StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay describes the article ‘When Rights and Cultures Collide’ written by Karen Musalo represents a real-life story of Fauziya Kasinga, a teenager form Togo. The article highlights the evil practice of Female Genital Mutilation prevalent in many African, Middle East and Asian countries…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.5% of users find it useful
When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo"

When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo The article ‘When Rights and Cultures Collide’ written by Karen Musalo represents a real life story of Fauziya Kasinga, a teenager form Togo, West Africa. The article highlights the evil practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) prevalent in many African, Middle East and Asian countries. Accordingly, the author firmly denounces the practice of female genital mutilation and considers it to be a violation of internationally protected human rights.

In this regard, the author strives to draw the attention towards the treaties such as the ‘Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women’ which strongly proscribes distinctions made on gender basis. It has been argued that there persist many cultures that deny the equal rights of women. The article attempts to highlight the prevailing controversy between the concepts of universality of human rights and cultural relativism. Conceptually, universality is considered to be an essential characteristic related to human rights.

Accordingly, human rights are ascertained to be the rights that are applicable to all human beings and thus it is considered to be universal. Evidently, the universality of human rights advocates that all human beings are the holders of human rights regardless of what they do and where they live. In addition, universality also proclaims that human beings possess human rights independent for their national citizenship and community. Conversely, cultural relativism is regarded as a principle which affirms that all beliefs, ethics, customs and activities are relative to an individual human being within his/her own cultural context.

Correspondingly, it states that ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are primarily culture-specific and argues that there does not prevail any universal standards of morality and no one possesses the right to judge customs of another society (Musalo, “When Rights and Cultures Collide”).The article stresses on the importance of modern international human rights law and firmly acknowledges the widespread need for international unanimity regarding the protection of basic human rights. It also reveals that treaties, declarations and conventions conscripted to safeguard the basic human rights are in direct conflict with cultural practices such FGM.

The article propagates that many countries across the world have ignored certain basic human rights such as freedom of thought, religion and morality. The article attempts to reveal the thinking of cultural relativists and asserts that they often consider culture as an essential attribute to self-determination related with people’s sovereignty. The article admits that cultural relativists may find international standards as little more than legal statements framed by powerful nations predominately engaged in modern ‘Colonization’ by imposing their declaration on less powerful nations of the world.

In this regard, the article illustrates that international norms are not drafted by a few powerful nations but are framed by the representatives from diverse nations. Concurrently, the article stresses on the view of proponents of universality that international human standards have the moral authority as they promote world community’s unanimity regarding the ethical behavior between governments and their citizens. The article concluded that international human rights norms should be universally applied for providing all people across the world the potential benefits of their protection (Musalo, “When Rights and Cultures Collide”).

ARGUMENTSThe views expressed by Karen Musalo in her article ‘When Rights and Cultures Collide’ can be firmly agreed upon. In this regard, every individual in the world has the right to express themselves. Everyone born in this world is entitled to possess similar rights independent of their gender, race, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. It can be affirmed that human rights are integral to the dignity of every individual. Responsively, all human rights are equal and cannot be placed in a hierarchical order.

The denial of any right leads to the violation of another right. Thus, the right of any individual cannot be compromised at the cost of other rights. Nonetheless, it can be argued that it is coherent that the emergence of human rights is fundamentally tied up with believes and fundamentals equated to west. In this regard, it can be stated that the doctrine of human rights may be equated to western and Universalists but it does not mean that differences in culture cannot be abridged or accommodated.

Conversely, cultural relativism can be identified as an inherent danger imposed to fundamental rights of an individual. Thus, it is crucial to frame realistic strategies to promote human security and rights across the world. Furthermore, the promotion of universality of human rights requires the transformation in terms of legal and community aspects. Correspondingly, it is crucial to understand that no culture is perfect or right but everyone should respect the culture of others and avoid extremism and irrationality to promote universality related to human rights.

Work CitedMusalo, Karen. When Rights and Cultures Collide. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2010. Web. 23 Sep. 2013. .

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo Essay”, n.d.)
When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/sociology/1486346-essay
(When Rights and Cultures Collide Written by Karen Musalo Essay)
When Rights and Cultures Collide Written by Karen Musalo Essay. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1486346-essay.
“When Rights and Cultures Collide Written by Karen Musalo Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1486346-essay.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF When Rights and Cultures Collide written by Karen Musalo

Written and Unwritten Constitution

All publicists distinguish between written and unwritten constitutions, although the distinction is somewhat superficial.... A State is deemed to have a written constitution when the basic principles and institutions of its political organization are to be found in a document or a series of documents.... Almost all modern States have written constitutions, the only exception being the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where the fundamental political principles and institutions are not to be found in any formally accepted document or documents....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Written and Unwritten Constitution

All publicists distinguish between written and unwritten constitutions, although the distinction is somewhat superficial.... A State is deemed to have a written constitution when the basic principles and institutions of its political organization are to be found in a document or a series of documents.... … Almost all modern States have written constitutions, the only exception being the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where the fundamental political principles and institutions are not to be found in any formally accepted document or documents....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Multinational Corporation

Its human resource director is a woman named karen Moore.... He had hired over 10 people that were his… karen Moore made the mistake of judging the selection process of employees without learning about the cultural norms of China.... karen perceived that preferential treatment was been used in the hiring process.... Its human resource director is a woman d karen Moore.... karen Moore made the mistake of judging the selection process of employees without learning about the cultural norms of China....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Karen Honeys Theory

In the paper “karen Honey's Theory,” the author discusses Horney's theory which indicates that the friend has neurosis which she defines as a psychic disturbance which is brought about by fears and defenses against these fears and which leads to compromises to find solutions for conflicting tendencies.... Sociology Theories Apply karen Honey's theory to explain the college behavior Horney's theory according to Yep, Gust, karen Lovaas and John (2003) indicates that the friend has neurosis which she defines as “a psychic disturbance which is brought about by fears and defenses against these fears and which leads to compromises to find solutions for conflicting tendencies....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Murals and Popular Culture

Murals defined their amazing style of painting in the mid-twentieth century when publicizing was discovering new parkways in mediums, for example, the announcement.... An essay "Murals and Popular Culture" claims that Rosenquist's obligation to Surrealism in his dependence on apparently silly juxtapositions was clear in the greater part of his compositions....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Summary of Karen Musalos Article When Rights and Culture Collide

when rights and cultures collide.... This paper presents a summary of Karen Musalo article when rights and Culture Collide which she wrote in a reflection in a case she had handled that concerned human rights.... nbsp;  Summary of Karen Musalo's Article when rights and Culture CollideKaren Musalo is the author of a compelling article titled when rights and Culture Collide which she wrote in a reflection in a case she had handled that concerned human rights....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Women's rights and culture

Bibliography "when rights and cultures collide.... when rights and cultures collide.... Global Initiative for Women's rights and Culture Thesis There is a strong inter-link between culture and women's right.... Top of FormBottom of Form"Culture Clash: The Law, Womens rights and Real-world Solutions.... Top of FormBottom of Form"Womens rights and the Respect for Local Culture: The Price for Freedom?... "Culture Clash: The Law, Womens rights and Real-world Solutions....
2 Pages (500 words) Annotated Bibliography

Women In Psychology- Karen Horney

The author of the paper “Women in Psychology-karen Horney” states that Horney concluded that neurotics border on the extreme end because they set unrealistic expectations for themselves.... Her concept of neurosis mirrors people's social interactions, which is a pivotal part of human existence Besides her biological brother, karen was the youngest of four other siblings from her father's previous marriage.... In her biography, karen alludes to having a strained relationship with her father....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us