Macquarie University

Culture and Human Rights - ANTH323

This unit examines human rights across cultures, asking how human rights came to be, how they interact with different cultural contexts, and what sorts of institutions and practices support them. How can respect for cultural difference be reconciled with campaigning for universal human rights? The unit is divided roughly into five sections. The first provides some basic background on the history of human rights and anthropology. The second deals with so-called 'first generation' human rights to be free of unjust actions by the state such as torture, genocide, or denial of civic freedoms. The third section deals with 'positive' rights, or claims made on society for health, education, and economic opportunities; in this section, we deal with the 'Asian question', the idea that in developing countries, economic opportunities take precedence over political liberties. We deal with minority groups and indigenous rights in the fourth part of the unit, talking about global Indigenous Rights movements as well as the case of Australian Aborigines and the 'right to development'. Finally, in the last section, we deal with the rights of women and sexual minorities, a long-standing area of challenge in human rights.

Timetable Information

For unit timetable information and session dates for external offerings please visit the Timetables@Macquarie Website.