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Oil's human costs discussed by human rights expert

March 27, 2008

KALAMAZOO--"The Real Price of Oil: Poverty, Corruption, Human Right Violations and the Resource Curse" is the title of a free public talk at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Putney Auditorium of the Fetzer Center at Western Michigan University.

Dr. Scott Pegg, associate professor of political science at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, will address a phenomenon described as "the resource curse," in which resource-rich countries tend to perform poorly on social, political and economic measures. Pegg will highlight the problems that plague some resource-rich countries, demonstrate how patterns of consumption in the United States contribute to such problems and propose solutions.

Pegg is the author of "International Society and the De Facto State" and editor of "Transnational Corporations and Human Rights." His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly journals including African Affairs, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Cleaner Production, Third World Quarterly and Security Quarterly. In addition, he is chairman of the International Friends Committee of Bebor Model Nursery/Primary School, where he is raising funds to build schools in rural villages in Nigeria. He also serves on the International Advisory Board for the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development, a non-government organization in the Niger delta. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond, a master's from the London School of Economics and a doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia.

For more information, contact Dr. Susan Hoffmann at (269) 387-5672 or susan.hoffmann@wmich.edu.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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