The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521645360 ISBN 13: 9780521645362

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1999

Synopsis

The "Asian values" argument within the international human rights debate holds that not all Asian states should be expected to protect human rights to the same degree. This position of "cultural relativism," often used by authoritarian governments in Asia to counter charges of human rights violations, has long been dismissed by Western and Asian human rights advocates as a weak excuse. This book moves beyond the politicized rhetoric that has dogged the international debate on human rights to identify the more persuasive contributions by East Asian intellectuals. The editors of this book argue that critical intellectuals in East Asia have begun to chart a middle ground between the extreme, uncompromising ends of this argument, making particular headway in the areas of group rights and economic, social, and cultural (ethnic minority) rights. The chapters form a collective intellectual inquiry into the following four areas: critical perspectives on the "Asian values" debate; theoretical proposals for an improved international human rights regime with greater input from East Asians; the resources within East Asian cultural traditions that can help promote human rights in the region; and key human rights issues facing East Asia as a result of rapid economic growth in the region.

About this title

Book Description:

The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights shows that critical intellectuals in East Asia have begun to chart a middle ground between the extremes of the international debate on human rights, making particular headway in the areas of group rights and economic, social, and cultural (ethnic minority) rights. The chapters form a collective intellectual inquiry into the following areas: critical perspectives on the "Asian values" debate; theoretical proposals for an improved international human rights regime with greater input from East Asians; the resources within East Asian cultural traditions that can help promote human rights; and key human rights issues facing East Asia as a result of rapid economic growth in the region.

Review:

"This is an outstanding book on a whole set of crucial cross cultural issues we face: are we morally entitled to judge people of different cultures? And if the answer is in the affirmative--on what grounds? The book has profound implications for our treatment of individual rights in authoritarian societies, female circumcision and child labor, role of women and relations among races and many other challenging moral and political issues of the day." Amitai Etzioni, author of The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society (Basic Books, 1996)

"This volume should become the leading work in this important field. It should be required reading for all those with a serious interest in human rights and in East Asian Studies. It will also be of interest to those interested in 'globalization' and the politics of cultural diversity." Michael Freeman, Department of Government; and Human Rights Centre, University of Essex

"Argument over so-called Asian and Western values continues to occupy political leaders, human rights scholars and advocates, historians and anthropologists, journalists, others. Like other highly politicized debates, it frequently yields more heat than light. This collection of essays succeeds in illuminating the debate's premises, aspirations and many inaccuracies. The distinguished authors cut well beneath the level of simple assertion to inquiry conceptually and historically into claims that are made to distinguish an Asian from a Western or univeral view of human rights, and to make creative proposals for ways out of these dilemmas. It leaves this field of inquiry well ahead of where it found it." Henry J. Steiner, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and Director, Human Rights Program, Harvard University

"To allow the West to define 'universal' human rights seems wrong; to condone the abuses of authoritarians who hide behind 'non-Western values' seems equally wrong. This judicious and multifaceted book addresses the difficult but vitally important area that lies behind these two intuitions: What basic human values are shared in today's global village? How can we forge from them common conceptions of human rights?" Perry Link, Princeton University

"This volume ['s]...fourteen chapters, written by authors from various disciplines, address many of the main issues in the [universal human rights] debate from a variety of angles, invariably with sophistication and insight. The authors avoid the tendency to attack straw men, offering instead arguments filled with nuance and qualifications." China Review International

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0521645360
• ISBN 13: 9780521645362
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 412
• Editor: Bauer Joanne R., Bell Daniel A.