by phylevn

Universal Human Rights in a Culturally Diversified World

UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS IN A Culturally DIVERSIFIED WORLD

INTRODUCTION

The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on 10th Dec 1948th This foundation of human rights emphasize on inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights to all members of the human family internationally. [1] The natural law view as expressed in the traditional formulations of that approach or by virtue of the natural rights movement, is that certain rights exist as a result of higher law than man-made or positive law. This right is supposed to govern everyone in time & space. [2] Seventeenth century natural lawyer John Locke is supposed to have found the existence of inalienable rights as seeking the rights to life, liberty and property. This inalienable rights to life, property and dignity of a human being is termed as human rights indivuals Which all have a right to enjoy from birth Irrespective of any gender / class / race / country / ethnicity / color, etc. Human rights are universal for being aspirational goals at all times & places for containing core values like right to life Which are indeed universal. These rights initially started developing in the domestic spheres of different countries along with Which time spread internationally. Human rights law assigns legal rights & duties to non-state actors under international law and hence forms a part of the post-Westphalian system The safeguards of human rights are not restricted to any area or does not call for different parameters in different parts of the world Depending on the culture & tradition in that part of the world .. The 1st generation of human rights basically had a liberal approach based on the concepts of Locke and Rousseau, unlike that of the 3rd generation approach by Marx Which was based more on survival rights like right to food and shelter comprising the basic rights to life of a man rather than right to property or worship. With the steady unequal economic development among the countries of northern and southern hemisphere, this trend of 3rd generation human rights have become predominant where South African countries plagued with apartheid concentrate more on economic rights rather than cultural & social rights unlike North American Countries.

WHAT IS CULTURAL Relativism

Cultural Relativity is an undeniable fact Which all moral and social institutions as evidence of astonishing cultural and historical variability. This doctrine is strongly supported by notions of communal autonomy and self determination. [3] There are two extreme positions of cultural relativism cultural relativism and radical-radical universalism. Radical Cultural Relativism holds that culture is the sole source of validity of moral right or rule while radical universalism holds that culture is irrelevant to the validity of moral rights & rules Which are universal. Radical Cultural Relativism can be broadly divided into two branches-strong cultural relativism cultural relativism and weak. Strong cultural relativism Relies heavily upon culture as the sole basis On which moral rights should emanate from. Weak cultural relativism holds that culture may be an important source of the validity of moral right or rule. Weak cultural relativism would recognize a comprehensive prima facie universal human rights and allow only Relatively rare and strictly limited local variations and exceptions. Weak Cultural Relativism is just a short way from radical universalism. [4] While discussing cultural relativism the most important controversies arise over practices Which are defensible by internal standards but unacceptable by external standards. Now internal judgments are those Which asks for Whether the basic value framework is defensible in the framework of That Particular society. An external judgment Applies the standard of the evaluator Whether the practice can or should be accepted or defended. This internal and external evaluations matches up with or further elaborates the distinction between strong and weak cultural relativism. The stronger one's relativism, the greater one's reliance on internal evaluations. [5] Relativism rests on moral autonomy and communal self determination. To rely entirely on internal judgments would make one abrogate his moral responsibilities as a member of cosmopolitan moral community and would demand for application of universal standards in external judgments. The more important a practice within a system the more the force of internal standards Which can only be over ridden by Particular strong judgments. The choice of internal & external judgments Thus is a moral choice. Strong & weak relativism can not be distinguished Solely by the number of deviations they allow from universal standards, some qualitative measure is required also. Even very weak relative cultural songwriter might allow Considerable variation in the form # in which most rights are implemented. Particular human rights are like Essentially contested concepts in Which there is a substantial but rather general consensus of meaning coupled with no less important and apparently unresolvable conflict of interpretations. Village standard arguments for cultural relativism can be based upon pre-colonial African, Native American Tribes, & traditional Islamic social system where the claim for communal self determination are particularly strong. Where there is a thriving indigenous cultural tradition of cultural relativism and community arguments based on the principle of self determination of people offer a strong defense against external interference including disruptions that might be caused by the universal human rights.

CONFLICT BETWEEN UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS & Cultural Relativism

In the left-right / north-south debate that permeate today's Ideological exchanges, cultural absolutely songwriter specifically argue that culture is more important than the internationally accepted principles of human rights. [6] The absolute songwriter argue human against rights saying they are western in origin and cause harm to indigenous culture but in the true sense human rights does not limit its applicability. Human rights challenge all cultures although several focus on Western efforts to impose western values on the south, it is important to note that several so notice the failure of western countries to take certain human rights more seriously. Countries from the northern hemisphere resist most when any of the rights infringe their culture. Ex-United States, the most westernized country & Imperialistic GeneRally remains hostile to the human rights movement as articulated by recent international developments. Culture matters for several reasons as being highlighted by cultural view of human rights and its implementation. If human rights calls for abolishing cultural identities, it may mean a end to the culture of a group practicing since culture construct questioned practices as central to cultural conceptions of human development, cultural participation and cultural life. [7] Much as several propose that human rights have the capability to erase cultural diversity. Human beings live through their universal human rights culture and thus Guarantees cultural rights to indivuals. Human rights must take full account of indivuals as members of social group. If we look at the various kinds of violence we'll notice the predominance of culture and how even human rights is culturally rooted in some parts. Elsewhere The case of female genital mutilations in Africa &. Governments Thurs promote not these violations, instead they try to stop them by harping on their promotion of education Detrimental health consequences. Nevertheless there is a strong sentiment among both women and men on these operations although now its being opposed by some feminists. Child betrothal is a violation of an international human rights standards but still its being accepted in many cultures. Even freedom of speech in the form of blasphemy or pornography is offensive govt among many cultural sentiments though no Whether the matter. permits or prohibit them. [8] Women's subordination to men as a group in respect of political, economic and physical power over women has been challenged by the 2nd wave of feminism in the 1970s from N. America & no longer believe that women ought to be differentiated from men & wives should be subordinate to the husbands, nor do they hold that women's divine purpose in life is to bear children. Not only U. SA, African Countries from India and even feminists are challenging these age old cultural norms of the society. Homosexuality is another problem in the United States where it is still not accepted as a cultural norm Very few states in the United States safe guard the rights of homosexuals against discrimination in areas of employment or housing. Homosexuals in Canada are admitted in the military but gay marriage is not yet accepted. Strong cultural beliefs on heterosexuality and the sacred bonding of a man and a woman in a family makes life difficult for homosexuals to get all the human rights protection they seek. Many critics find human rights to be overtly indivualistic in the Northern countries and human rights Do Not SafeGuard economic rights. Since the whites in the United States had always been privileged in respect of resources, so it is Determined that all indivuals should be capable enough to earn his own / her living. One who is poor, one is at his own cost. United States has the worst record of commission for economic rights among all western states. It does not have either right to health / food / shelter. T he was culturally ingrained not that African Americans are inferior people deserving the respect of the whites needs to be ruptured. In 1997, August, at 18yr old woman was burned to death in Germany by her father because she did not marry a man of her father's choice. The court gave a reduced sentence Stating that the father was Merely exercising his culture and religion. [9] In Iran, women & girls are forcibly veiled under the threat of imprisonment and lashes & cultural relatively songwriter say that this is done complying with the cultural norms of the land. Cultural relativism says that legalize savagery and rights of a person depends on his nationality. Its says that rights of people in Afganisthan, Iran, Iraq or African countries is different from those that enjoyed by people of United States. [10]

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS & CULTURAL Relativism

With increase in globalization, there has been mixing of masses and people from different cultural groups Voluntarily or involuntarily by the increasing integration of markets, the emergence of new regional political alliances, and remarkable advances in telecommunications, biotechnology and transportation that promoted unprecedented demographic shifts. Come Arises the question how come human rights be maintained in a culturally diverse society and how come cultural diversity and integrity be maintained. Cultural relativism is the assertion that human values, far from being universal, vary a great deal according to different cultural perspectives. Some would apply this relativism to the promotion, protection, interpretation and application of human rights Which could be interpreted differently within different cultural, ethnic and religious traditions. In other words, according to this view, human rights are culturally relative rather than universal. [11] Taken to extreme cultural relativism might pose a problem for the effectiveness of international law and international system of human rights. If traditional norms alone Governs then abuse and violation of human rights will become rampant. Human rights as proclaimed in the Charter tells that human rights are for all without any discrimination. They are natural born rights for all human beings and not privileges. The flexibility of human rights to be relevant to diverse cultures is facilitated by the establishment of minimum standards and the incorporation of cultural rights. [12] Human Rights lays down respect for and protection of cultural diversity and integrity through the cultural rights established in human rights law. These include Bill of Rights, The Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, The Declaration of Race & Racial Prejudice Declaration on the Right of Development, ILO Convention no. 169 on the rights of Indigenous & Tribal people, etc. Which Human rights relate to cultural diversity and integrity encompass a wide range of protections, including: the right to cultural participation, the right to enjoy the arts, conservation, development and diffusion of culture; protection of cultural heritage; freedom for creative activity, protection of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, freedom of assembly and association, the right to education, freedom of thought, conscience or religion, freedom of opinion and expression, and the principle of non-discrimination. [13] Human rights safeguards cultural rights to the extent that it does not infringe upon another human right. Claiming cultural relativism and practicing a culture at the cost of another right is an abuse of that culture. There are legitimate and substantive limitations on Cultural Rights Now. Ex-No One Can legitimately carry on slavery even if it might just be legitimate in his / her culture. Similarly cultural rights guaranteed under human rights Thurs not support torture, murder, genocide, discrimination on grounds of sex / race / color / language / religion or any other violation of human rights or fundamental freedom established in international law [14].

CONCLUSION

Weak cultural relativism is the answer in today's diversified world. Cultural traditions Thurs hold importance but it should not be implemented at the cost of another human right. Human nature is distinct from each other and a person acquires his / her identity from the ethnic / cultural group he comes from. Sun denying that culture would be denying the existence of the people belonging to that culture. Each culture has its own unique features, like when a family chooses a bride they look at the height, weight, skin color or any other features Which is pertinent to their culture Which might just be different from any other culture. Culture gives a man his identity, so that safeguarding culture is important but that cultural practice might not harm anyone else. Human rights provides for right to life Which shows that there lies in immediate duty not to harm anyone. Sun Culture which any calls for harming others should be struck out. Human Rights are universal and they are for all indivuals equally throughout the world. Sun each & every indivual has the right to human rights and they can therefore carry on with their cultures but not at the cost of violation of another right.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shaw. N. Malcolm, International Law, 5th edition, Cambridge University Press

Howard. Rhoda E., Are Human Rights Universal, 1999, American Bar Association

Maryam Namazie, Cultural Relativism-This Era's Fasicism, 1998, Nov

Diana Ayton-Shenker, The Challenge of Human Rights & Cultural Diversity, United Nations Background Note.

Jack Donnelly, Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights, Human Rights Quarterly

Dr Rahman IA, Universality and Cultural Relativism, 2003, June

Obaid Ahmed Obaid El El, Universalism and Cultural Relativism, 2004, June

Richard Harvey Brown & Levine Bjawi-Laure, Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights: Contributions from the Social Science of the Middle East.

Franck. M. Thomas, Are Human Rights Universal

Suzanne Last Stone, Comment: Cultural Pluralism, Nationalism and Universal Rights, Hein Online

[1] Malcolm. N. Shaw, International Law, 5th edition, pg-247, Cambridge University Press

[2] Ibid 1, pg-248

[3] Jack Donnelly, Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights, Human Rights Quarterly

[4] Ibid 3

[5] Jack Donnelly, Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights, Human Rights Quarterly

[6] Rhoda. E. Howard, Are Human Rights Universal, 1999, American Bar Association

[7] Ibid 6

[8] Rhoda. E. Howard, Are Human Rights Universal, 1999, American Bar Association

[9] Maryam Namanzie, Cultural Relativism-This Era's Fasicism, 1998, Nov

[10] Ibid 9

[11] Diana Ayton Shenker, The Challenge of Human Rights & Cultural Diversity

[12] Ibid 11

[13] Diana Ayton Shenker, The Challenge of Human Rights & Cultural Diversity

[14] Ibid 13

This is Varsha Mullick, 3rd yr student of BA / LL.B program of NUJS I aspire to be a good lawyer specialisng in Intellectual Property, Tax & Corporate Law

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