Sociology of human rights - Explore and assess the challenges of Essay

Sociology of human rights - Explore and assess the challenges of cultural relativism and cultural imperialism in the context of - Essay Example However, such a deterministic view of universality is destined to be unsuccessful as it was in the case of development theory (Donnelly, 2007). According to Barr (2002), consequently, cultural relativists are often similarly deterministic, arguing the permanence and fixity of traditional culture. Specifically, in the aftermath of the Second World War, when human rights became a component of international affairs and political scheme as a result of the Holocaust, the universal human rights theory became ever more detached from its previous socioeconomic and cultural ties (Doebbler, 2004). Theorists such as John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, and Maurice Cranston argue that political and civil rights are natural, and are privileges for everyone (Bruun & Jacobsen, 2000). However, these rights have been interpreted as theoretical legal rights, thus assigning a value to equality without thought on the required condition for the accessibility of such rights, either institutionally or concerning th e socioeconomic prerequisites (Brannigan, 2000) fundamental to their attainment. Moreover, social and economic privileges were discounted at some point in the Cold War period by political leaders and Western intellectuals as only a great deal of Soviet expression to fight the West’s stress on political and civil rights and individual liberties (Brannigan, 2000). Community, the heart of the argument of cultural relativists, was absent in the framework of universal human rights. The system of communism is frequently viewed as repressive and a defiance of genuine human nature (Hashimoto, 2004). In other words, it can be claimed that the advocates of universality have deconstructed political and civil rights, which are allowed to churn in their own dimension, as scholars discuss the details of their arguments (Hashimoto, 2004), which are frequently enveloped in moral principles. The objective of this essay is to review and discuss the debate on the universality of human rights. T he discussion will be composed of a comprehensive analysis of the arguments and danger of cultural relativism and cultural imperialism, specifically in the context of the Asian values debate. The Debate between Universalists and Relativists Basically, cultural relativists claim that basic values or rights are specific to a culture and that the collective, and not the individual, is the core social component (Pollis & Schwab, 2000). An individual’s identity is rigid, reliant on group membership, and the role and status of an individual in this community (Bruun & Jacobsen, 2000). A contemporary Western creation, the rhetoric of rights, is absent in most instances. Interpersonal ties are ruled by a mutuality of disproportionate duties and privileges, which are varied, similar to their core behavioral norms and values (Brannigan, 2000). Nevertheless, what is widespread is that concepts like legal equality, free will, or individualism are foreign, usually hollow notions. The indiv idual is included within the collective whose interests and security has dominance, though the specifics of what comprises the collective good differ (Bell, Nathan & Peleg, 2001). As stated by Sloane (2001), basic to the collective structure is a network of alternative cultural and/or philosophic ideals that furnish legality and authenticity to the social order. Developing Clifford Geertz’