Human Rights and Christian Missions in the Emerging Global Culture

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Moore

The concept of human rights has evolved through three historical generations: liberty, equality, and now fraternity. Each generation of anthropologists, missionaries, and human rights advocates cultivated its own distinct mission and rhetoric. The current generation of a family of nations (fraternity) emphasizes the concept of group rights, as exemplified by the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. For 50 years the Summer Institute of Linguistics has been laboring for the ethnic identity rights of indigenous peoples in language development and literacy.

Author(s):  
Giulia Sajeva

The conservation of environment and the protection of human rights are two of the most compelling needs of our time. Unfortunately, they are not always easy to combine and too often result in mutual harm. This book analyses the idea of biocultural rights as a proposal for harmonizing the needs of environmental and human rights. These rights, considered as a basket of group rights, are those deemed necessary to protect the stewardship role that certain indigenous peoples and local communities have played towards the environment. With a view to understanding the value and merits, as well as the threats that biocultural rights entail, the book critically assesses their foundations, content, and implications, and develops new perspectives and ideas concerning their potential applicability for promoting the socio-economic interests of indigenous people and local communities. It further explores the controversial relationship of interdependence and conflict between conservation of environment and protection of human rights.


Author(s):  
Giulia Sajeva

Chapters 2 provides an introduction to the concept of rights, useful for understanding the sui generis nature of biocultural rights. It looks at the birth of human rights and group rights, the foundations of human rights, the relation between human rights and the general interest, and the hardship of balancing human rights with other interests and goals. The chapter also introduces a brief outline of indigenous peoples and local communities’ rights, with focus on their different status in international law. This allows for comparison of biocultural rights with other human rights of indigenous peoples and local communities and for elaboration on the significance and different challenges that biocultural rights may have for local communities and indigenous peoples.


Author(s):  
Paul Havemann

This chapter examines issues surrounding the human rights of Indigenous peoples. The conceptual framework for this chapter is informed by three broad, interrelated, and interdependent types of human rights: the right to existence, the right to self-determination, and individual human rights. After describing who Indigenous peoples are according to international law, the chapter considers the centuries of ambivalence about the recognition of Indigenous peoples. It then discusses the United Nations's establishment of a regime for Indigenous group rights and presents a case study of the impact of climate change on Indigenous peoples. It concludes with a reflection on the possibility of accommodating Indigenous peoples' self-determination with state sovereignty.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-332
Author(s):  
Paul Tamuno

AbstractThe adoption by some peoples in Africa of the indigenous rights concept has brought about new challenges regarding the application of the concept to these peoples. The indigenous rights concept was shaped by the colonial experiences of indigenous peoples in the Americas and Australasia. The international understanding of the concept pre-supposes the existence of a set of group rights belonging to peoples who are descendants of the earlier inhabitants of the territory on which a state is located, in contrast to other citizens of that state who are considered colonial settlers. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has attempted to overcome this challenge by evolving a description of indigenousness for Africa. This article argues that, although the conceptual challenges that flow from the foreign origin of the concept have not been fully overcome, the African Commission's description has successfully located Africa within the global indigenous rights framework.


Author(s):  
Lígia Duque Platero

L’hégémonie et les programmes d’éducation autochtone au Mexique et au Brésil (1940-1970)Lígia Duque Platero Dans cet article, l’auteure présente des renseignements sur les programmes d’éducation autochtone des agences indigénistes du Brésil et du Mexique, entre 1940 et 1970, et elle propose également un survol de l’influence de ces programmes sur les processus de formation d’hégémonie des États au sens large, au sein des peuples amérindiens de ces pays durant la même période. Les écoles de l’Institut national indigéniste (INI), au Mexique, et surtout celles du Service de protection de l’Indien (SPI), au Brésil, ont mis l’accent sur l’enseignement de la langue nationale dans leurs programmes et elles ont exercé une influence sur la création de l’idée d’existence de la nationalité « métisse », visant le « développement » et l’« intégration » des peuples autochtones à la nation. Dans les deux pays, les missions religieuses ont participé à l’éducation autochtone, notamment le Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). Au Mexique, la participation des promoteurs culturels bilingues en tant qu’« intermédiaires culturels » entre les institutions indigénistes et les communautés s’est avérée un élément clé pour la formation de l’hégémonie. Au Brésil, les enseignants étaient « non autochtones » et leur influence fut moins importante.Mots clés : éducation autochtone, politique indigéniste, éducation bilingue, intégration indigénisme, hégémonie  Hegemony and Indigenous Education Programs in Mexico and Brazil (1940-1970)Lígia Duque Platero This article describes the education programs of indigenist agencies in Brazil and Mexico between 1940 and 1970. It provides an overview of the influence that these programs have had on the formation of State hegemonies, broadly considered, and their extension to Indigenous peoples during this period. The schools of the National Indigenist Institute (INI) in Mexico, and even more those of the Indian Protection Service (SPI) of Brazil, have put an emphasis on the teaching of the national language in their programs, and have contributed to the creation of the idea of « mestizo » national identity, while centering their mission on the « development » and « integration » of Indigenous peolples within the nation. In both countries, religious missions have played a role in Indigenous education, notably through the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). In Mexico, the participation of bilingual cultural promoters acting as « cultural intermediaries » between indigenist institutions and the communities has played a key role in the formation of State hegemony. In Brazil, teachers were non-indigenous, and their impact was less significative.Keywords: Indigenous Education, Indigenist policy, bilingual education, Indigenism Integration, hegemony  Hegemonía y programas de educación indígena en México y Brasil (1940-1970)Lígia Duque Platero En este artículo la autora presenta informaciones sobre los programas de educación indígena de las agencias de asuntos indígenas de Brasil y de México, entre 1940 y 1970. Para este mismo período, la autora da también una mirada a la influencia de dichos programas sobre la constitución de formas hegemónicas en los Estados, en un sentido amplio, y en el seno de los pueblos indígenas de dichos países. Los programas de las escuelas del Instituto Nacional Indigenista (INI), en México, y sobre todo las del Servicio de Protección a los Indios (SPI), en Brasil, pusieron el acento en la enseñanza de la lengua nacional e influyeron en la creación de la idea de la existencia de la nacionalidad “mestiza”, apuntando hacia el “desarrollo” y la “integración” de los pueblos indígenas a la nación. En ambos países las misiones religiosas han participado en la educación indígena, especialmente el Instituto Lingüístico de Verano (ILV). En México, la acción de los promotores culturales bilingües como “mediadores culturales” entre las instituciones de asuntos indígenas y las comunidades fue un elemento clave para la configuración de formas hegemónicas. En Brasil, los profesores eran “no indígenas” y su influencia fue menos importante.Palabras clave : educación indígena, política indigenista, educación bilingüe, integración indigenismo, hegemonía  Hegemonia e os programas de educação indígena no México e no Brasil (1940-1970)Lígia Duque Platero Nestas notas de pesquisa, apresentamos informações sobre os programas de educação indígena das agências indigenistas do Brasil e do México, entre 1940 e 1970, e realizamos uma breve discussão sobre a influência desses programas nos processos de formação de hegemonia dos Estados ampliados entre os povos indígenas desses países, no período citado. Nas escolas do Instituto Nacional Indigenista (INI), no México, e principalmente do Serviço de Proteção aos Índios (SPI), no Brasil, as escolas enfatizaram o ensino da língua nacional em seus currículos e influenciaram na criação da ideia da existência da nacionalidade “mestiça”, visando o “desenvolvimento” e a “integração” dos povos indígenas à nação. Em ambos os países, missões religiosas participaram da educação indígena e aqui destacamos a atuação do Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). No México, a participação dos promotores culturais bilíngues como “intermediários culturais” entre as instituições indigenistas e as comunidades resultou na grande importância da educação indígena para a formação da hegemonia. Já no caso do Brasil, os professores e professoras eram “não indígenas” e sua influencia foi mais restrita.Palavras-chave : Educação Indígena; Política indigenista; educação bilíngue; Indigenismo de Integração; Hegemonia 


2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Getachew Assefa

AbstractIn an article published in the International Journal on Minority and Group Rights ('Human Rights Violations in Ethiopia: When Ethnic Identity is a Political Stigma', 15(1) (2008) 49–79), Kjetil Tronvoll from Oslo University argued that in federal Ethiopia, the violations of human rights are in some ways ethnically motivated. Tronvoll's arguments are based on the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Ethiopia. The objective of my Reply is to show that both CERD and Tronvoll have made unsubstantiated generalisations in trying to gauge any violation of human rights in Ethiopia as an ethnically-motivated occurrence. With this purpose in view, the current article briefly discusses the constitutional legal framework of the Ethiopian federal system, and critically examines the positions of CERD and Dr. Tronvoll.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjetil Tronvoll

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to probe the critique against Ethiopia regarding human rights violations along ethnic and racial lines recently raised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The article compares the Ethiopian government's stated policy on human and group rights with reported human rights violations in Ethiopia per ethnic regional-state for the purpose of identifying possible "ethnic" patterns of violations. The findings of this article partly question, from a methodological perspective, the categorical classification of "human rights violations along ethnic and racial lines" as expressed by CERD. Violations may certainly be interpreted within an ethnic framework; however, one should also make allowances for a non-ethnic approach to human rights abuses and view the two perspectives as mutually complimentary.


1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Meyer

AbstractThis study seeks to define universal standards of human rights within a cross-cultural context. It begins with a review of three positions in the prior literatures regarding the relationship between culture and definitions of human rights. These three positions are: Western normative hegemony; weak cultural relativism; and strong cultural relativism. The paper then considers various feminist critiques that call into question the basic assumptions of all three prior views. The paper concludes by arguing that there are universal standards of human rights that apply to all cultures. My own position argues that these universal standards are part of an emerging "global culture."


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