Cultural relativism

The issue of universalism of human rights vs . cultural relativism has been a focal point of heated debate for the last several decades . As globalization is bringing nations together , cultural differences and peculiarities become increasingly more salient . The Universal Declaration of Human Rights , adopted by the United Nation in 1948 , lists several categories of rights that the peoples of the world have agreed to accept and recognize . These rights include the right to life , liberty and security of person the right to be free from slavery and servitude the right not to

be subjected to torture or to cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment or arbitrary arrest , detention or exile the right to marriage with the free and full consent of the parties the right to own property the right to freedom of thought , conscience and religionm and the right to work , to free choice of employment , to just and favorable conditions of work (United Nations , 1948

These rights are universally recognized because they protect the dignity of an individual and the basic social institutions which are present in virtually every culture . However , their universality is still contested as human rights as laid out in the international covenants ignore the traditions , the religions , and the socio-cultural patterns of what used to be called the Third World (Tharoor , 1998 , para . 1

For example , in some African societies , group rights have always taken precedence over individual rights , and political decisions have been made through group consensus , not through individual assertions of rights (Tharoor...