." Journal of Information Ethics 22, no. 1 (Spring 2013 2013): 60-79.

As a result of the global economic turndown, many local and national governments are disinvesting in public libraries. This paper proposes that governments have an obligation to create and fund public libraries, because access to them is a human right. Starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and appealing to recent work in Human Rights Theory, I argue that there is a right to information, which states are obligated to fulfill. Given that libraries are highly effective institutions for ensuring that this right is fulfilled, there is a derived human right to a public library.

Václav Havel award for human rights founded in Prague

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The Václav Havel award for human rights has been established in Prague in memory of the late Czech president, dissident playwright and human rights advocate. The prize, which will reward activities in defence of human rights around the world, will be first handed out this autumn by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe along with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation.

The head of the Václav Havel Library, Marta Smolíková, explains what role her institution will play in the process.

“We will organize the first session which will take place in the summer in Prague, and which will select three candidates for the award. After the winner is announced in Strasbourg, we will organize a conference in honour of the winner of the Václav Havel award to focus on the issues related to the human rights agenda.”

"The Rescuers: Picturing moral courage," at Chester Fritz Library-University of North Dakota

UND's Center for Human Rights and Genocide has scheduled a series of programs related to a human rights photo exhibit currently being shown at Chester Fritz Library.

The photo exhibit called "The Rescuers: Picturing moral courage," will be on the fourth floor of the library until April 12 during regular library hours. Images and text in the exhibition tell the story of brave individuals who risked everything to save would-be victims during the Holocaust and genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia. Programs connected to the exhibit will involve on a weekly basis one UND professor and student presenting on one of the genocides featured.

PROOF uses visual storytelling for genocide prevention and peacebuilding

Bringing together photographers, documentarians, academics, and activists, PROOF creates exhibitions, publications, and on-site activities in nations with some of the world’s most troubled histories. PROOF’s exhibitions tell untold stories of acts of moral courage as well as documenting injustice and human rights abuses.

By partnering with local organizations in post-conflict societies, PROOF creates visual documentary projects that become sustainable educational tools in regions riven by recent armed conflict and atrocities. PROOF’s mission is to contribute to research and scholarship, develop educational materials for local and international use, and encourage activism and empowerment to promote social change.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

On April 16th, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. began writing his Letter from Birmingham Jail, participants worldwide will read King's Letter in celebration. Participants will host public readings from the Letter at various locations around the globe: libraries, museums, schools, universities, churches, synagogues, temples, work places, public parks, bookstores, street corners, coffee shops and anywhere people want to participate
.

Free Library Earth: Memory is Fight!

The Free Library Earth in their search activities provide lectures, conferences, study groups, clubs, mini-courses, conferences and fairs with the objective of increasing the spread Anarchist Ideal. ---- Another goal of the library is also even preserve memory anarchist movement and support research that has as its object of study the Anarchism. That's why this site and provide updated continually session newspapers laborers and anarchists. ---- Our last update was to include 4 numbers of the newspaper "The Rebellion." in this weekly newspaper collaborated Adelino de Pinho, João Hairstyle, Florentino de Carvalho, John Crispin and many others. This paper aimed to propagandize the idea Socialist-Anarchist among workers, since it was written by workers for workers.

The newspapers provided herein is intended to collaborate, even if
humbly, with searches that are underway and those to come.

Memory is Fight!