female genital mutilation
male circumcision
- very Western way of looking at the world
- atomisation, isolation, happiness?
- selfish emphasis on rights not duties
- abuse by the powerful
- is individualism "better" than collectivism?
-response to power of State
- response to globalisation
- human rights do not always favour individual
- are some collective rights
Pure Cultural Relativism
- more dialogue, less stereotyping and condemnation
greater verification of claims
more reliance on regional systems
Human rights is not the enemy of culture
- cf Article 27 ICCPR and Article 15 ICESCR
educative tool
- seems to presuppose universality
- most rights are flexible
- enforcement is left to States
-reservations
interpretations have stressed minimum standards:
eg polygamy, LGBT rights, discrimination
ESC rights are economically relative
No tolerance re CP rights
Punishments
Examples?
Clothing
Position in IHRL
Cultural relavitism
Sarah Joseph
Economic Relativism
Corruption
Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire
- Priority in new States is to develop the economy
- what good is a right to vote if one cannot eat?
- eg. economic success in SE Asia (Mahathir Mohammed, Lee Kuan Yew, Kwame Nkrumah)
- assumes that CP rights undermine economic progress
Perpetuation of bad policy
Mao Tse Tung and Great Leap Forward
No peaceful outlets for opposition
Coups in Africa (and elsewhere!)
Tentative conclusions
Individualism