• Pages 261-270 and 278-282 from Global Politics by Steven Lamy et al.

• The Different Types of Human Rights from Global Politics by Andrew Heywood

This lesson will address the following prescribed content from the IB's Global Politics Guide:

• Definitions of human rights

• The UN’s The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

• Individual versus collective/group rights

• Universal rights versus cultural relativism

In groups discuss: what comes to mind when you hear the term "human rights"? what rights do you think all human beings should have?

Cultural Preferences or Universal Human Rights Violations

Which of the following would you say are cultural preferences or, universal, human rights violations?

1. You should not burn your country’s flag.

2. A man should not go to work wearing a dress.

3. You should not persecute minority groups.

4. A woman should not have more than one husband.

5. You should not torture the innocent.

6. You should not have sex with an animal.

7. You should not use dead people for dog food.

8. You should not execute adulterers.

9. You should not execute murderers.

10. You should not eat meat.

What is Justice and Equality?

As part of our readings the question of cultural relativism and the universal nature of the human rights (particularly the UDHR) was debated. In order to pull these ideas together, we'll engage in the following exercise:

1. In groups of 2-3 (we will have two groups comparing each of the three options) compare the UDHR with either UNDRIP, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Cairo Declaration or the Bangkok Declaration and offer some examples from the declaration as to why the cultural groups that developed these declarations would take issue with the UDHR? What are the fundamental differences between the two declarations? Use examples from the alternative declaration to highlight the fundamental differences.

2. Using examples, present your analysis to the other two groups. Is there a case to be made that the UDHR is incompatible with the cultural norms highlighted in the declaration you examined?

3. When listening to the other groups present, be sure to take a couple of notes on the declarations you didn't study so you can have a basic sense of what the issues with the other declarations might be?

• Read pages 127-128, the Refugees Case Study and answer, as a group, questions 1 and 2.

• Read the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and this article, particularly the section entitled “A Troubled Start”, and respond to the prompt, “examine the claim that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is a challenge to state sovereignty?”

• Reconciling Indigenous Self-Determination with State Sovereignty

  1. What are the three strains of self-determination among nations? Which is most realistic and why?

  2. What is the typical model of the democratic state and why is it incompatible with self-determination of indigenous groups?

  3. Liberal theorist Will Kymlicka proposes three accommodations for indigenous rights, what are they? What is the biggest challenge the states have with these suggestions?

As the Indigenous rights movement gains strength globally, huge advances are being made in recognizing the legitimacy of these claims. Most significant was the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007 after 143 member states voted in its favor (the four opposing votes—United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—would each, under domestic pressure, eventually endorse it as well). The declaration states that, “Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their lands or territories and resources.” And further that they have “the right to redress” for the lands that “have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.” Some countries have even taken the step of recognizing these rights in revised constitutions. Bolivia’s constitution, approved by voters in 2009, states that Indigenous peoples “are guaranteed the right to prior consent: obligatory consultation by the government, acting in good faith and in agreement, prior to the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources in the territory they inhabit.” A huge, hard-won legal victory.

• Klein, Naomi. This Changes Everything (p. 377). Knopf Canada. Kindle Edition.