Promoting Human Rights in Transitional Cultures
Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in Transitional Cultures:
An Empirical Case Study in Minority Regions (Excerpt)
DONG Hao
The article includes six sections. Only the Introduction and an excerpt of Part I and Part II are provided here. The Chinese full-text was published at Achieves for Legal Philosophy and Sociology of Law, Vol. 7, 2004, Beijing, 18,000 words in Chinese.
Click here for the Chinese Full-text (PDF)
Abstract:
This article reviews the dilemma on the notion of “culture” in current human rights research with seven cases related to the ethnic cultures. Associated with the analysis of cultural relativism and the universalism of human rights, the following conclusions have been made: (1) culture itself is a dynamic phenomenon which will produce significant influence on people’s rights in reality; (2) the transformation of specific ethnic culture could be in accordance with the international human rights standard by occasion, at the same time, it also constitute the obstacles to the realization of those human rights; (3) National ideology can influence the transformation of certain culture; (4) through this influence, it is possible that the traditional ethnic culture can absorb the values of modern human rights ideas; (5) there’s no hurdle between ethnic culture protection and human rights protection; (6) the culture transformation is based on its origins and basis no matter how the national ideology want to impose the impacts; (7)a precondition of influencing the ethnic culture through national intervention is to protect the existing cultures as well as its autonomy and free development; (8) the so-called culture protection could produce further influence on the transformation of the protected culture.