AJWS Blog

The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.

My Summer at Pursue: It’s what you do, not what you think…right?

Originally posted on Pursue: Action for a Just World. At school, we always complain that we’re not doing anything. In my classes, we study feminist theory, race theory, queer theory, postcolonial theology, postmodernist thought, liberatory pedagogy; an alphabet soup of academic jargon about justice. But what’s missing, we object, is action. So we work to …

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Dvar Tzedek: Parshat Eikev 5771

If you ask people why they’re involved in community service, few—if any—would include personal reward or accolades on their list of motivations. There seems to be an expectation in our culture that good works should be accompanied by a Mother Theresa-like abdication of personal benefit. Admitting otherwise generally elicits squeamish responses. And yet, public service …

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Kenyans 4 Kenya: Charity Starts at Home

Last week, I wrote about the horrors of the ongoing drought and famine crisis in East Africa and what AJWS is doing to respond. As the crisis continues to unfold, we are hearing more and more about the perils faced by Somalis and Kenyans fleeing the famine. Today, however, instead of writing about the number …

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Letter from Haiti

Stefanie Rubin recently traveled to Haiti in preparation for the November 2011 AJWS Study Tour to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Below she shares her reflections and insights about all that she has experienced in just three days. My mind is still reeling from everything we’ve seen during the past few days in Haiti. Clips …

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Consequences in Congo, Success in Senegal: Why the Difference?

Good intentions strike again. Today’s New York Times op-ed page features a tragic account of how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act of 2010—no doubt conceived with good intentions by American politicians—is devastating mining towns in eastern Congo. In an effort to increase transparency in sourcing, the act “requires public companies to indicate what measures …

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