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- Johansson Dahre, Ulf, Docent, 1959-
(author)
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Games States Play : A Critique of International Human Rights Law.
- 2017
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In: Proceedings of the annual International Conference on Political Science, Sociology and International Relations. - : Global Science & Technology Forum. - 2251-2403. ; , s. 34-43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- this paper is an attempt to critically assess international human rights law. The aim is to move towards a theoretical understanding of how human rights work in state practice and why its significance in world politics and conflicts is declining and/or even ignored. The paper therefore explores the political domains of the legal structures of human rights, and attempts to deconstruct the boundaries between political and ideological frameworks and the influences on international human rights law and state action. 1 In line with this argument, I will show that the ideal of a World Order based on human rights cannot sustain its proposition, as social and political conflicts, in the end, must be solved by political means. Even if there is a widespread legal rhetoric about international human rights, that rhetoric most of the time relies on contested political principles and relative cultural values.
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2. |
- Johansson Dahre, Ulf, Docent, 1959-
(author)
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Searching for a middle ground : anthropologists and the debate on the universalism and the cultural relativism of human rights.
- 2017
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In: International Journal of Human Rights. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1364-2987 .- 1744-053X. ; 21:5, s. 611-628
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the anthropological debate on human rights a new theoretical approach, a search for a middle ground, has been attempted to solve the dilemma of universalism versus cultural relativism. In the human rights discussion in general, and in the anthropological debate in particular, the dichotomy of universalism/relativism is seen as one major obstacle to the implementation. This article takes a critical outlook at this discussion in anthropology, arguing that there is no such middle ground between universalism and cultural relativism, neither in relation to the definition of the rights, nor the implementation. Instead, this article attempts, through an example from Borneo, to point the way to a human rights theory, called relative universalism of human rights. This is a theoretical approach integrating universalism and cultural relativism instead of trying to find some moral space in-between.
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3. |
- Johansson Dahre, Ulf, Docent, 1959-
(author)
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The Significance of Culture in Human Rights : Three dimensions of cultural relativism in the universal human rights discourse.
- 2018
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In: Proceedings of the annual International Conference on Political Science, Sociology and International Relations. - : Global Science & Technology Forum. - 2251-2403. ; , s. 94-102
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The question of culture in the international human rights discourse has since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 been relatively marginal, but have recently taken new turns. This article argue that there are several dimensions of cultural relativism in human rights despite its universalistic pretentions. The reason for the cultural relativistic turn in human rights is that nations, cultural groups and legal structures explicitly question the ability' of the universal discourse to address the concerns of nations, individuals, and cultural groups. Finally, it is suggested that these human rights dilemmas may be solved by national and local transformation and application of the universal discourse.
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