Triple boost to world’s women
Women Nobel laureates have been few and far between in the 110-year history of the famous prize. For that reason the decision of the awards committee to give the peace prize this year to three women is welcome. The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee has rightly observed that we cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same
opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society. Of course, the Nobel Prize is not everything, and several greats have slipped under the radar of the prize committee. Mahatma Gandhi is a telling case. Another remarkable omission is the English writer Graham Greene. There have been surprising awards too. When Henry Kissinger was named in the peace category, several earlier laureates returned their prizes in protest. Regardless of this chequered history, it needs to be said that no award in the world has the same brand value as the Nobel. This is all the more why individuals winning the prize in a field bring lustre to that field and become an inspiration for others. Giving Madam Curie the physics prize in 1903 encouraged young women throughout the world to study science; she won a second time, for chemistry, in 1911.
This being said, it will remain a matter of discussion whether the Nobel should reward a life’s work or the work, even if of extraordinary merit, of the recent past, especially in the peace category which straddles the political, social, and cultural universe. In principle, many might regard the latter as problematic, even if we allow for debates that frequently ensue as regards the suitability of certain individuals for selection and the disregard of others. The peace prize has often caused speculation that winners might be chosen also for political considerations. For this reason, US President Barack Obama’s selection last year had raised eyebrows, making some wonder if a political leader prosecuting two simultaneous wars might be the best person to claim the distinction.
One of the women to be given the prize for peace, Tawakul Karman of Yemen, is no doubt an exemplar in the field of struggle for women’s rights in her part of the world. However, it may be argued that if she weren’t part of the process that has approvingly come to be called the Arab Spring in the Western discourse, her effort may not have been noticed by the judges. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and social activist Leymah Gbowee of the same country are also stalwart figures. Nevertheless, consideration of a lifetime’s achievement of an individual is likely to bring wider approbation.
Post new comment