Human rights education in Japan: An historical account, characteristics and suggestions for a better-balanced approach

Although human rights are often expressed as universal tenets, the concept was conceived in a particular socio-political and historical context. Conceptualisations and practice of human rights vary across societies, and face numerous challenges. After providing an historical account of the conceptualisation of human rights in Japanese society, this paper examines human rights education in Japan, focusing on implementation of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education. Whilst the Decade’s Action Plan advocates a comprehensive approach, Japanese human rights education focuses far less attention on imparting knowledge and developing learners’ attitudes, placing strong emphasis on aspects of responsibility and harmonious human relations understood in the historical context of Japanese moral education. Pedagogical proposals are made to promote a comprehensive approach, including focus on the role of empowering learners, enabling them to protect themselves by invoking human rights

Human rights education in Japan: An historical account, characteristics and suggestions for a better-balanced approach

Although human rights are often expressed as universal tenets, the concept was conceived in a particular socio-political and historical context. Conceptualisations and practice of human rights vary across societies, and face numerous challenges. After providing an historical account of the conceptualisation of human rights in Japanese society, this paper examines human rights education in Japan, focusing on implementation of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education. Whilst the Decade’s Action Plan advocates a comprehensive approach, Japanese human rights education focuses far less attention on imparting knowledge and developing learners’ attitudes, placing strong emphasis on aspects of responsibility and harmonious human relations understood in the historical context of Japanese moral education. Pedagogical proposals are made to promote a comprehensive approach, including focus on the role of empowering learners, enabling them to protect themselves by invoking human rights

Patterns of justification of the United States' War against terrorism in Afghanistan

Según la teoría de la guerra justa, las intervenciones militares deben cumplir varios criterios para estar legitimadas(Haspel, 2002). Estos criterios se corresponden con cuatro procesos de desconexión moral descritos por Bandura (1999): la justificación moral, la negación de responsabilidad, el menosprecio de las consecuencias negativas y la culpabilidad de la víctima. A partir de datos de un estudio alemán en Internet con 1536 participantes, analizamos si estos aspectos de interpretación se relacionan con la actitud hacia la Guerra de Afganistán, si existen modelos específicos de desconexión moral, y cómo se relacionan con las actitudes. Todos los aspectos de interpretación se relacionan entre si para apoyar a la guerra. Sin embargo, nosotros identificamos varios modelos de desconexión moral y sólo el menosprecio de las consecuencias negativas y el rechazo de responsabilidad se encontraron en todos los modelos

Una nueva visión del patriotismo constructivo

Partiendo de investigaciones previas sobre formas de lealtad nacional se propone un modelo integrador de patriotismo constructivo. Segun este modelo, el patriotismo constructivo está definido por una combinación de identificación nacional (dimensión de identificación), la adopción de valores democráticos (dimensión de contenido) y la voluntad de implicación política (dimensión del proceso). En dos muestras, se identifican los patriotas constructivos por medio del cluster analysis. En un estudio representativo alemán, los patriotas constructivos fueron los más tolerantes con la inmigración de extranjeros y menos hostiles con los extranjeros. En un estudio de internet con universitarios alemanes, los patriotas constructivos mostraron niveles medios de hostilidad a los extranjeros y un autoritarismo de derechas. Sin embargo, un grupo de patriotas que tuvieron puntuaciones altas en hostilidad a los extranjeros y en autoritarismo de derechas tambien alcanzaron puntuaciones más en la medida tradicional de orgullo patriótico o el patriotismo constructivo, indicando que ambas medidas tienen problemas de validez. En conjunto, la visión integradora parece interesante y útil

Cardiopulmonary dysfunction in the osteogenesis imperfecta mouse model Aga2 and human patients are caused by bone-independent mechanisms.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an inherited connective tissue disorder with skeletal dysplasia of varying severity, predominantly caused by mutations in the collagen I genes (COL1A1/COL1A2). Extraskeletal findings such as cardiac and pulmonary complications are generally considered to be significant secondary features. Aga2, a murine model for human OI, was systemically analyzed in the German Mouse Clinic by means of in vivo and in vitro examinations of the cardiopulmonary system, to identify novel mechanisms accounting for perinatal lethality. Pulmonary and, especially, cardiac fibroblast of perinatal lethal Aga2/+ animals display a strong down-regulation of Col1a1 transcripts in vivo and in vitro, resulting in a loss of extracellular matrix integrity. In addition, dysregulated gene expression of Nppa, different types of collagen and Agt in heart and lung tissue support a bone-independent vicious cycle of heart dysfunction, including hypertrophy, loss of myocardial matrix integrity, pulmonary hypertension, pneumonia and hypoxia leading to death in Aga2. These murine findings are corroborated by a pediatric OI cohort study, displaying significant progressive decline in pulmonary function and restrictive pulmonary disease independent of scoliosis. Most participants show mild cardiac valvular regurgitation, independent of pulmonary and skeletal findings. Data obtained from human OI patients and the mouse model Aga2 provide novel evidence for primary effects of type I collagen mutations on the heart and lung. The findings will have potential benefits of anticipatory clinical exams and early intervention in OI patients