Abstract
The implementation of international human rights law has traditionally been undermined by the dichotomy between universalism and cultural relativism. Some groups regard human rights as more reflective of other culture’s and are unwilling to subscribe to them. One response to this is to enable groups to take co-ownership of human rights. Quality Circles based on institutions and technology, and the collaboration they encourage, provide one such means for doing so. What is required is for states to facilitate rather than undermine and censor these processes. Human Rights Quality Circles at different levels represent one way in which the cultural relativism and universalism division can be addressed, particularly in an ever-globalising world.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
See, generally, Hutchins (1983).
Ennals (2010).
See, generally, Ben-Ner and Jones (1995).
Hall (2001).
See, for example, Gibney (2006): “Of course, in a neutral reading, the term ‘asylum seeker’ simply refers to a person claiming refugee status whose eligibility for asylum has yet to be decided. But it is not the neutral reading that has been taken up by the anxious governments, the populist press, opportunistic governments, anti-immigrant groups, and large swathes of public over the last 15 years. It is largely a view in which asylum seekers are widely characterised as welfare cheats, competitors for jobs, security threats, abusers of host state generosity and even the killers of swans.”
Schuster (2003).
Kennedy (2006).
The Economist (2011): “David Cameron decided to ride the tiger of populist anger today, more or less urging Conservative MPs to vote for an amendment challenging a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), in which the court's judges objected to Britain's blanket ban on voting by those serving prison sentences.” See also, for example, BBC News (2011).
For one view, see Allott (2001): “The Degradation of Universal Values: the emergence of potentially universal values after 1945 suffered a deformation as the emerging values were subjected to almost instant rationalization, legalizing, institutionalizing, and bureaucratizing. That is to say, they were corrupted before they could begin to act as transcendental, ideal, supra-societal, critical forces in relation to the emerging absolute statism of society, including democratic society.”
Glendon (2001).
See also Donnelley (2002): “The source of human rights is man’s moral nature, which is only loosely linked to the ‘human nature’ defined by scientifically ascertainable needs. The ‘human nature’ that grounds human rights is a prescriptive moral account of human possibility. The scientist’s human nature says that beyond this we cannot go. The moral nature that grounds human rights says that beneath this we must not permit ourselves to fall.”
Buergenthal (1998).
ECOSOC Resolution 2008/4.
Bell and Carens (2004).
See, Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, “Co-operation with National Human Rights Structures” at http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Activities/NHRS/default_en.asp (Accessed on 11 June 2011); See also Council of Europe (2008), Committee of Ministers, “Declaration on Council of Europe action to improve the protection of human rights defenders”, accessed via http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Activities/HRD/default_en.asp (Accessed on 11 June 2011).
City Montessori School (2011): “In order to strengthen the fledging worldwide SQC movement, a World Council for Total Quality for Excellence in Education was established in February 1999 with international QC experts from 8 countries on the Board of Directors. The WCTQEE coordinates SQC activities worldwide and works for popularizing QCs in schools and colleges thus raising quality awareness in education.”
See Amnesty International. Take action, at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10009. (Accessed on 11 June 2001).
UN News Centre (2008).
See, for instance, Leckie (1988).
Human Rights Watch (2011).
Toney et al. (2010).
Rowland (2011).
See, for example, Qiang (2011).
Poster (2008).
UN (2011).
References
Allott P (2001) The concept of international law. In: Byers M (ed) The role of law in international relations. University Press, Oxford, p 85
Baligadoo P (2011) Students’ quality circles, peace and human rights. UNESCO
Ben-Ner S, Jones DC (1995) Employee participation, ownership, and productivity: a theoretical framework. Ind Relat J Econ Soc 34(3):532
Bell D, Carens JH (2004) The ethical dilemmas of international human rights and humanitarian NGOs: reflections on a dialogue between practitioners and theorists. Hum Rights Q 26(2):302
Buergenthal T (1998) International human rights law and institutions: accomplishments and prospects. 63 Wash Law Rev 1:2–3
Donnelley J (2002) Universal human rights in theory and practice. University Press, Cornell, p 14
Ennals R (2010) Creating collaborative advantage: student quality circles. ICSQCC, Kathmandu
Ennals R (2011) Labour issues and corporate social responsibility. Theory Pract Corp Soc Responsib 3:143–157
Gibney MJ (2006) A thousand little guantanamos: Western states and the measures to prevent the arrival of refugees. In: Tunstall KE (ed) Displacement, asylum, migration. University Press, Oxford, pp 73–74
Glendon MA (2001) A world made new: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal declaration of human rights. Random House, New York, p 231
Hall S (2001) The persistent spectre: natural law, international order and limits of legal positivism. EJIL 12(2):283
Hill S (1991) Why quality circles failed but total quality management might succeed. Br J Ind Relat 29(4):541–568
Hutchins D (1983) Quality circles in context. Ind Commer Train 15(3):80–82
Kennedy P (2006) The parliament of man: the United Nations and the quest for world government. Allen Lane, London, p 193
Lawler EE (1985) Quality circles after the fad. Harv Bus Rev 63(1):65–71
Leckie S (1988) The inter-state complaint procedure in international human rights law: hopeful prospects or wishful thinking. Hum Rights Q 10(2):249–303
Poster M (2008) Global media and culture. New Lit Hist 39(3):690
Qiang X (2011) The battle for the Chinese internet. J Democr 22(2):50
Rowland D (2011) Virtual world, real rights? Human rights and the internet. In: Odello M, Cavondoli S (eds) Emerging areas of human rights in the 21st Century: The role of the universal declaration of human rights. Routledge, Oxford, p 7
Schuster L (2003) Asylum seekers: Sangatte and the tunnel. Parliam Aff 56:516
Toney JH, Kaplowitz H, Pu R, Qi F (2010) Science and Human rights: a bridge towards benefiting humanity. Hum Rights Q 32(4):P1012
Web sources
BBC News (2011) MPs reject prisoner votes plan. At http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12409426. Accessed 11 June 2011
City Montessori School (2011) Peace through students’ quality circles. At http://www.cmseducation.org/about/peace_education/quality.htm. Accessed 11 June 2011
Economist (2011) The “Britain’s mounting fury over sovereignty”. At http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2011/02/prisoners_voting_rights. Accessed 11 June 2011
Human Rights Watch (2011) Facebook page. At http://www.facebook.com/HumanRightsWatch. Accessed 11 June 2011
UN News Centre (2008) Civil society crucial in advancing human rights, UN officials tell Paris meeting. At http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27911&Cr=ngo&Cr1=paris. Accessed on 25 May 2011
UN (2011) Report of the special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. At http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf. Accessed on 11 June 2011
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kathrani, P. Quality circles and human rights: tackling the universalism and cultural relativism divide. AI & Soc 27, 369–375 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-012-0379-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-012-0379-1