This inquiry compares constitutional and legal traditions which impact the rights and freedoms of various minorities, such as tribal/indigenous peoples, religious minorities, peoples of alternative sexual orientations, racial and ethnic groups, and birth-based hierarchical categories that perpetuate and evolve various modalities of discrimination, social exclusion, marginalization, and oppression. By examining the ethical underpinnings of global development in comparative contexts, the initiative draws from Global South contexts of political, intellectual, and spiritual innovators that could challenge 20th century Western models of modernization and development.