[psych-hr] Elizabeth Lira comments on the IPEDEHP case study

The case study does a very good job of translating the work that
IPEDEHP has carried out under profoundly adverse political and social
conditions. IPEDEHP does a nice job in its methodology of integrating
what has been learned from the diverse experiences in the field of
popular education. In particular, it links the vital experiences of
the participants with their private and social lives. The privileged
position that IPEDEHP gives to emotions as a factor that influences
change takes advantage of the knowledge gained in psychology and
therapy. The integration of emotions in the vital recognition that
each person acquires of his/her context has the potential to produce
the impacts that are demonstrated in the case study results.

The process that Marcy has used permits us to identify that one of the
key elements of the training is the internalization process that
permits participants, subsequent to the training, not only to apply
their new learning but to acquire a new relationship with themselves
and others. In other words, the theme of human rights does not consist
primarily in the rights given to me by the legal structure. Instead I
am transformed as a "subject" of my rights and I am empowered with all
of the implications that this notion of "subject" brings with it.

This notion of "subject has many dimensions. There is the connotation
of gender, social status, the specific role of the social leader vis a
vis his/her age, profession, etc. It is my opinion that emphasizing
the dimension of being a "subject" of rights is a basic condition for
building democratic leadership. Approaching rights in this way makes
it possible to arrive at more profound perceptions and insights
regarding the reasons each subject is situated where he/she is within
a society which is hierarchical, that legitimizes discrimination by
social class, gender, race, and economic situation.  Approaching
rights in this way permits one to see the authoritarian dimensions of
social and political relations. The move to democracy implies changes
in the nature of political leadership, the mentality of this
leadership, how leaders perceive themselves and society and it appears
to me that IPEDEHP's work takes the community leaders in this
direction. I believe that this approach is a basic condition for other
kinds of learning and development.

I have many questions about the persistence of the change in the community 
leaders and what the conditions are that maintain this change within their 
families and in their social relationships over time. One of these is the 
way that taking on a theme of human rights is based on the most fundamental 
needs of women and men--the need to recognize their own value and dignity, 
value themselves in psychological and social terms (self-esteem), recognize 
themselves as bearers of rights that they can demand, and demand these rights 
at every level. The compensation is not only having legitimately demanded 
one's rights but one's self-perception of being a valuable and capable person.

I would like to congratulate Marcy on her work and I asked to be excused for 
my inability to respond in a more timely fashion.

Warm regards,

Elizabeth Lira