Human Rights as Social Construction by Benjamin Gregg

Author:Benjamin Gregg
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf
Tags: Human Rights, Jurisprudence, Civil Rights, History & Theory, Political Science, Law
ISBN: 9781139505413
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012-08-14T18:30:00+00:00

Cambridge Books Online

http://ebooks.cambridge.org/

Human Rights as Social Construction

Benjamin Gregg

Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139059626

Online ISBN: 9781139059626

Hardback ISBN: 9781107015937

Chapter

6 - Translating Human Rights into Local Cultural Vernaculars pp. 135-1

56

Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139059626.010

Cambridge University Press

6

Translating Human Rights into Local

Cultural Vernaculars

Part III now introduces two particular means of advancing the human

rights idea conceived as social construction. Chapter 6 argues for human

rights work of outside intermediaries and local participants, translating

between local understandings and nonlocal human rights ideas in ways

that preserve local “authenticity” and “legitimacy” – ways that resonate

with local culture even as they also challenge it. Chapter 7 shows how a

cognitive approach allows for human rights as rights internal to any given

community’s culture. It proposes human rights as a learning process that

“cognitively reframes” local cultural and political elements in ways that

render them more human rights friendly.

Both chapters develop something of a sociological standpoint. From

that standpoint, as distinct from a theological one, world religions

show themselves to be dynamic repertoires rather than fixed templates.

Changes in aspects of religious belief have often entailed certain changes

in political organization and commitment. How might religion’s dynamic

potential relate to the surrounding community’s capacity for internal

change? Specifically, would the spread of human rights in some cases

depend on changes in the repertoires of some religions? Consider Islam,

a faith of enduring geopolitical moment. From a sociological perspective

focused on cultural changes that are human rights friendly, how might

the following goal be pursued: a political context in which all ordinary

Muslims enjoyed a culturally recognized, legally protected right to inter-

pret Islam – to interpret with respect to its meanings and to the behavior

that Islam promotes? In what kind of political context might ordinary

Muslims ask themselves not “What is Islam?” but rather “Which Islam do

we Muslims want?”

Perhaps few Muslims would find the idea of multiple “Islams” coherent.

This is likely the case even as more than a few might be willing to entertain

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136

Human Rights as Social Construction

the possibility of multiple interpretations of what they take to be the uni-

fied singularity of Islam.1 Islam’s spread since the seventh century from

Mecca and Medina across cultures as diverse as those of Morocco and

Indonesia generated multiple, even coexisting Islams. Given the cultural

particularism and peculiar political sensitivities of each host culture,2

multiple interpretations can be expected. But an outside observer’s per-

spective is not likely to be that of the ordinary individual participant in

a particular locale. That is, probably few Muslims would choose among

competing interpretations in terms of what they want, as if their faith

were a matter merely of personal preference or private interest. Perhaps

most would choose in terms of what they take to be the one legitimate or

true understanding of their faith in their particular locale. Abbas Amanat

and Frank Griffel (2007:1) suggest as much: “All normative discussions

within Islam, as well as between Muslims and members of other faiths,

center on the content of Shari’a.” It treats a very wide range of issues,

from acts of worship to marriage, divorce, and inheritance; from taxation

and war to filial piety; from the legitimacy of violence or torture and just

war to means of combating injustice.

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