'Alternative Nobel' honours women taking on authoritarian rule, patriarchy and Big Tech

The Right Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel Prize, has recognized women and women-led organizations this year for their efforts to challenge powerful structures such as authoritarian rule, patriarchal violence, and unregulated artificial intelligence development. This recognition comes after a panel of jurors selected four laureates from 200 nominees in 72 countries, who will receive the award in Stockholm on December 1st.

One of the laureates is Jalila Haider, a Pakistani human rights lawyer who is being honored for breaking barriers as the first female lawyer from the Hazara community. She has been recognized for her efforts to challenge ethnic, state, and patriarchal persecution, driven by the conviction that no person should be forced into illegality.

The Rural Women's Assembly is another winner, praised for creating a powerful movement of rural women in southern Africa to defend their land, seeds, and bodily autonomy against corporate interests and patriarchal exploitation.

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association is also among the laureates, commended for its work in building and safeguarding Georgian democracy despite political repression. Finally, Timnit Gebru, an Ethiopian-born computer scientist, is recognized for challenging the concentrated power in the field of artificial intelligence and for developing digital technologies rooted in justice, real-life experience, and an understanding of human agency.

Established in 1980 by German-Swedish writer and philatelist Jakob von Uexkull, the Right Livelihood Award aims to honor individuals and organizations offering practical solutions to the world's most pressing problems. The prize comes with long-term support to help laureates expand and promote their work.