MONOCULTURE | A Recent History

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The 30-article resolution is not legally binding but provides an important basis for international treaties, economic transfers, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. Of the 58 existing UN members in 1948, 48 countries voted in favour of accepting the statement. The remaining countries, including Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the USSR abstained. During the development process, many Asian and African countries were colonies of countries that actively participated in the elaboration of the statement. As a result, many felt the voice of the coloniser is contained in the UDHR, but not that of the colonised. The so-called universal nature of the statement has been questioned since its inception. Even while the UDHR was being developed, the American Anthropological Association warned of a predominantly Western and capitalist perspective. Universality is primarily a representation of European, Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment ideas that originated in Western societies, and which other cultures find more difficult to identify with. In addition, the statement was the result of diplomatic and political strategies. The statement emphasises civil and political rights. Economic, social and cultural rights are secondary to the statement, while these rights may for example be more central to socialist or communist systems.