RECONCILING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND CULTURAL RELATIVISM: THE CASE OF FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

Bioethics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
ST EPHEN A. JAMES
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Female Circumcision ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human

18. Human Rights

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Cultural Imperialism ◽  
World War ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Regime ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Human

This chapter examines the concept of human rights, which derives primarily from the Charter of the United Nations adopted in 1945 immediately after World War II. It first provides a brief account of the history of the concept of human rights before describing the international human rights regime. It then considers two persistent problems that arise in applying the concept of human rights to the developing world: the relations between the claim that the concept is universally valid and the realities of cultural diversity around the world; and the relations between human rights and development. In particular, it explores cultural imperialism and cultural relativism, the human rights implications of the rise of political Islam and the so-called war on terror(ism), and globalization. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the new political economy of human rights.

scholarly journals African States: Themes Emerging from the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Etone
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Effective Mechanism ◽  
Universal Periodic Review ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
International Human

AbstractThis article examines the themes emerging from the engagement of African states with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council. The underlying principles of universality, cooperation and dialogue that guide the review have given African states a renewed sense of engagement with the international human rights institution. Despite the universality of the process, regionalism and cultural relativism are important aspects in the engagement of African states with the UPR mechanism. This article considers the extent to which regionalism and cultural relativism may prevent UPR from acting as an effective mechanism for human rights enforcement. It examines the potential for UPR to complement other national, regional and international human rights mechanisms, and the danger of state ritualism. These have ramifications for the extent to which UPR can achieve its goal of improving the human rights situation on the ground in Africa.

scholarly journals International human rights protection and promotion in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation: modern trend

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
D. V. Ivanov ◽  
V. P. Pchelintseva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Modern Trend ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Human

Introduction. The article is concerned with international protection and promotion of human rights by the OIC. Recent developments in the international activity of the organization serve as the thematic justification of the study in the first place, as they reveal certain modifications in its approach to human rights. The study covers several theoretical and practical problems of international public law and national legal orders.Materials and Methods. Methodology of the study includes general scientific methods, such as scientific assessment and description, scientific analysis and synthesis, abstraction, scientific explanation etc., and special methods of jurisprudence, such as historical, comparative and dogmatic methods. For the purposes of the study, universal agreements and soft law acts as well as OIC acts on human rights were studied alongside with UN databases and scientific and analytical papers on Islamic law and international public law.Results. The study revealed that activity of the OIC and its member states in the field of protection and promotion of human rights shows more compliance with the universal standards and is likely to continue in that direction. It outlines the pluralistic approach of the OIC to human rights teachings and its concurrent commitment to Islamic and universal human rights concepts. Modifications in the OIC protection of human rights of vulnerable social groups are explored.Discussion and conclusion. Activity of the OIC in the field of international human rights protection is analyzed from the standpoint of cultural relativism, the views on possible achievement of compatibility of human rights in Islam and universal standards are supported, the approach of the OIC to human rights is considered to reflect the particularities of approaches to human rights of Islamic states and international public law. At the same time ineffectiveness of certain human rights protection measures taken by some mechanisms of protection of human rights of the OIC are pointed out.

Universal Human Rights ‘Versus’ Cultural Relativism: the Mediating Role of Constitutional Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-46
Author(s):  
Nana Kwame Agyeman ◽  
Alfred Momodu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
International Human

Abstract The claim that human rights are rights that all humans hold everywhere and at all times embodies the concept of universalism. There are however some that do not believe that human rights are universally held. Those who hold such views are widely described as cultural relativists. A rich body of literature exists with a particular focus on the divergence that exists between universalism and cultural relativism. We posit that these areas of antagonism might be overstated. In the light of this, this work investigates the mediating role that constitutional rights may play between these two seemingly opposing schools of thought. Ultimately this paper avers that the constitutional making process that international human rights principles go through in order to emerge as constitutional rights allows for constitutional rights to simultaneously lay claim to both universalist and relativist ideals. Thus, allowing constitutional rights to represent a grossly overlooked middle ground.

Continuing the Conversation on Chinese Human Rights

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 177-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger T. Ames
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Confucian Values ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Human

In recent years China has entered the international human rights debate, consistently making the case for cultural diversity in the formulation of human rights policy. Ames follows this argument of cultural relativism, emphasizing China's cultural differences and critiquing the concept of universal human rights, particularly as presented by Jack Donnelly in his book Universal Human Rights. Discussing the history of universal human rights and Confucian values, Ames asserts that a growing dialogue between China and the United States would benefit China in terms of political and individual rights and the United States in terms of a greater sense of civic virtue.

scholarly journals The Female Circumcision Controversy

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 128-131
Author(s):  
Gui Joya Jafri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Circumcision ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
The World ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
International Human ◽  
Female Genital

Female circumcision is a highly contested "tradition" practiced in many parts of the world, particularly Africa. International human rights campaigns refer to the practice as "female genital mutilation" (FGM) and seek to elim­inate it; its practitioners tend to defend it even after it has been declared ille­gal. Within this charged environment, Ellen Gruenbaum has undertaken the difficult task of examining the controversy from a more culturally sensitive perspective based on her years of fieldwork in Sudan. In many respects, her attempt to present the issue's multiple sides is successful. Using ethnographic description, she explores the range of fac­tors giving this practice its importance, from socioeconomic to aesthetic, while also suggesting why and how there are more appropriate means to alter, reduce, and eradicate the practice. In accordance with her list of influencing factors, Gruenbaum themat­ically divides her chapters into such sections as "patriarchy," "marriage and morality," and "ethnicity." However, the ethnographic passages within are crucial to the book, because they show the humanity of those involved and help explain the contexts and circumstances of women's lives outside their objectified status as "victims of tradition." Also noteworthy is her support of advocacy for change, using ethnography to promote activism that is sen­sitive to and respectful of the needs of those affected. She repeatedly emphasizes the need to address poverty and women's basic needs as more effective means to move forward, rather than focusing on circumcision in isolation ...

Gender and human rights

2020 ◽  
pp. 155-166
Author(s):  
Birgit Schippers
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
Diverse World ◽  
International Human ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Lgbt Populations

Chapter 12 addresses international human rights provisions in relation to gender. It critically assesses some of the major debates about rights for women in a culturally diverse world, such as universality versus cultural relativism, how gender has been approached within different international human rights mechanisms, such as the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and how this has influenced the development of social policy and rights for women. It challenges the notion that gender rights should be limited to a two-sex dichotomy arguing that gender diversity as reflected in LGBT populations should be reflected in human rights provisions by the development of inclusive sexual and gender identity (SOGI) rights approaches to human rights and an engagement with the needs and entitlements of sexual and gender minorities.

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