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Title: Plurality as the Core of Human Rights Universality

Plurality as the Core of Human Rights Universality

Rediscovering the Spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 through the Right to Self-Determination

by Gabriela GARCÍA ESCOBAR (Author)
©2024 Monographs XVI, 296 Pages
Law, Economics & Management

Summary

"Liberal universality" is the dominant framework of human rights in the literature. This paradigm asserts that human rights norms must be interpreted by prioritizing individualism, secularism, and autonomy in all spheres of life. According to this perspective, religiously grounded and duty-oriented visions should not be part of human rights standards, and in some cases, they must be excluded from international debates. This situation is due to a lack of academic scrutiny of the difference between human rights as internationally recognized norms and human rights standards or interpretations as developed by international mechanisms through this paradigm. The case study of the current development of sexual and reproductive health and rights reveals key problems with this interpretative framework: its questionable neutrality, its reduced notion of viewpoint diversity, and its top-down approach that disregards people’s real concerns. This book proposes to go back to basics by rediscovering the notion of "pluralistic universality" of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which welcomes interdependent and religiously grounded worldviews that are more compatible with non-Western cultures and some Western traditions. In this sense, the book encourages a redefinition of the universality of human rights in the light of the right to self-determination, as a tool to foster bottom-up approaches, intercultural dialogue, and global consensus for the development of universally acceptable human rights standards. In this way, these standards will enjoy greater legitimacy because they will reflect an international agreement that is responsive to local realities and one that accepts reasonable disagreement in controversial issues.
The increasing number of voices questioning the legitimacy of the implementation of human rights will lead to a widespread loss of faith in the concept of human right itself. Reverting this tendency is an urgent task that reveals the gap between the norms ruling the monitoring bodies and their actual performance. In accepting this challenge, this book will be a necessary source of study for anyone concerned with the purpose and practice of human rights.
—Pilar Zambrano, University of Navarra
An original and fruitful approach to human rights, analyzing the ideology behind different interpretations, in particular the dogmatic Western liberal version. An excellent and important work.
—Éric Wyler, Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas

Table Of Contents


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: García Escobar, Gabriela, author.
Title: Plurality as the core of human rights universality: rediscovering
the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 through
the right to self-determination / Gabriela García Escobar.
Description: 1 edition. | New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2024. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023048426 (print) | LCCN 2023048427 (ebook) | ISBN
9781636673561 (paperback) | ISBN 9781636673547 (ebook) | ISBN
9781636673554 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: International law and human rights. | Legal polycentricity.
United Nations. General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. | Self-determination, National.
Classification: LCC KZ1266. G37 2024 (print) | LCC KZ1266 (ebook) | DDC
341.4/8--dc23/eng/20231016
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023048426
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023048427
DOI 10.3726/b21397

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
The German National Library lists this publication in the German
National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Cover design by Peter Lang Group AG

ISBN 9781636673561 (paperback)
ISBN 9781636673547 (ebook)
ISBN 9781636673554 (epub)
DOI 10.3726/b21397

© 2024 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne
Published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York, USA
info@peterlang.com - www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilization outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the
publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and
processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

About the author

Gabriela García Escobar is a Professor of Internati onal Law at Universidad Panamericana Campus Guadalajara. She has a Doctorate degree in Law from the University of Geneva and a Master degree in Internati onal Law from the Graduate Insti tute of Internati onal and Development Studies.

About the book

“Liberal universality” is the dominant framework of human rights in the literature. This paradigm asserts that human rights norms must be interpreted by prioriti zing individualism, secularism, and autonomy in all spheres of life. According to this perspecti ve, religiously grounded and duty-oriented visions should not be part of human rights standards, and in some cases, they must be excluded from internati onal debates. This situati on is due to a lack of academic scruti ny of the diff erence between human rights as internati onally recognized norms and human rights standards or interpretati ons as developed by internati onal mechanisms through this paradigm. The case study of the current development of sexual and reproducti ve health and rights reveals key problems with this interpretati ve framework: its questi onable neutrality, its reduced noti on of viewpoint diversity, and its top-down approach that disregards people’s real concerns. This book proposes to go back to basics by rediscovering the noti on of “pluralisti c universality” of the Universal Declarati on of Human Rights of 1948, which welcomes interdependent and religiously grounded worldviews that are more compati ble with non-Western cultures and some Western traditi ons. In this sense, the book encourages a redefi niti on of the universality of human rights in the light of the right to self-determinati on, as a tool to foster bott om-up approaches, intercultural dialogue, and global consensus for the development of universally acceptable human rights standards. In this way, these standards will enjoy greater legiti macy because they will refl ect an internati onal agreement that is responsive to local realiti es and one that accepts reasonable disagreement in controversial issues.

The increasing number of voices questi oning the legiti macy of the implementati on of human rights will lead to a widespread loss of faith in the concept of human right itself. Reverti ng this tendency is an urgent task that reveals the gap between the norms ruling the monitoring bodies and their actual performance. In accepti ng this challenge, this book will be a necessary source of study for anyone concerned with the purpose and practi ce of human rights.

—Pilar Zambrano, University of Navarra

An original and fruitf ul approach to human rights, analyzing the ideology behind different interpretati ons, in parti cular the dogmati c Western liberal version. An excellent and important work.

—Éric Wyler, Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Nothing is more difficult for the natural man than to understand a culture or social tradition different from his own, for it involves an almost superhuman detachment from inherited ways of thought and education and the unconscious influence of his social environment. Indeed the more highly educated he is in his own tradition the less will he be able to appreciate all that diverges from it.

Christopher Dawson1

1 Christopher Dawson, The Dynamics of World History (Sheed and Ward, 1956), 68.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

This book is the result of several years of research and reflection upon the question of cultural diversity, pluralism, and human dignity. I must thank, first of all, to my husband Sébastien, who supported and accompanied me throughout the whole process as a family project.

I have a special debt of gratitude to professor Éric Wyler, who through his academic insights and personal virtues taught me that to be a professor is a vocation at the service of the holistic development of the human person. I am also deeply grateful to Pilar Zambrano, who helped me and encouraged me to publish this work.

I also want to express my gratitude to other legal experts who helped me with their comments and conversations: Pedro Pallares, Ignacio de Casas, Juan Pablo Andrade, Daniela Constantino, and Olivia Serrano. A special thanks to Manuel Enrique Tovar Hernández and Isabel Álvarez Peña, who have supported my academic and personal growth since my undergraduate years.

The contributions from other friends and colleagues were also an essential part of this journey. Thank you for providing me with a broader perspective on reality and the human condition through your friendship and conversations: Cristina García, Frouzan Moshaver, Meri Zargarova, and Carlos Ayxelá.

I also have a tremendous debt of gratitude to my family and friends, for we are never autonomous and self-made individuals. We owe who we are to our family and friends, and our most cherished attachments, which make human flourishing possible. Without the constant encouragement and love of my family throughout my life I would not be writing this page of acknowledgments.

Gabriela García Escobar

Universidad Panamericana

Facultad de Derecho

Álvaro del Portillo 49, Zapopan, Jalisco, 45010, México

List of Abbreviations

ADRDM

American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man

Beijing Platform for Action

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

CAT

Committee against Torture

CDD

Católicas por el derecho a decidir

CEDAW

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

CEDAW convention

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

CESCR

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CRC

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Declaration on Principles of International Law

Declaration on Principles of International law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations

ECHR

European Convention on Human Rights

ECOSOC

Economic and Social Council

ECtHR

European Court of Human Rights

ESCR

Economic, social and cultural rights

EuCSR

European Committee of Social Rights

HRC

Human Rights Committee

HRW

Human Rights Watch

IACoHR

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

IACtHR

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

ICCPR

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

ICESCR

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

ICJ

International Court of Justice

ICPD

International Conference on Population and Development

ILC

International Law Commission

IPPF

International Planned Parenthood Federation

IUD

Intra-uterine device

NGO

Non-governmental organization

OAS

Organization of American States

OHCHR

Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

OSCE

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

PCIJ

Permanent Court of International Justice

SCJ

Mexican Supreme Court of Justice

SRHR

Sexual and reproductive health and rights

UDHR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948

U.N. Charter

United Nations Charter

UNESCO

United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization

UNFPA

United Nations Fund for Population Activities

USAID

United States Agency for International Development

VCLT

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

WHO

World Health Organization

Introduction

International institutions have suffered from an increasing backlash and contestation in recent years.1 Nico Krisch states “international courts seem to be living in hard times”.2 In the field of human rights, this challenge is leading to a crisis of legitimacy. As Hurst Hannum remarks: “human rights are on the verge of becoming a victim of their own success”.3

An increasing number of states have expressed criticism against the lack of democratic legitimacy and dismiss of the right to self-determination by human rights courts in their process of decision-making. Some judges and scholars have called for a more engaged judicial dialogue between national and international judges, a broader margin of appreciation, and a more robust understanding of subsidiarity.4

Details

Pages
XVI, 296
Year
2024
ISBN (PDF)
9781636673547
ISBN (ePUB)
9781636673554
ISBN (Softcover)
9781636673561
DOI
10.3726/b21397
Language
English
Publication date
2024 (February)
Keywords
International Human Rights Law universality cultural diversity right to self-determination human rights standard-setting process sexual and reproductive health and rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Published
New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2024. XVI, 296 pp.

Biographical notes

Gabriela GARCÍA ESCOBAR (Author)

Gabriela García Escobar is a Professor of International Law at Universidad Panamericana Campus Guadalajara. She has a Doctorate degree in Law from the University of Geneva and a Master degree in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

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Title: Plurality as the Core of Human Rights Universality