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Jennifer Le
Professor Jennifer Santiago
Writing and Inquiry in Academic Context II
26 October 2016
Social Impacts of Nobel Peace Prize Winners
With what many Nobel Peace Prize winners have accomplished throughout history, the
social impacts of Nobel Peace Prize winners have shaped society to realize the value of mankind
working together. These winners have benefitted society with their humble dreams to make the
world a better place. Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners such as Martin Luther King, Nelson
Mandela, and Mother Teresa have shown the world the pure definition of peacemaking and many
individuals recognize these names as individuals that have made a positive change towards
society. The purpose of this paper is to spread awareness to the general public about how the
actions of the previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have done for our world and how it affects our
everyday living. The social impacts that Nobel Peace Prize winners have created a world that is
more aware of social problems such as equal rights and peace in the world.
For my paper, it will be divided into four main sections, one with six sub-sections. The
first section describes what the Nobel Peace Prize and how it has affected society as a whole.
The second section discusses how equal rights have changed from the past to modern day time.
The third section will state what previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have done for society and
why their names are internationally recognized. This section will be the lengthiest and divided
into six sub-sections. Each sub-section will analyze a Nobel Peace Prize winner and their
accomplishments. It will also describe how their change has impacted society as a whole and
how their accomplishments are important in modern day time. The last section discusses social

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change, and current events on social change. This paper will show how the effects of Nobel
Peace Prize winners have made a change to society and how their actions have shaped society as
how it is now.
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is an award for individuals that represent significant efforts to achieve
peace. The prize is frequently given to diplomats or mediators that work to prevent war through
diplomacy and peaceful negotiation. The Nobel Peace Prize committee consists of five people
that are chosen by the Parliament of Norwegian. The purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize is to
encourage others to promote peace in the world and to encourage society to work together as
one. Many winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have significantly changed many perspectives of
others due to their actions to make a positive impact to society.
A previous Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martin Luther King Jr., has promoted peace in the United
States with his popular I Have a Dream speech. His speech has impacted many individuals to
stand together no matter what color their skin is. Kings primary goal was to promote equality to
society and to have individuals of a separated society to come together as brothers and sisters.
His speech has promoted non-discrimination, equality, and eventually, poverty and factors that
initiated from discrimination (Logsdon 413). Kings speech has shaped society to become more
open to change and for racial groups to come together. This impact also has spread awareness to
other communities such as LGBT (Lesbians Gays Bisexuals and Trans-genders) groups and
religious groups to not allow our beliefs to separate us as a society and must work together to get
through the primary issues of the world (Fairclough 5).
Equal Rights

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Equal rights refer to every man and woman of any race being treated equally and fair. In the past,
it was not always like this. For women, they were not given many rights. Women were not paid
enough if they had worked and women were not given many basic rights such as not being able
to vote or must stay home to take care of the family.
With not many women not having much of a say in anything, Alva Myrdal1 made it her first
priority to push the government for women to have equal rights in the Sweden government
policy. By doing this, she shaped the government to allow women to have sex education classes,
contraceptives, abortion, maternal benefits, and rent subsidies for large families. With these
changes, Myrdal has shaped a country that gives women more basic rights than what women
have had previously (Stiehm 266).
In other countries such as Iran, Shirin Ebadi2 has protested for equal rights for women
(Monshipouri 3). Ebadis Nobel Peace Prize has promoted a morale boost and unique victory
not only for Iranian women and the democratic and peaceful reform movement in Iran but also
for Muslim feminists throughout the world. Ebadis prize has promoted womens rights in
Muslims as well as communities in Iran (Monshipouri 5). Her accomplishments have encouraged
feminism and promotes equal rights globally (Monshipouri 10, 11).
Although the Nobel Prize committee has tried to promote equal rights in men and women in
awards, there are significantly more men who have won a Nobel Prize than a woman. Since the
Equal Rights Movement, more women have received more prizes in the present time. The biased
treatments that many women receive throughout the years were effective in the past, and these
problems are slowly improving in society today.

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Notes
1

Alva Myrdal is a Swedish female Nobel Peace Prize winner who fought for no use of

nuclear weapons, mainly in Europe. She shared her prize with Alfonso Garcia Robles of Mexico.
2

Shiri Ebadi is the first female Iranian attorney and a human rights activist. She founded

the Association for Support of Children's Rights in 1995 and the Human Rights Defense Center
in 2001. She received a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in human rights and democracy.

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Fairclough, Adam. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Quest for Nonviolent Social Change.
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Rubin, Olivier. The political dimension of linking social capital: current analytical practices

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