Sociology Professor Offers Expert Commentary on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

Newswise — Darrell Irwin, associate professor of sociology and criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, has recently authored the article," Awards for Suffering: The Nobel Peace Prize Winners of South Africa," which was published in the June 2009 issue of the journal Contemporary Justice Review.

Irwin is available for commentary, appearances and to write op-eds comparing the four Nobel Peace Prize winners for their work in South Africa—Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk—and their receipt of the award for "suffering" to the perception of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to President Barack Obama for expectations of future achievement.

"The Nobel Prize for Peace was given not once but four times in the late twentieth century to South Africans, for suffering and the achievements born of it," said Irwin. "The black South African Nobel laureates Luthuli, Tutu and Mandela did not choose to suffer—they were made to suffer. With their suffering came adversity, which bred character, and through their character came vision for societal change. The white South African president F.W. de Klerk, also, suffered in a lesser way politically as he reformulated a path of racial inclusion to replace the dishonorable apartheid practiced by his ruling National Party."

In its choice of President Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize committee recognized the world of possibility, declaring Obama's vision a beacon for a better future, Irwin said.

"The South African Nobel laureates suffered during the life-encompassing events of apartheid and built a better future for the next generation," he noted. "While the life experiences of these Nobel recipients and President Obama are dissimilar, they share a vision of justice, peace and hope that is analogous."