Toward an intercivilizational approach to human rights

TOWARD AN INTERCIVILIZATIONAL APPROACH TO HUMAN RIGHTSONUMA YASUAKI

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Prof. ONUMA YASUAKI 大沼保昭

INTERNATIONAL DEBATES OF HUMAN RIGHTS Universal or culturally relative. Economic development before realization of

human rights, or pursue in tandem. Civil and political rights, economic and social

rights , which deserve greater priority.

FACTORS AFFECT THE DEBATES There has been a steady increase in the

significance of human rights in the US in recent decades.

The end of the Cold War opened a more serious path to the treatment of various non-security issues.

WEST-CENTRIC PERSPECTIVES Lack of understanding of the psychological

legacy of imperialism and colonial rule─ Human rights or Interventionist policies?─ Human rights activists represent the will of

the people as a whole?─ Chinese Communist Party, Vietnamese

Communist Party, different from socialist regimes in Eastern Europe.

Lack of Self-criticism─ East Asian nations such as Japan and Singapore.─ the developed, rights-oriented and individualistic

West.─ the underdeveloped, non-legalistic and

collectivist non-West.

West-centric universalism Human rights were solely of European origin?─ 1. there is a naive interest among Western

intellectuals in whether Western ideas and practices also existed in non-Western societies.

─ 2. one should consider various unfavorable factors surrounding intellectuals or human rights advocates in many non-Western societies.

─3. several non-Western intellectuals are critical of the view that anything good or desirable in human history originated in the West.

─4. there is an element of guilt on the part of certain intellectuals in developed countries.

Civil and political rights ─ Centism

Amnesty International Report• Deals almost exclusively with civil and political rights

The Human Rights Watch World Report• Descriptive method• Shows little concern with economic, social and cultural

rights.

Freedom in the World• Classifies countries as “free”, ”partly free,” and “not free”• Concerns economic, social comparisons and life

expectancy

WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS GUIDE ─ BY CHARLES HUMANA The degree of protection of rights “Human rights are the laws, customs, and

practices that have evolved over the centuries to protect ordinary people, minorities, groups, and races from oppressive rulers and governments.”

AN INTERCIVILIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS· The terms─ “culture” and “civilization”─ “ international” and “intercivilizational”· The need for dialogue─ previous studies.─ cultures or religions “living” in peoples’s

ordinary lives.

THE RELATIVE UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS

JACK DONNELLY

THE RELATIVE UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS A: a variety of senses of “universality” (1-8)

B: different senses of “relativity” (9-11)

C: (12-14)

A: A VARIETY OF SENSES OF “UNIVERSALITY”

1. Conceptual and substantive universality

Distinguishing conceptual universality from substantive universality

Human rights: one has as a human- equal + inalienable

∴human rights are universal rights


2. Universal possession not universal enforcement

Current situation of human rights- refusals to implement; violations of the human rights The global human rights regime relies on national

implement of internationally recognized human rights. - norm creation- enforcement->sovereign states The case of EU- monitoring


3. Historical or anthropological universality

“all societies cross-culturally and historically manifest conceptions of human rights”

“Non-western conceptions of human rights” Neither in theory nor in practice, did the

people have human rights that could be exercised against unjust rulers.


4. functional universality

Human rights ideas and practices

modernity

Human rights represent the most effective response yet devised to a wide range of standard threats to human dignity that market economics and bureaucratic states have made nearly universal across the globe.


5. International legal universality

The universal declaration of human rights

a precondiction of full political legitimacy.

The limitation-> contingent and relative It depends on states deciding to treat the

universal declaration and the covenants as authoritative.


6. overlapping consensus universality

John Rawls: Comprehensive religious, philosophical, or

moral doctrines VS political conceptions of justice

Adherents of different comprehensive doctrines may be able to reach an “overlapping consensus” on a political conception of justice.

–diverse international society


7. voluntary or coerced consensus?

The transnational consensus on the Universal Declaration arises from the largely voluntary decisions of people, states, and other political actors.

∴ we should talk more of the relative universality of human rights, rather than their relative universality.


8. ontological universality

3 problems: Whether values are objectively valid historically ignored or actively denied human

rights. Lack of much stronger arguments to support

the ontological universality of human rights

B: DIFFERENT SENSES OF “RELATIVITY”

9. cultural relativism

methodological cultural relativism; Substantive cultural relativism

6 problems- misplaced universalism


10.self-determination and sovereignty

A tolerant relativism based on the mutual recognition of peoples/states in an international community

Self determination ≠ legal sovereignty

- Justice VS order


11. post-structural, post colonial, and critical arguments

- Similar to cultural relativist arguments “anti-universality” “neo-imperial arguments

”

- Lack of critical self-reflection

C: 12. justifying particularity: universal rights, not

identical practices 4 criteria

13. Two illustrations prohibition of apostasy by Muslims American practice with respect to hate

speech

14. universalism without imperialism American interest ≠ universal values

CONCLUSION

The intercivilizational approach characterizes human rights as an extremely means of realizing the spiritual and material well-being of humanity.

- Onuma

The relative universality of human rights is a powerful resource that can be used to help to build more justice and humane national and international societies.

- Donnelly

Documents

Toward an intercivilizational approach to human rights