| Right Livelihood Award | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | "practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today" |
| Country | Sweden |
| Presented by | Right Livelihood Award Foundation |
| First awarded | 1980 |
| Website | rightlivelihoodaward.org |
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The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today."[1] The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, and is presented annually in early December.[2] An international jury, invited by the five regular Right Livelihood Award board members, decides the awards in such fields as environmental protection, human rights, sustainable development, health, education, and peace.[3] The prize money is shared among the winners, usually numbering four, and is EUR 200,000.[4] Very often one of the four laureates receives an honorary award, which means that the other three share the prize money.[3]
Although it is promoted as an "Alternative Nobel Prize",[5][6][7][8][9] it is not a Nobel prize (i.e., a prize created by Alfred Nobel). It does not have any organizational ties at all to the awarding institutions of the Nobel Prize or the Nobel Foundation, unlike the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which is not technically a Nobel prize but is administered by the Nobel Foundation.
However, the Right Livelihood Award is sometimes popularly associated with the Nobel prizes. The Right Livelihood Award committee arranged for awards to be made in the Riksdag of Sweden the day before the Nobel prizes and the economics prize are also awarded in Stockholm. However, the Right Livelihood Awards are understood as a critique of the traditional Nobel prizes.[9] The establishment of the award followed a failed attempt to have the Nobel Foundation create new prizes in the areas of environmental protection, sustainable development and human rights. The prize has been awarded to a diverse group of people and organisations, including Wangari Maathai, Astrid Lindgren, Bianca Jagger, Mordechai Vanunu, Leopold Kohr, Arna Mer-Khamis, Felicia Langer, Petra Kelly, Survival International, Amy Goodman, Catherine Hamlin, Memorial, Edward Snowden, Daniel Ellsberg, and Greta Thunberg.
Ceremony
Since 1985, the ceremony has taken place in Stockholm's old Parliament building, in the days before the traditional Nobel prizes are awarded in the same city. A group of Swedish Parliamentarians from different parties host the ceremony; in 2009 European Commissioner Margot Wallström co-hosted the ceremony. However, in 2014 when it became public that one of the recipients of the 2014 prize was whistleblower Edward Snowden, the ceremonial group was disinvited from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs building in Stockholm.[10]
In 2019, marking the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Award, the ceremony was held at Cirkus before a live audience of more than 1,200 people. World-renowned artists such as José González and Ane Brun were among the night's performers.[11]
Nature of the award
Some media refer to the prize as the Alternative Nobel Prize,[3] and the prize is frequently understood as a critique of the traditional Nobel prizes.[9]
The prize differs significantly from the Nobel Prizes:
- it is not a fulfillment of Alfred Nobel's bequest and thus not one of Nobel's own prizes;
- it has an open nomination process (anyone can nominate anyone else, except close relatives or their own organizations);[12]
- it is not limited to specific categories;[4]
- the prize money is considerably lower than that of the Nobel Prize. Currently it is €200,000 compared to about €1,000,000 for a Nobel Prize;
- the funds for the prizes now come from donations[1] while the Nobel Prizes come from the revenue of Alfred Nobel's fortune. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (which is technically not a Nobel Prize) is financed by the Sveriges Riksbank.
History
)
Jakob von Uexküll, a philanthropist, sold his stamp collection worth one million US dollars, which provided the initial funding for the award. Before establishing the award in 1980, von Uexkull had tried to persuade the Nobel Foundation to establish new prizes to be awarded together with the Nobel Prizes. He suggested new prize categories to be created: one in ecology and one in development.[13] Like the Nobel Economics Prize, this would have been possible with an amendment to the Nobel Foundation statutes and funding of the prize amount completely separate from Nobel's fortune. The Nobel Prize amount was 880,000 Swedish kronor at that time,[14] which corresponded to 195,000 US dollars.[15] However, as a result of the debate that followed the establishment of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (first awarded in 1969), the Nobel Foundation had decided not to associate the Nobel Prize with any additional awards, so von Uexküll's proposal was rejected.[16]
From 1980–2019, the foundation presented awards to 178 Laureates from 70 countries.[17] Its self-described purpose is to bestow prizes and thus publicize the work of recipients' local solutions to worldwide problems.[18]
Laureates[19]
| Year | Laureates | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | ||
| Hassan Fathy | .svg.png){kind=small} Egypt | |
| Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin |  United States Guatemala.svg.png){kind=small} Lesotho | |
| 1981 | ||
| Mike Cooley |  United Kingdom | |
| Bill Mollison | .svg.png){kind=small} Australia | |
| Patrick van Rensburg / Education with Production |  Botswana.svg.png){kind=small} South Africa | |
| 1982 | ||
| Erik Dammann / Future in Our Hands |  Norway | |
| Anwar Fazal |  Malaysia | |
| Petra Kelly |  West Germany | |
| Participatory Institute for Development Alternatives |  Sri Lanka | |
| Sir George Trevelyan, Bt | United Kingdom | |
| 1983 | ||
| Leopold Kohr |  Austria | |
| Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins / Rocky Mountain Institute | United States | |
| Manfred Max-Neef / CEPAUR |  Chile | |
| High Chief Ibedul Gibbons and the People of Belau |  Palau | |
| 1984 | ||
| Imane Khalifeh |  Lebanon | |
| Self-Employed Women's Association / Ela Bhatt |  India | |
| Winefreda Geonzon / Free Legal Assistance Volunteers' Association (FREE LAVA) | .svg.png){kind=small} Philippines | |
| Wangari Maathai / Green Belt Movement |  Kenya | |
| 1985 | ||
| Theo Van Boven |  Netherlands | |
| Cary Fowler (Rural Advancement Fund International) | United States | |
| Pat Mooney (Rural Advancement Fund International) | .svg.png){kind=small} Canada | |
| Lokayan / Rajni Kothari | India | |
| Duna Kör |  Hungary | |
| 1986 | ||
| Robert Jungk | Austria | |
| Rosalie Bertell | Canada | |
| Alice Stewart | United Kingdom | |
| Ladakh Ecological Development Group / Helena Norberg-Hodge | India | |
| Evaristo Nugkuag / AIDESEP |  Peru | |
| 1987 | ||
| Johan Galtung | Norway | |
| Chipko movement | India | |
| Hans-Peter Dürr / Global Challenges Network | West Germany | |
| Institute for Food and Development Policy / Frances Moore Lappé | United States | |
| Mordechai Vanunu |  Israel | |
| 1988 | ||
| International Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims / Dr. Inge Kemp Genefke |  Denmark | |
| José Lutzenberger | .svg.png){kind=small} Brazil | |
| John F. Charlewood Turner | United Kingdom | |
| Sahabat Alam Malaysia / Mohammed Idris, Harrison Ngau, the Penan people | Malaysia | |
| 1989 | ||
| Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative Union | .svg.png){kind=small} Japan | |
| Melaku Worede | .svg.png){kind=small} Ethiopia | |
| Aklilu Lemma / Legesse Wolde-Yohannes | Ethiopia | |
| Survival International | United Kingdom | |
| 1990 | ||
| Alice Tepper Marlin / Council on Economic Priorities | United States | |
| Bernard Lédéa Ouédraogo |  Burkina Faso | |
| Felicia Langer | Israel | |
| Association of Peasant Workers of the Carare (Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos del Carare) |  Colombia | |
| 1991 | ||
| Edward Goldsmith | United Kingdom | |
| Narmada Bachao Andolan | India | |
| Bengt Danielsson & Marie-Thérèse Danielsson |  Sweden /  France | |
| Senator Jeton Anjain / the People of Rongelap |  Marshall Islands | |
| Landless Workers' Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) / CPT (Commissão Pastoral da Terra) | Brazil | |
| 1992 | ||
| Finnish Village Action Movement (Kylätoiminta) |  Finland | |
| Gonoshasthaya Kendra / Zafrullah Chowdhury |  Bangladesh | |
| Helen Mack | Guatemala | |
| John Gofman / Alla Yaroshinskaya | United States /  Ukraine | |
| 1993 | ||
| Arna Mer-Khamis / Care and Learning | Israel | |
| Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress / Sithembiso Nyoni |  Zimbabwe | |
| Vandana Shiva | India | |
| Mary and Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Nation | United States | |
| 1994 | ||
| Astrid Lindgren | Sweden | |
| SERVOL (Service Volunteered for All) |  Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Dr. H. Sudarshan / VGKK (Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra | India | |
| Ken Saro-Wiwa / Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People |  Ogoniland, Nigeria | |
| 1995 | ||
| András Bíró / Hungarian Foundation for Self-Reliance | Hungary | |
| Serb Civic Council |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
| Carmel Budiardjo / TAPOL |  Indonesia / United Kingdom | |
| Sulak Sivaraksa |  Thailand | |
| 1996 | ||
| Herman Daly | United States | |
| Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia |  Russia | |
| People's Science Movement of Kerala (Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad) | India | |
| George Vithoulkas |  Greece | |
| 1997 | ||
| Joseph Ki-Zerbo | Burkina Faso | |
| Jinzaburo Takagi | Japan | |
| Mycle Schneider | France | |
| Michael Succow | Germany | |
| Cindy Duehring | United States | |
| 1998 | ||
| International Baby Food Action Network | ||
| Samuel Epstein | United States | |
| Juan Pablo Orrego | Chile | |
| Katarina Kruhonja / Vesna Terselic |  Croatia | |
| 1999 | ||
| Hermann Scheer | Germany | |
| Juan Garcés |  Spain | |
| COAMA (Consolidation of the Amazon Region) | Colombia | |
| Grupo de Agricultura Orgánica |  Cuba | |
| 2000 | ||
| Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher |  Ethiopia | |
| Munir | Indonesia | |
| Birsel Lemke |  Turkey | |
| Wes Jackson | United States | |
| 2001 | ||
| José Antonio Abreu | .svg.png){kind=small} Venezuela | |
| Gush Shalom / Rachel and Uri Avnery | Israel | |
| Leonardo Boff |  Brazil | |
| Trident Ploughshares | United Kingdom | |
| 2002 | ||
| Martin Green | Australia | |
| Kamenge Youth Centre (Centre Jeunes Kamenge) |  Burundi | |
| Kvinna Till Kvinna | Sweden | |
| Martín Almada | .svg.png){kind=small} Paraguay | |
| 2003 | ||
| David Lange |  New Zealand | |
| Walden Bello / Nicanor Perlas |  Philippines | |
| Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice |  South Korea | |
| SEKEM and Ibrahim Abouleish |  Egypt | |
| 2004 | ||
| Swami Agnivesh / Asghar Ali Engineer | India | |
| Memorial Society | Russia | |
| Bianca Jagger |  Nicaragua | |
| Raúl Montenegro |  Argentina | |
| 2005 | ||
| Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke | Canada | |
| Irene Fernandez | Malaysia | |
| Roy Sesana and First People of the Kalahari | Botswana | |
| Francisco Toledo |  Mexico | |
| 2006 | ||
| Daniel Ellsberg | United States | |
| Ruth Manorama | India | |
| Chico Whitaker | Brazil | |
| International Poetry Festival of Medellín | Colombia | |
| 2007 | ||
| Christopher Weeramantry | Sri Lanka | |
| Dekha Ibrahim Abdi | Kenya | |
| Percy Schmeiser and Louise Schmeiser | Canada | |
| Grameen Shakti | Bangladesh | |
| 2008 | ||
| Krishnammal Jagannathan and Sankaralingam Jagannathan LAFTI | India | |
| Amy Goodman | United States | |
| Asha Haji Elmi |  Somalia | |
| Monika Hauser |  Italy | |
| 2009 | ||
| Catherine Hamlin | Australia | |
| René Ngongo |  Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| David Suzuki | Canada | |
| Alyn Ware | New Zealand | |
| 2010 | ||
| Nnimmo Bassey |  Nigeria | |
| Erwin Kräutler | Austria Brazil | |
| Shrikrishna Upadhyay |  Nepal | |
| Physicians for Human Rights | Israel | |
| 2011 | ||
| Huang Ming |  China | |
| Jacqueline Moudeina |  Chad | |
| GRAIN | ||
| Ina May Gaskin | United States | |
| 2012 | ||
| Campaign Against Arms Trade | United States | |
| Gene Sharp | United States | |
| Hayrettin Karaca | Turkey | |
| Sima Samar | .svg.png){kind=small} Afghanistan | |
| 2013 | ||
| Paul Walker | United States | |
| Hans Rudolf Herren and Biovision Foundation |  Switzerland | |
| Raji Sourani |  Gaza | |
| Denis Mukwege | Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 2014 | ||
| Bill McKibben and 350.org | United States | |
| Basil Fernando and AHRC |  Hong Kong SAR, China | |
| Asma Jahangir |  Pakistan | |
| Alan Rusbridger | United Kingdom | |
| Edward Snowden | United States | |
| 2015 | ||
| Sheila Watt-Cloutier | Canada | |
| Tony deBrum | Marshall Islands | |
| Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera |  Uganda | |
| Gino Strada | Italy | |
| 2016 | ||
| Cumhuriyet | Turkey | |
| Syrian Civil Defense |  Syria | |
| Mozn Hassan and Nazra for Feminist Studies | Egypt | |
| Svetlana Gannushkina | Russia | |
| 2017 | ||
| Robert Bilott | United States | |
| Colin Gonsalves | India | |
| Khadija Ismayilova |  Azerbaijan | |
| Yetnebersh Nigussie | Ethiopia | |
| 2018 | ||
| Thelma Aldana, Iván Velásquez | Guatemala Colombia | |
| Yacouba Sawadogo | Burkina Faso | |
| Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani, Walid Abu al-Chair |  Saudi Arabia | |
| Tony Rinaudo | Australia | |
| 2019 | ||
| Greta Thunberg | Sweden | |
| Aminatou Haidar |  Western Sahara | |
| Davi Kopenawa Yanomami | Brazil | |
| Guo Jianmei | China | |
| 2020 | ||
| Nasrin Sotoudeh |  Iran | |
| Bryan Stevenson | USA | |
| Lottie Cunningham Wren | Nicaragua | |
| Ales Bialiatski |  Belarus |
See also
- Right livelihood
- List of awards for contributions to society
- List of environmental awards
- List of human rights awards
- List of humanitarian and service awards
- List of civil awards and decorations
References
- ^ a b Ministry for Foreign Affairs (26 September 2013). "The 2013 Right Livelihood Laureates announced". Government Offices of Sweden. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- ^ Jawetz, Pincas. 30th Right Livelihood Awards: Wake-up calls to secure our common future. SustainabiliTank. 13 Oct. 2009.
- ^ a b c Thorpe, Edgar; Thorpe, Showick. "General Awareness: Right Livelihood Award". Guide to the Combined Defence Services Exam. New Delhi: Pearson Education. p. 26. ISBN 81-317-0074-7.
- ^ a b About the Right Livelihood Award Archived 2011-08-11 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed October 26, 2010.
- ^ "Indians win 'alternative Nobel'". BBC. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Peace and Social Justice Workers Receive Alternative Nobel Prize". Deutsche Welle. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ "Global activists honoured with 'Alternative Nobel' prize". The Local. 30 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2 October 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- ^ "Israeli doctors' group wins 'alternative' Nobel prize". BBC. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ a b c "Alternativer Nobelpreis: Kampf gegen Klimawandel, Armut, Kriege ausgezeichnet". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Edward Snowden inte välkommen till UD". Aftonbladet. Aftonbladet. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ 2019 Right Livelihood Award Presentation, retrieved 2020-01-08
- ^ Right Livelihood Award: Proposals & Selection Process. Accessed January 24, 2010.
- ^ "Right Livelihood Award: History - Setting up the 'Alternative Nobel Prize'". Rightlivelihood.org. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize Amounts". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
- ^ "according to historical exchange rate from".
- ^ TT-DN (2003-10-02). Alternativt Nobelpris delas på fem. Dagens Nyheter, "Publicerat 2003-10-02 10:08". Retrieved from http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=188389. (in Swedish)
- ^ "About the Right Livelihood Award". The Right Livelihood Award. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ "Right Livelihood Award history". Archived from the original on June 20, 2010.
- ^ "Laureates". Right Livelihood Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
Bibliography
- Pathiravitana, S. (2007-11-08). A Great Son of Lanka. Sri Lanka Daily News, 8 November 2007. A history of the award. Retrieved on 2008-06-03 from https://web.archive.org/web/20080110104454/http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/11/08/fea01.asp.