Is the Mainstream Conception of Human Rights Shaped by Western Perspectives?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4308Abstract
It is a curious phenomenon, how analysts of widely varying education, background and political persuasion almost always seem to arrive at a unanimous consensus, that the mainstream conception of human rights, has western fingerprints smudged all over it. The question is: Is the mainstream conception of human rights shaped by western perspectives? Whereas these standards so innocuously touted as ‘universal’ may escape the notice of a disinterested observer, discerning global thinkers have the nuance to notice the glaring foisting of western ideals onto the rest of the world. As the discussion on this contentious issue rages further onwards, the ultimate question lies in whether advocating for global human rights, is inadvertently perpetuating a framework rooted in western values. From a relative power perspective, those who wield wealth and military might get to make the ‘rights’, and thus the deliberations are influenced by the thought process, values, and idiosyncratic personality variables of the ones who formulate the rights.
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