Introduction

Human rights are rights held by every person. “Universal” means that everyone has them. Human rights have raised debates from the moment people started using the phrase. Let’s focus here on the last 75 years or so since the end of the Second World War. As globalization has connected the world, human rights have become a common language of what is right or wrong. As they’ve spread, though, so has the debate over what they mean and where they apply.

The second half of the 1900s saw the rise of international groups like the United Nations. There were also non- government groups known as NGOs. Countries signed international treaties to solve the problems of war and unfair treatment. Among these treaties were the first international agreements addressing human rights. The 1900s also included horrible acts of violence on a large scale, though. There were genocides and ethnic cleansing in Cambodia, Rwanda, Iraq, Bosnia, and elsewhere.

Universal Declaration

In December 1948, 48 national governments came together. They agreed to recognize the “dignity” and equal rights of “all members of the human family.” Recognizing equal rights for all was necessary for “freedom, justice and peace in the world.” These include the rights to liberty and freedom of thought. They include the rights to gather peacefully, to work, and to own property. They include the rights to an education and social protection. What’s more, people must not be arrested without a reason, and they must not be enslaved or tortured. This document became known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

In 2018, the United Nations celebrated the 70th anniversary of the UDHR. Then, human rights scholar Ved Nanda warned that the UDHR is not being followed:

“Human rights abuses continue from Asia to South America, and several countries in the Middle East and Africa. Authoritarian rulers on every continent often violently put down protestors. However, the declaration has inspired those fighting for civil rights. It encompasses the simple yet powerful idea that that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

This op-ed was written by a man born in India while the country was still under British rule. His message was a warning: the world is failing the Declaration of Human Rights. But it was also a message of hope: the document itself is a guiding light.

Universal Tensions

Human rights activists around the world responded quickly to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). South Africa was criticized in the United Nations General Assembly. The country had an apartheid system.

Apartheid is racial segregation in South Africa. In 1950, the General Assembly declared that apartheid is wrong. The United States and European empires were also accused by their citizens of mistreatment.

The governments in question pointed to the UN Charter. The UN Charter said that state governments have the right to do whatever they wanted in their own borders. Supporters of human rights claimed that the new UDHR placed human rights outside of national law and into international law. They faced one major problem, though. The UDHR was just a declaration. It was not a law. This meant countries really did not have to follow it. And it’s very hard to make someone do something they don’t want to do—especially if they also command an army.

This hasn’t stopped people from trying, though. Since 1948, most nations in the UN have agreed to dozens of different treaties relating to human rights.

Universal or relative?

There are two different views on human rights. Universalists are one group. Cultural relativists are the other. Universalists believe that human rights are the same everywhere and should be applied the same in every place. Cultural relativists believe that human rights should be understood differently in different places and under different conditions.

Cultural relativists argue that human rights are based on European values. They say human rights are a way for more powerful countries to force their culture on others. Universalists claim that cultural relativists want to continue old practices with serious problems. They say that many of these practices are unfair to women and minorities.

The language of human rights does reflect many values from Western culture. Still, many non-Western people played key roles in shaping the UDHR and later treaties. The Chinese scholar P.C. Chang is an example. He helped write the UDHR. His group that drafted the treaty enlisted the help of the “Committee on the Philosophic Principles of the Rights of Man.” This committee studied belief systems around the world to advise the writers of the UDHR.¹

Globalization and human rights

Globalization has certainly helped spread the idea of human rights. In the end, though, has globalization actually improved human rights?

Unfortunately, the answers to this question are not clear. Globalization has connected more of the world than ever. It is easier now for people to see when governments create human rights problems. Activists like those in Iran’s Green Movement and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement can livestream the government’s bad actions. But governments have access to the same technology. States have used technology to misinform and monitor their people.

Many argue that globalization has lifted more humans than ever before out of poverty. Healthcare, clean water, and technology have spread to new regions. Democracy has spread around the world. Today, more than half of all people live in a democracy.

But inequalities have increased between people and nations. Large corporations take advantage of poorer parts of the world. Almost half the world today lives on less than $5.50 a day. As many as 1.5 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day. Some people have asked if universal human rights are truly the lived experience of millions of people around the world.

1 Historians still debate this committee’s findings. Some argue that committee connected modern human rights with traditional belief systems. This created a “myth of universality”.