Human rights became a concept in the early 1900’s so to protect the rights of human beings worldwide and establish a more harmonious global society. This concept was embodied in international law for the first time half a century ago (Heuer & Schirmer, 1998), however the concept of universal human rights did not take consideration to the fact that most cultures do not follow identical morals to those of the west. Hence, these rights are certainly not universally-applied today, with oppression, torture and various atrocities committed in many parts of the world still (Lower, 2013). Advocates of cultural relativism argue that permitting international norms to override the dictates of culture and religion is a violation of state sovereignty (Musalo, 2014), so many cultures do not follow the human rights concept established by western societies. In fact, the director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies in 2006 expressed that “many Arabs perceive internationally recognized human rights as a western import and thus unsuitable for [their] societies” (quoted by Bahey El Din Hassan; IRIN, 2006). The concept of universal norms is one considered by western states, and so this idea of human rights is far from applicable in many other cultures. This essay will argue that although the concept of universal human rights would be beneficial for the entire globe, the concept as it stands today is fundamentally western orientated, and thus is a form of western cultural imperialism if imposed in a non-west state. This essay will begin by illustrating that the origin of the universal declaration of human rights is essentially western, and further highlighting several renowned human rights activist groups and NGO’s that are in danger of all...
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Human rights are the rights in which all the human beings are entitled by virtue of their being as a human (Manchester University Press, 2001). The concept of the human rights itself is an abstract. However, when it is applied, it has the direct and enormous impact on the daily life of the people in the world. How the human rights applied in the broader circumstance is really having a long journey. Until in 1945, after the World War II, the United Nations (UN) was established as one of the effort to uphold the human rights to encourage the governments in promoting and guarding the human rights. Human rights are a central element of international law and also the UN Charter’s broad approach for the international peace and security
The issue of human rights has arisen only in the post-cold war whereby it was addressed by an international institution that is the United Nation. In the United Nation’s preamble stated that human rights are given to all humans and that there is equality for everyone. There will not be any sovereign states to diminish its people from taking these rights. The globalization of capitalism after the Cold War makes the issue of human rights seems admirable as there were sufferings in other parts of the world. This is because it is perceived that the western states are the champion of democracy which therefore provides a perfect body to carry out human rights activities. Such human sufferings occur in a sovereign state humanitarian intervention led by the international institution will be carried out to end the menace.
Since the Renaissance of the 15th century, societal views have evolved drastically. One of the largest changes has been the realization of individualism, along with the recognition of inalienable human rights.(UDHR, A.1) This means that all humans are equal, free, and capable of thought; as such, the rights of one individual cannot infringe on another’s at risk of de-humanizing the infringed upon. The fact that humans have a set of natural rights is not contested in society today; the idea of human rights is a societal construction based on normative ethical codes. Human rights are defined from the hegemonic standpoint, using normative ethical values and their application to the interactions of individuals with each other and state bodies. Human rights laws are legislature put in place by the governing body to regulate these interactions.
The evolution of human rights is a remarkable process in the Post-World War II international law. Human rights went through a very influential change following 1945 as a result of the massive violations of human rights taking place during the Second World War. The next sixty years were marked by the development of sophisticated international human rights treaties. General human rights gradually climbed up to the international level and joined the club of slavery and labor rights. The adoption of the UN Char...
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On the cultural challenge for universal human rights, some claims historical root of human rights in Europe and America, where there are several declarations of rights and revolutions to claim a tradition of struggling for the right. Hence, the fulfill of universal human rights in other areas may come up with a significant challenge. (Kühnhardt 1991) Universal human rights also are seen as a newly formed capitalism and would intervene state sovereignty.1 Another middle approach is to search a reconciliation through cross-cultural or intercultural dialog and recognition of plurality. (Etzioni 2010; Yu 2005; An-Naim 1995), an even universality of human rights should be reached by cultural dialog.(Donnelly 1984) Back to the construction of United Nations and the tuning point of drafting the UDHR, it is a deep reflection to inhuman atrocities and moves forward to considering how to intervene states overpower to violate human rights. However, while debating human rights within cultural diversity, the issue of human wrongs disappeared.(Chen 2010) Either jumping into a linear historical prospect or
Imperialism of the twentieth century saw the rise of something that would forever affect the world around it. It is relevant to today’s world because it provides a unique perspective on world history. It represents the traditional battle between several culture and legislative ideals. Imperialism is, furthermore, at the root of many of the world’s greatest conflicts, including, to some extent, the infamous Cold War. Therefore, when studying any of those conflicts, someone today must understand imperialism in an effort to understand its unique threat. Furthermore, imperialism is important today because, though it is thought to have become extinct, it still exists. It does not exist in its traditional form (i.e., the warfare developed
There is such a thing as universality of human rights that is different from cultural relativism, humanity comes before culture and traditions. People are humans first and belong to cultures second (Collaway, Harrelson-Stephens, 2007 p.109), this universality needs to take priority over any cultural views, and any state sovereignty over its residing citizens.
On December 10th in 1948, the general assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration, although not legally binding, created “a common standard of achievement of all people and all nations…to promote respect for those rights and freedoms” (Goodhart, 379). However, many cultures assert that the human rights policies outlined in the declaration undermine cultural beliefs and practices. This assertion makes the search for universal human rights very difficult to achieve. I would like to focus on articles 3, 14 and 25 to address how these articles could be modified to incorporate cultural differences, without completely undermining the search for human rights practices.
The doctrine of human rights were created to protect every single human regardless of race, gender, sex, nationality, sexual orientation and other differences. It is based on human dignity and the belief that no one has the right to take this away from another human being. The doctrine states that every ‘man’ has inalienable rights of equality, but is this true? Are human rights universal? Whether human rights are universal has been debated for decades. There have been individuals and even countries that oppose the idea that human rights are for everybody. This argument shall be investigated in this essay, by: exploring definitions and history on human rights, debating on whether it is universal while providing examples and background information while supporting my hypothesis that human rights should be based on particular cultural values and finally drawing a conclusion.
While on one hand there is a growing consensus that human rights are universal on the other exist critics who fiercely oppose the idea. Of the many questions posed by critics revolve around the world’s pluri-cultural and multipolarity nature and whether anything in such a situation can be really universal.
The role that globalization plays in spreading and promoting human rights and democracy is a subject that is capable spurring great debate. Human rights are to be seen as the standards that gives any human walking the earth regardless of any differences equal privileges. The United Nations goes a step further and defines human rights as,
Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the discourse of international human rights and its importance has increasingly become indoctrinated in the international community. In the context of political and economic development, there have been debates on how and which rights should be ordered and protected throughout different cultures and communities. Though there is a general acceptance of international human rights around the globe, there is an approach that divides them into civil and political rights and social and economic rights, which puts emphasis where it need not be.
ABSTRACT: This paper defends the claim that the contemporary canon of human rights forms an indivisible and interdependent system of norms against both "Western" and "Asian" critics who have asserted exceptionalist or selectivist counterclaims. After providing a formal definition of human rights, I argue that the set of particular human rights that comprises the contemporary canon represents an ethical-legal paradigm which functions as an implicit theory of human oppression. On this view, human rights originate as normative responses to particular historical experiences of oppression. Since historically known experiences of oppression have resulted from practices that function as parts of systems of domination, normative responses to these practices have sought to disarm and dismantle such systems by depriving potential oppressors of the techniques which enable them to maintain their domination. Therefore, human rights norms form a systematic and interdependent whole because only as parts of a system can they function as effective means for combatting oppression and domination.