[Xmca-l] Re: Prof. Ionna Kuçuradi

[Carol Macdonald <carolmacdon@gmail.com>]

 From Carol, in a brave attempt to confess ignorance.

This is  all really very important, and we can see the negative effects of
 the (re-)emergence right-wing Christianity being  also in conflict with
these rights. What I need help with here, is the extraction of human rights
in this debate.  Where do we draw these human rights from, from where are
they deduced? What is their discourse?  I would like to know the basis of
which we can determine that human rights have a moral ascendency when
cultural rights are at odds with them.  I also wonder where  the gap is
between culture and religious rights? Or is this a discourse where
religious rights are subsumed under  or nested in cultural rights? (Or
vice-versa.)

I sense this is a philosophical debate, but discussions about human rights
surely impinge on any cultural or religious debates or even norms.

You see I have many questions.  Answering even one would help me understand
better.

Thanks

Carol


On 18 October 2013 15:30, Ulvi İçil <ulvi.icil@gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> For your information.
>
>
> http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/interview_with_ioanna_kucuradi_turkish_philosopher/
>
>
>
> *You have even said that the promotion of respect for all cultures is a
> “trap” for human rights.*
>
> **The differences of cultures is a fact. But these differences should not
> cause discrimination. I have nothing against people living as they like,
> *so
> long as their world views, ways of living and norms do not prevent
> themselves and their children from developing their human potentialities.
> The unconditional promotion of respect for all cultures as an attempt to
> fight discrimination is well-minded but very problematic. Many cultures
> have norms that are incompatible with human rights – take as an example
> polygamy or blood feud. This escapes attention, probably due to the
> importance of culture in the singular. That is a trap for human rights.
> What we need to respect are human beings – not cultural norms. Cultural
> norms must be evaluated. *
>
> *What is, for instance, your stand on the claim of schoolchildren or
> employees to carry symbols of religious conscience?*
>
> **When I was a student more than 40 years ago, there were no girls wearing
> a scarf in Turkey, neither in school nor in the university. *Today there is
> a revival, all over the world, of world views and norms that prevent
> people, and children in particular, from developing as human beings. This
> revival is closely connected with the promotion of “respect for all
> cultures”. The best way to solve this problem is through education. The
> concept of laïcité is often misunderstood. It does not simply consist in
> the separation of religion and the State. Laïcité is a negative principle
> which demands that religious and cultural norms in general do not determine
> the establishment of social relations and the administration of public
> affairs. This is why laïcité is a precondition for human rights and the
> reason why it is very important. Those who agree with the claim of
> schoolchildren to carry religious symbols are probably not aware that they
> push children to give priority to one of their various collective
> identities, that they push them to give priority to their cultural identity
> and not their human identity, and that by doing this they promote
> discrimination.* There is a philosophical problem behind all this. The
> premises from which universal human rights and cultural norms are deduced
> are different, and so are the ways in which they are deduced. So to better
> protect human rights we need a philosophical understanding of their
> concepts and foundations. Unfortunately, I still see it missing
> internationally.
>



-- 
Carol A  Macdonald Ph D (Edin)
Developmental psycholinguist
Academic, Researcher,  and Editor
Honorary Research Fellow: Department of Linguistics, Unisa
Status: O