Anthropologist is World Utopian Champion

At a gala in Stockholm Dr Cyril Belshaw of Vancouver was named World Utopian Champion. This followed a one year global competition. Dr Belshaw's entry was entitled From Youth Maturity to Global Government.

(PRWEB) April 9, 2005 -- Dr. Cyril Belshaw, Emeritus Professor in the University of British Columbia, has been named the winner of the 2004 World Utopian Championship, SOC Stockholm announced at a gala in that city on 2nd April 2005. His attendance at the gala was supported by the Canadian Embassy to Sweden.

Dr. Belshaw led the field from numerous countries and disciplines with a contribution entitled From Youth Maturity to Global Government". In it he suggests changes which he believes can be achieved during this century. They include the replacement of schools by Youth Maturity Institutes which bring together all agencies and interests concerned with the whole life of the child. They would emphasize the development of values such as risk taking, courtesy, lifetime interests outside the classroom and the abhorrence of violence in any form. He then devotes a section to a wide range of other institutional changes which will be elaborated upon in future writing, and finishes his holistic prescription with a detailed proposal to reform Global Government, dependent on attitudes deriving from the Youth Maturity Institutes.. He would re-structure the United Nations to become an organisation of Peoples" rather than of States", equipped with wider powers, a stream-lined parliamentary organisation, and holding a monopoly of armed force. He advocates the use of NGOs, global debate, and the will of the people to bring about the changes.

One of the final Expert Jurors, Professor Tom Boylan, Director of the Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies in the University of Limerick writes: He combines sober and informed utopian realism with the best of imaginative utopian hope. His most useful and empowering insight.....is his insistence on a holistic account of what must be done.........He radically rethinks schooling and does so in the best tradition of educational thinkers...,,,,And he builds a vision of world government.... that has deep roots in radical thought but is also to be found in the most cutting edge of contemporary work ......We can and will learn from this writers work."

SOC Stockholm is an organisation of Swedish artists devoted to the promotion of international collaboration in artistic and social fields. It has organized joint exhibitions in Ireland, Australia and China. This is the second World Utopian Championship.

The full text of the winning contribution is at http://www.soc.nu/utopian together with the details of the competition, the jurors and competitors.. Other information can be obtained from the Project Director, Jon Brunberg jon@brunberg.se

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